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Lidbury And Raelert Win Inaugural Ironman 70.3 Mallorca

  • By Paul Moore
  • Published May 14, 2011
  • Updated May 15, 2011 at 8:51 pm

The inaugural Thomas Cook Ironman70.3 Mallorca took place on Saturday, May 14, 2011 under sunny skies. This event also served as a qualifying race for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The host city of Alcudia is located in the north of the island and offers athletes a swim in Alcudia Bay, followed by a hilly bike course and flat run. German Andreas Raelert and British Emma-Kate Lidbury took the wins.

Many professional European triathletes used this race to accumulate Kona points due to its close proximity to their home training grounds and the challenging bike course. Overall, more than 1,800 athletes from 47 countries descended upon this island in the Mediterranean to compete in the half iron distance.

In the men’s race, the one-loop course swimming course saw Horst Reichel exit first with a time of 22:31, followed closely behind by Raelert just four seconds back and Philip Graves just two seconds behind him. The chase on the bike was extremely close with Raelert coming in at 3:08:01 and Billard at 3:08:02 as they jockeyed back and forth for the lead position. On the run, Raelert was able to maintain his lead and crossed the finish line first, followed by Billard and Sylvain Sudrie. “I am very happy and proud of me and my race, but I have to say, that Bertrand really pushed me to the limit. He is a great athlete and he has an even greater future,” said Raelert.

In the women’s race Johanna Daumas lead Lidbury (EK) out of the water by 1:16, and was 1:45 ahead of a group containing Ironman UK Champion Yvette Grice and eventual runner-up Erika Csomor. EK had caught Duamas by the 60km mark and, coming into T2, had managed to open a 2:30 gap. Silvia Felt came into T2 third (2:50 behind EK) with Tamsin Lewis a further 20 seconds down. Despite a strong fight on the run, EK managed to hold on for the win.

“I knew that I am a good swimmer and a strong cyclist, but I didn`t know how it would be on the run. The girls really pushed me, so I am happy with that win and look forward to the season,” said the Brit following her first Ironman 70.3 win.

Ironman 70.3 Mallorca
Results (to be updated)

Top 5 Men
1. Andreas Raelert (GER) 3:49:49
2. Bertrand Billard (FRA) 3:53:03
3. Sylvain Sudrie (FRA)
4. Michael Göhner (GER)
5. Horst Reichel (GER)

Top 5 Women
1. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR)
2. Erika Csomor (HUN)
3. Silvia Felt (GER)

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Paul Moore

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon