12 May 2012 – Tine Deckers of the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team has captured the second place in today’s Ironman 70.3 Mallorca. Sofie Goos finished fourth. Tine recorded a time of 4:43:18; Sofie clocked in at 4:49:43. Emma-Kate Lidbury (UK; 4:39:05) won the race for the second consecutive time, Natalie Schmitt (Germany, 4:47:11) came in third.

Former 70.3 world champion Michael Raelert from Germany won the race in 3:57:08. Michael Göhner (Germany, 4:10:11) and Ben Allen (Australia, 4:12:51) completed the top-three. Fellow Belgian Tom Vander Hoogerstraete (4:13:25) finished fourth.

Sofie got to an excellent start, leaving the water third, just a minute behind fastest swimmer Lidbury. Tine followed two minutes later in fifth position. In the cycling leg, Tine pushed forward, while Sofie lost time and her place in the top-5 after a four-minute penalty for drafting. Tine started the half marathon second, trailing Lidbury by five minutes; Sofie jumped off her bike in seventh position. Tine recorded a solid, consistent run to keep her second place until the finish line. Sofie fought back to an honorable fourth place.

For Tine Deckers, this half Ironman was a successful end to two weeks of training in Mallorca: “Winning was not really in the cards today. Lidbury was simply stronger in the three disciplines. But I’m happy with my second place. Doing this race at the end of a training camp apparently was a good idea. It didn’t start very well though. I ended up swimming alone and in the second part, I went in the wrong direction for a bit. I felt better on the bike, although the past weeks of training did hamper me a bit during the inclines. But I’m especially happy with my solid half marathon. This is the longest I have run since struggling with a foot injury earlier in the season. The fact that I got to a swift start and was able to push through the whole time, gives me a lot of confidence for the next big race, the Ironman Nice on 24 June.”

Sofie Goos was also satisfied with her performance, despite the penalty: “My first card ever! I really thought there were ten meters between Tine and myself. Besides, the referee had been riding right next to me for minutes. So I was extra careful about keeping my distance. But apparently her idea of what is ten meters is not the same as mine. Four minutes in the penalty box last a long time when you see the numbers five to eight flying past. But I managed to regroup well. The big question was how my legs had recuperated from Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s tough training sessions. But the first two loops went very smoothly. I was hoping to catch up to the third place, but that was a bit much after I struggled for a bit in the last round. All in all, I am happy with the race and my training in Mallorca. I feel that my conditioning is starting to come around, which leaves me feeling good about the Ironman Brazil in two weeks.”

Complete results: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=mallorca70.3&year=2012

Strong swimmer Axel was one of the first out of the dangerously choppy water (hundreds of age groupers were fished out of the water because the conditions were too risky). He was second on the bike, right behind Thurston. After a few kilometers Axel took the lead, but Twelsiek and Hoffman soon made their move. In the first half of the hilly and windy bike course, they formed a leading group of three, but then Axel had to let Hoffman and Twelsiek go. At the beginning of the marathon, Axel was still in third position, but he was trailing Hoffman by 17 minutes. Axel managed to make up almost ten minutes on a fading Twelsiek, but was ultimately unable to move up within the top-three.

“Oh la la! Hell in the swim. Hell on the bike. Hell in the run.” Immediately after the race, Axel was still overwhelmed by what he called his toughest Ironman to date: “It was a true test, from the very first to the last minute. It started in the swim. The high waves really tossed you all over the place and I often couldn’t see the buoys, so swimming in a straight line was out of the question. I was glad I was out of the water, until I realized how hard the wind was blowing. It felt like 50/60 kilometers per hour. Standing up on your pedals on steep inclines with wind guts coming sideways at times was really dangerous. I think I didn’t go faster than 10 kilometers per hour on some stretches. Towards the end, I had no idea how far I was behind the first two and in front of the rest. But the fact that I was in third position made me pull though and start the marathon at a good pace. It was then that I realized I was catching up on Twelsiek. In the second round I really put it all on the line to move up and I did get fairly close, but by then I was done. The last 10 kilometers, I was spent. Right now, I am just really happy that the race is over. And I came here with the top-three as my goal, so I’m on track in terms of qualifying for Hawaii. Now it is a matter of resting up properly so I can secure that ticket to Kona with a good Ironman Nice in June.”

Meredith Kessler (10:12:59) won the pro-women’s race. Jessie Donavan (10:37:30) and Ulli Bromme (U.S.; 10:53:20) completed the all-American podium.

Complete results: http://www.ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=st.george&year=2012

In the men’s race, Bart Aernouts of the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team finished fourth with a time of 1:49:11. The podium places went to Timo Bracht (1:45:25), Georg Potrebitsch (1:47:13) and Graham Leitch (1:48:07). Uplace-athlete Bert Jammaer finished fifth, but was also disqualified for wearing his bib number under his wetsuit.

The Uplace athletes are in Mallorca for a team training camp. The race was part of their preparation for their upcoming Ironman races. Sofie Goos and Tine Deckers will participate in the Ironman 70.3 Mallorca next week (May 12). Bert Jammaer will compete in the Ironman Lanzarote on May 19; Bert is a two-time winner in Lanzarote. Bart Aernouts will start his European season on May 20 with the Ironman 70.3 Austria.

Complete results of the Mallorca Olympic Triathlon: http://www.elitechip.net/system/public/dldcache/79926c899a0daa06f6a01d70d49adffd.pdf

22 April 2012 – Bruno Clerbout of the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team has retired from today’s Ironman South Africa. Equipment failure in the bike leg got the better of Bruno. Clemente Alonso-McKernan (Spain; 8:34:45) won the race, beating Cyril Viennot (France; 8:41:48) and Mike Aigroz (Switzerland; 8:46:04).

Natascha Badmann (Switzerland; 9:47:10) was the fastest woman. Simone Brändli (Switzerland, 9:52:26) finished second, Diana Riesler (Germany; 10:01:14) third.

The race got to an excellent start for Bruno. He came out of the water fifth and maintained a solid seventh position in the bike leg. The second bike round brought bad luck. A spoke in the rear wheel of Bruno’s bike snapped and the entire wheel pulled askew. After a half hour wait for assistance Bruno was able to continue. When he suffered a flat tire, his race was over.

“This is really frustrating,” responded a deeply disappointed Bruno. “You can put this kind of setback in perspective, but it is still so frustrating. Especially because I was in good shape and the race was the kind of battle of attrition in which I am at my best. I have really missed out on a lot Hawaii-points and a fine performance. Normally my next race would be the Ironman Nice on 24 June. The question is whether I compete sooner, considering the condition I brought to South Africa. But we will figure that out in the coming days.”

Complete results: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=southafrica&year=2012

• Count your strokes: regularly count the number of strokes you need to cross the length of the pool. The rule is that less is better.
• Enter the water at the end of your arm length (the general advice is a 2/3 or 3/4 ratio) and push your arm out until it is completely stretched next to your body (tip: make a little mark on your thigh with your thumb).
• Under water, try to stretch your arm (at chest height) a little more. When you swim, submaximally, you can look for a higher resistance.
• Chose the right size paddles and use these to swim very technically. We suggest the TYR Catalyst. Paddles won’t make you stronger, but they do make you better.

More information: http://www.swimacademy.be/

Kelly Williamson (US; 4:13:27) was the fastest woman, beating out Yvonne Van Vlerken (The Netherlands; 4:18:47) and Amy Marsh (US; 4:20:16).

A strong beginning and end, with an off-day on the bike in between, you could summarize Axel’s Ironman 70.3 Texas. Third out of the water after an excellent swim, he quickly lost minutes on the leading group in the first kilometers on the bike. No power in the legs, was the verdict. Axel did manage to regain that power in the second half of the bike ride, but by then he had lost too much time to compete for a spot in the top-five. Still, Axel ran himself from the thirteenth position into the top-ten in a strong half marathon performance.

After the race, Axel looked back on an Ironman 70.3 Texas with distinct ups and downs, “After clocking the fastest bike time in San Juan just two weeks ago, I simply had no power in my legs today. My swim, on the other hand, was excellent. The end result is not great, but also no bad either. With this field of competitors, I will gladly take a tenth place. I was aiming for a top-six spot, which should be feasible on a good day. But not with today’s bike legs. That is why I am proud of the mental strength I showed today. I never stopped fighting, even when I was struggling. That gives me confidence form my upcoming races. Next up is the Ironman St. George on 5 May.”

Complete results: http://texas.ironmanlive.com

www.MallorcaTriathlon.com

Sofie Goos and Bert Jammaer of the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team will take part in the Mallorca Olympic, the Olympic Distance race in the beautiful resort of Colonia Sant Jordi. The Uplace Pro Triathlon Team will be in the middle of a two-week camp with BEST Swim Centre. This race will be part of the training program at BEST.

Seven-time Ironman winner Timo Bracht and fellow Pro Georg Potrebitsch will also race in this popular event in the perfect place for triathlon. The race is flat and fast and is ideal for beginners and elite.

Meet the pros!

Timo and Georg will ride the course on Friday afternoon, and you are welcome to join them. The Uplace Pros will join Timo and Georg for a question and answer forum on Friday evening, with the race on Saturday morning. This is a great chance to meet some of the best triathletes in Europe and ask them your questions.

For all information and to enter the race, go to http://www.MallorcaOlympic.com

World champion and local favorite Craig Alexander won the Ironman Melbourne with a time of 7:57:44, beating Cameron Brown (New Zealand; 8:00:12) and Frederik Van Lierde (Belgium; 8:01:26).

Caroline Steffen (Switzerland, 8:34:51) dominated the women’s race. The second and third places went to Rachel Joyce (United Kingdom; 8:46:09) and Mirinda Carfrae (Australia, 9:04:00).

For the past year, Bart Aernouts has been training with Australian top coach Darren Smith, specifically focusing on improving his swimming. In this race, positioning proved to be more important than conditioning for Bart. After just missing the leading group, Bart ended up in a group that went off-course and lost quite a bit of time. He came out of the water in 24th position among the pro men, almost ten minutes behind fastest swimmer Fettell. In the bike leg, Bart once again ended up in a slower group. Yet, he did manage to move up to the 19th position. In the marathon Bart was able to make his big move and run his way to a top-ten finish.

Immediately after the race, Bart wasn’t quite sure what to think of his first Ironman: “It all has to sink in still. It’s not that I am unhappy with the result. My expectations of my very first Ironman weren’t very high and ultimately, I was able to finish well. But it was a strange race. In the swim and bike leg, I didn’t feel very well. Also, it was much colder than I thought it would be. Too bad I just missed the leading group. It would have made my swim start a lot less hectic. On the bike, I was mostly frustrated with the pace of the group I was part of. I tried to push hard, but there was nobody in front of me and when everyone in the group sort of stays behind you, you can only blow yourself up. So I just tried to focus on a solid marathon, which worked out in the end. Apparently, I even ran the third fastest time. Since this is my only full Ironman this year, I had to at least finish the race to be able to qualify for the Ironman Hawaii. So I am pleased I didn’t over-exert myself and managed to finish on a positive note.”

Bert Jammaer was feeling good, Bert himself reported before the race. He demonstrated his good form with a strong swim. He came out of the water in twelfth position, along with top favorites like Alexander. In the bike leg, Bert maintained his position in the chase group behind leader Fettell. In the final bike kilometers, he eased up a bit to save energy for the marathon. That strategy seemed to pay off, until all of a sudden it was all over: “It felt like someone stuck a knife in my calf. There was no way I could continue. ”

For Bert, Melbourne was an important race. Naturally, the injury left him very frustrated, “This really is the greatest disappointment of my career. I have had to abandon races before, but that was because I felt bad. Now I felt so fit. The first ten kilometers I ran really smoothly. I tried to limp along for a bit, but there was just no point. I couldn’t even walk. I don’t know the nature of my injury. I will go to my doctor when I get home next week.”

Complete results: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=melbourne&year=2012

Kelly Williamson (US) won the women’s race with a time of 04:14:06. Linsey Corbin (US; 04:18:38) and Radka Vodickova (Czech Republic; 4:23:23) completed the podium.

Axel proved himself race-ready from the very start of his first Ironman test of the season. He was part of a first group, lead by O’Donnell, to leave the water. During the second bike lap, he overtook O’Donnell for the first place position and managed to build a one-minute lead going into the half marathon. However, that was not enough to ward off O’Donnell, a very fast runner. Around kilometer 15, Griffin took the second place. Still, Axel pulled off a solid run to secure a top-three spot.

Axel had left for Puerto Rico with a top-5 spot in mind, which meant he was very happy with today’s result. “I felt good today, starting with a strong swim. Despite cramping in my foot in the last 300 meters, I was only 11 seconds behind O’Donnell. I felt equally strong on the bike. After the race, I was told I even recorded the fastest bike time. The half marathon was more of a test, but ultimately I did well enough. Either way, this race was a real boost to start the season. I knew I had had good winter and that my conditioning and weight are what they should be. I competed in a few bike races and runs the last few weeks and those proved to be the ideal race preparation. Especially after today, I am mentally and physically ready for the tough Ironman 70.3 Texas on 1 April.”

Complete results: http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=sanjuan70.3&year=2012

Bart completed a solid race, starting things off with a good swim. He left the water trailing the fastest swimmer by just one minute. Bart made his move during the bike leg, taking the lead to ensure a controlled finish in the run.

After the race, Bart looked back on a successful race test for Melbourne: “Aside from a little wobble at right at the start, I swam well. I tried to bike hard, which worked out well. I didn’t feel as strong during the run, but luckily I didn’t have to force myself to maintain the lead. Now I have about a week in my Australian home base of Canberra before I leave for Melbourne.”

Complete results: http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Results.aspx?CId=1&RId=678&EId=2