We, Tri Michels Hamburg, did finish in third place on Saturday and had a time deficit of 56 seconds to Triabolos Hamburg and 25 seconds to Hannover 96 going into the Sprint on Sunday.
We arrived well rested and much better prepared in Itzehoe on Sunday morning, looking for a Top 3 finish. So, we waited anxiously on the beach while the first team and then the second team went off in the water. Finally, 56 seconds after the lead team we were allowed to jump into the water and chase the first two teams. It was Freddy taking the lead with Bruno and myself right behind to take advantage of the position in the back. Once we hit the turnaround buoy I went by Bruno to give him a breather and have him rest behind me. All worked out excellent as we three came to transition with only few second apart. Enno and Christian also stayed close by and managed about the same swim time.
So, once we left the water it was all over with the team competition – no drafting and no more team work was allowed. I managed a quick transition, best of the year, to jump a few spots before the bike leg and started the chase of the top swimmers of the other teams, as well as Jan Raphael from Hannover 96. First ride with my new Hawk Racing bottom bracket, so I was excited to see what it might do for me. Much quicker than usual I was able to find a good rhythm and push a big gear. Within the first of two laps I jumped into third position, just behind Winkler (North Germany’s Time Trial Champion) and Jan Raphael (Ironman Florida winner). Finishing the second lap, I lost a little ground to Winkler, but managed to keep about the same distance, even closed the gap by 11 seconds to Jan Raphael. Once I hit transition I was able to see Jan and Winkler just leaving. Therefore, I tried to focus on another quick transition, to be able to close the gap as soon as possible.
Of course, it was a little unrealistic to close the gap to Jan, but a second place was insight. Winkler was still 30 seconds in front as I passed by the first turnaround after 2 kilometers. His second place came to an end at the 3.5k mark as I managed to close the gap. However, it wasn’t just me, also Lukas Kampkötter from Hannover 96 came from behind. We ran and had a short fight for second which he won with about 700 meters to go. His run split of 16:35 was the fastest of the day and gave him a good second place finish behind Jan Raphael. I did hold on to the podium and finished in third with a 17:22.
All in all, this was probably my best performance of the year, 6 seconds behind Lukas and 1:23 behind Jan, who both started for Hannover 96 and therefore had an advantage of 25 seconds starting the swim. Coming up are four weeks of hard training for the 70.3 qualifier in Antwerp. During this training I will participate in the Tour de Wendland, 3 day road-race event and put a big focus on my run performance.
http://www.stgk.info/Ergebnisse/2010/13/rl-m.pdf
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