The race is known for its tough conditions and extreme weather, and today was no different: the Norseman Extreme triathlon proved to be extreme, but that didn’t stop Norway’s Jon Breivold and Julie Aspesletten from taking the win. Breivold claimed gold in the men’s race in 10:31:47, staying ahead of Kristian Grue (+23:34) and Allan Hovda (+37:18), who finished second and third and joined the completely Norwegian podium. In the women’s race, Asplesletten stopped the clock at 12:39:18, 45:39 minutes before Britain’s Flora Colledge took second place. Austria’s Dominique Lothaller crossed the line in third (+1:32:11).
Breivold bridges the gap on the bike
After coming out of the water in fourth, Breivold had some work to do on the bike, where he showed he had strong legs today as he managed to rack his bike back in T2 in first place. The thirteen minutes that he was behind Norway’s Kristian Grue after the swim were completely gone. Still, Breivold had to push it on the marathon, because Grue was only a handful of seconds behind him in T2. By running 3:41:02 for the marathon, Breivold assured himself of the win. Grue needed 23:34 more to come across the finish line in second place.
Asplesletten moves to the front on the bike, finishes it with a strong run
With a water temperature of approximately 18 degrees Celsius, it wasn’t such a cold swim by Norseman standards. It was Britain’s Colledge who exited the water in first place in 1:13:22. She had an advantage of almost nine minutes to the second woman: Norway’s Hanne Sande. With about 3,400 meters of climbing on the bike, the course isn’t known to be fast. Despite the rough conditions, Aspesletten, who was third out of the water, managed to pass people and move to first place, with a 10-minute gap on Colledge starting the run. Thanks to a strong marathon (4:20:16) that included another 2,000 meters of climbing, Aspesletten ran herself to an impressive win.
