Beforehand, Miki Taagholt was seen as one of the biggest favorites for Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg and apparently the Dane was able to handle that pressure just fine: he just won the race thanks to a very strong performance.
While German Rico Bogen was the fastest swimmer of the day with a time of 23:14 minutes, he did not manage to really make a big difference. As many as seven men came out of the water almost immediately after Bogen, thus creating an ideal scenario for these athletes to collectively form a leading group. That is exactly what happened and eventually six men ended up biking together: in addition to Taagholt and Bogen, Youri Keulen, Jan Stratmann, Felipe Azevedo and Christophe de Keyser were also in the leading group. The pace in this leading group was high, allowing the six men to begin their half marathon with a lead of nearly 2:30 minutes over the first pursuers.
During the run, an exciting scenario unfolded, with De Keyser taking the lead first. However, the Belgian’s lead did not become large, as almost all men continued to run close to him. Halfway through, though, the first serious differences became visible: De Keyser was still in the lead, with Taagholt eight seconds behind. Azevedo followed in third at 34 seconds, followed by Stratmann at more than a minute.
When Taagholt passed De Keyser, the two stayed together for a while, but then the Belgian still had to acknowledge his superior in Taagholt, who won the race in a time of 3:49:20. In the final kilometers his lead had increased considerably, as De Keyser finished second, 1:27 minute behind. 2:22 minutes after the winner, Azevedo finished third.
