A big win for Denmark’s Daniel Baekkegard at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship in Elsinore, Denmark, today. He shared the podium with fellow Danish athlete Miki Taagholt, who finished with silver (+2:00). The final podium spot was taken by Spain’s Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (+4:14).
During the swim, a lead pack of five managed to create a little gap to the rest of the fields. It were Germany’s Lennart Sievers, Taagholt, Dapena Gonzalez, Denmark’s Daniel Baekkegard and Denmark’s Alexander Mundt who were the first athletes to hop on their bikes. A big group followed around 20 seconds later.
On the bike, Baekkegard and Taagholt pushed the pace, as the two ended up riding to the front, where they battled side by side for the rest of the bike part. In T2, Baekkegard and Taagholt enjoyed a gap of 3:35 minutes towards the third man: Denmark’s Thor Bendix Madson. A big group – that had fallen apart a little before the second transition – followed six minutes behind the race leaders.
Once had his run shoes on, Baekkegard was off and soon out of sight for his chasers. Running 1:12:18 hour, he claimed a big victory. Taagholt crossed the line two minutes later in second place, and Spain’s Dapena Gonzalez had run to third during the final kilometers (+4:14).
