The triathlete Jan Frodeno leads after the first change at Challenge Roth. Last year’s winners Patrick Lange and Anne Haug (Bayreuth), on the other hand, are both several minutes behind at the 20th edition of the Challenge Roth.
Back in the top position straight from rehab: The favorite at Challenge Roth Jan Frodeno is back strong immediately after his protracted Achilles tendon injury. The 40-year-old completed the 3.8-kilometer swim at the triathlon in Middle Franconia in 48:54 minutes. Immediately behind him, Maurice Clavel from Offenburg climbed out of the water.
As the cycling progressed, the group of two turned into a group of five at the top. Last year’s winner Patrick Lange was fourth before the 180 kilometers on the bike and the subsequent marathon (1:30 minutes), but could not keep up with the group of five. Several minutes behind, he reached the Solarer Berg in sixth place.
Also Anne Haug behind
As expected, Anne Haug had some distance to the fastest swimmers. She was more than seven minutes behind before the first change to the leaders Fenella Langridge and Rebecca Clarke.
After that, Haug also had problems in the transition area and lost some time. In cycling, however, she is now steadily catching up on Clarke – Langridge, on the other hand, continues to hold the lead.
Kienle assesses Haug’s performance – and still has hope
“Of course, Anne has never been the absolute top swimmer. But the fact that the gap is so big: That speaks more for the fact that she is struggling a bit and that she is lacking in physical performance. And if she is lacking in swimming, it’s not the case either that she reappears like Kai out of the box when cycling,” said the currently injured triathlete Sebastian Kienle, second in Roth in 2010, in the BR interview with moderator Julia Büchler. “But: It’s a damn long day and Anne has already turned around such races.”
The top athletes swam without wetsuits this time because the water temperature in the Main-Danube Canal is currently 22.8 degrees Celsius. So wetsuits were not allowed for top staff – so swimming was a bit slower.
“Here is Bavaria”: The BR24 newsletter informs you about the most important things of the day at a glance, Monday to Friday after work – compact and directly in your private mailbox. Register here!
Source: Blickpunkt Sport 03.07.2022 – 06:15 a.m
