Al-Sultan And Corbin Win Ironman Austria
- By Paul Moore
- Published July 1, 2012
One of the best – if not the best – European Ironman races, Ironman Austria always attracts some fast pros and an excellent age group field. This year was no different as Faris Al Sultan and Linsey Corbin took the wins on a hot day in Klagenfurt.
The Men’s Race
The recent spell of hot weather in Austria had warmed the lake nicely, meaning that it was a non-wetsuit swim. While that played into the hands of some, it left others at a disadvantage. One man who wasn’t phased was Phil Graves, who was second out of the water (50:50) on the shoulder of Adam Molnar (50:49). Pre-race favourite Faris Al-Sultan was a further seven seconds back (50:57), while Tom Lowe was way off the pace (57:06).
Out on the bike and Graves did what he does best: cycle away from the rest of the field. Within 25km his lead was more than 1:30, but Faris and Daniel Fontana had started to give chase. And while the pair were unable to eat into Graves’ lead, they kept it at a constant for much of the early phase of the bike. Through 91km it was out to 1:34 and by 140km it was up to 2:08. Crucially, though, Faris had managed to drop Fontana and was riding solo in pursuit of the Brit.
Graves was the first into T2 (4:23:34), with Faris second (4:25:38) and Fontana third out on to the run (4:26:52). Graves, though, was suffering. At the first timing marker he was already 4:30 down on Faris, who had a two minute lead over Fontana. The German was back at his running best, cruising through the marathon and simply extending his lead as he went. A 2:50:38 run was enough to give him the win in 8:11:31. Fontana was second (8:20:37) with Pedro Gomes third (8:26:31). Tom Lowe made up for his swim with a great bike / run to finish sixth (8:31:15) while it looks like Graves was a DNF.
The Women’s Race
It was Linsey Corbin and her Texan hat that took the win, but not without a fight. The American (59:18) trailed the always-strong Erika Csomor out of the water (57:01), leaving her with work to do on the bike.
She did it in style. At 55km the gap was at 2:30 and by 90km it was down to just 30-seconds. Needless to say it wasn’t long before Corbin had the lead, and by 140km she had over a minute on the Hungarian. A 4:54:09 bike split gave her a comfortable 3:40 lead over Csomor going onto the run.
It was all she needed. Despite Csomor possessing the slightly faster run, Corbin finished with a 3:11:07 marathon (to Csomor’s 3:09:55) to cross the line in 9:09:58. Csomor was second (9:12:09) with Michaela Rudolf third (9:44:37).
Ironman Austria
Results
Top 5 Men
1. Faris Al-Sultan (GER) 8:11:31
2. Daniel Fontana (ITA) 8:20:37
3. Pedro Gomez (POR) 8:26:31
4. Franz Höfer (AUT) 8:28:41
5. David Plese (SLO) 8:30:47
Top 5 Women
1. Linsey Corbin (USA) 9:09:58
2. Erika Csomor (HUN) 9:12:09
3. Michaela Rudolf (AUT) 9:44:37
4. Dana Wagner (GER) 9:46:10
5. Elisabeth Gruber (AUT) 9:57:41
FILED UNDER: News / Race Results TAGS: Dana Wagner / Daniel-Fontana / David Plese / Elisabeth Gruber / Erika-Csomor / Faris-Al-Sultan / Franz Höfer / Ironman-Austria / Linsey-Corbin / Michaela Rudolf / Pedro Gomez / report / Results
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 The World's Toughest Endurance Challenges which you can buy on Amazon. Paul has also written Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which is also available on Amazon.
