He was in front right from the start, on the bike he managed to create a little gap, and on the run he finished what he had started Denmark’s Daniel Baekkegard just took a big win at Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote. He outran, among others, Germany’s Mika Noodt (+0:54) and Denmark’s Thor Bendix Madsen (+4:43), who respectively finished second and third.
It was no surprise to see short-distance super start Richard Varga (SVK) take the lead in the water. Baekkegard didn’t allow him to escape far, though; Baekkegard reached his bike only a few seconds behind Varga. Germany’s Jan Stratmann got out of the water in third place (+1:22).
On the bike, Baekkegard soon rode to the front, while Varga, who’s used to cycling in a pack, dropped back hard. Madsen got out of the water in tenth place, but he soon moved up in the ranking to a second place. Together with Noodt he started chasing Baekkegard. In the final kilometers, it turned out to be Bendix Madsen who had the strongest legs, as he left Noodt behind.
In T2, Baekkegard had an advantage of 1:16 minutes to Bendix Madsen and 1:32 minutes to Noodt. Stratmann racked his bike in fourth place, only a few seconds behind Noodt.
Baekkegard was untouchable in the front during the half-marathon. Behind him, Noodt passed by Bendix Madsen and ran to a second place after approximately five km. Stratmann – still in fourth place and known to be a strong runner – didn’t manage to top the speed of the top three.
Beakkegard mantained his lead and broke the tape after 4:03:30 hours. Noodt took second and Bendix Madsen settled for third.
