I know I am a tri junkie when I am up at 5 am on a Sunday, and surfing ST and Callenge Roth before heading out for a 6 hour training day, however, I was totally pumped to see that Hellriegel is the dude up there with Macca well into the bike. Don’t know what Tomas can pull off these day, but I would love to see him have another great Ironman again.
From the Challenge Roth website:
11:24 - We speculate
Might this be the day of Thomas Hellriegel’s first victory in Roth??
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11:18 - Bound for world record
Our spotters are in Eckersmühlen and the duo Hellriegel/McCormack just came through.Race-time:4:59:34 hours…that means Macca is still bound for his record.
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11:15 - The top-ten swimmers
Here are the best ten swimming-times achieved by our athletes today. Recent interim times can be found in the navigation on the left side. 1. JACOBS, Peter ( AUS ) 0:46:12 2. LLANOS, Eneko ( ESP ) 0:46:25 3. GÖHLER, Rene ( GER ) 0:46:55 4. NORDMEYER, Christopher ( GER ) 0:47:54 5. NIEDRIG, Andreas ( GER ) 0:47:54 6. BECK, Thomas ( DEN ) 0:49:25 7. ZEULNER, Bernd ( GER ) 0:49:39 8. TWELSIEK, Maik ( GER ) 0:49:42 9. HELLRIEGEL, Thomas ( GER ) 0:49:45 10. MCCORMACK, Chris ( AUS ) 0:49:45
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11:12 - Good looking at kilometer 147
Belinda Granger and Joanna Lawn look very good at kilometer 147, so there won’t be no prognosis from our side…
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11:05 - Superman holds a small advance
An age-grouper, dressed up as superman, rides down Solarer Berg in front of the leading duo, but today these two seem to be willing to take up even historic superheroes…
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11:01 - Bound for world record?
Will there be a new world record? The interim time at kilometer 153 seems to suggest so. Macca and Hellriegel flying up Solarer Berg, without picking up provisions. Both chasing after Superman…and Niedrig keeps falling back - 4:24 behind.
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10:59 - Participants from 44 nations
There are 4135 athletes from 44 nations participating in the Quelle Challenge Roth in 2007. The “Best Old Race” welcomes participants from such remote places as the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Peru - a magnet for triathletes from all over the world.
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10:43 - Van Vlerken is back
Dutchwoman Yvonne van Vlerken is back, six minutes behind the leading duo she holds third place. Another 8 minutes behind are Csomor and Anja Ippach.
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10:44 - Llanos keeps losing ground
Eneko Llanos, too, is losing ground, falling back ever further from the leading duo. The Spaniard is trailing by 4:30. Fifth is Maik Twelsiek, trailing by 5:30.
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10:41 - Kilometer 142
Andreas Niedrig keeps falling back further and further, now trailing by 2:12 minutes behind Thomas Hellriegel and Chris McCormack. Macca keeps pushing.
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10:32 - Police as Macca-fan
In Eysölden, the police show their support for Macca. Our spotters tell us about a patrol car sporting an Australian flag.
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10:29 - Women at kilometer 105
Joanna Lawn and Belinda Granger keep defending their lead against Anja Ippach. Trailing by 3 minutes is number 53, Erika Csomor from Hungary.Another 4 minutes behind is Heike Funk.
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10:20 - Four hours into the race
Short summary: At kilometer 108 Lawn and Granger are still leading the women’s field.A strong Anja Ippach defends her third place.In the men’s field, at kilometer 126, we have a duo as well: Hellriegel and McCormack. Third is Andreas Niedrig.A little further back we find Eneko Llanos.At five and six we have the long-time leading Pete Jacobs and Maik Twelsiek.
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10:16 - Niedrig falls back
Now it’s getting tough: After 126 kilometers Niedrig has to let the leading duo go.On the highest point next to the Kalvarienberg Niedrig is trailing by 18 seconds and Macca is setting the pace in an upcoming wind.
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10:10 - Kilometer 120
Without much fuss Andreas Niedrig has crept up to the leading duo. But he has to fight. Next ist Llanos,1:53 behind,5. Pete Jacobs + 2:02, 6. Twelsiek + 2:14.
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10:01 - Duo keeps expanding its advance
Hellriegel and Macca keep pushing the pedal.After 117 kilometers they have expanded their advance on Jacobs to 1:20. Five seconds behind Jacobs follow Llanos and Twelsiek.
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9:59 - Greetings to the world
The tri2b.com editorial staff and TEAM Challenge sends greetings to all the visitors. Many greetings go out to Challenge Wanaka in New Zealand and to Challenge Niederbronn-les-Baines in France. Tension stays high in Roth! We hope you are enjoying yourselves and having a great day.
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9:03 - Men at kilometer 110
Hellriegel and Macca are slowly breaking away. The two of them are now 13 seconds ahead of Pete Jacobs.Llanos and Twelsiek are 55 seconds behind them.
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9:51- Women in Eckersmühlen
It’s the same old: At kilometer 95 Belinda Granger and Joanna Lawn are still leading the field. The remarkable distance between them and Van Vlerken and Anja Ippach has remained unchanged.
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9:42 - First impressions from the course
The tri2b.com-team and Team Challenge have, together with GS Television production-team, captured the first impressions from this morning’s start on video. Click here for the video