Belgian triathlete Kenneth Vandendriessche just won the leaden Ironman Lanzarote triathlon after a perfectly paced race in which he maintained a more than solid pace on the bike and then finished it off with a strong marathon in 2:39. It is already the second time Vandendriessche has won the Ironman Lanzarote. Also in 2022, Vandendriessche was the strongest on the island where he used to go for trainings as well. His second win in Lanzarote also earns him a direct qualification for the Ironman World Championships on Kona.
During the 3.8 km swim, Vandendriessche was able to narrow the gap to 5:43 on fastest swimmer Mikel Ugarte. The Spanish triathlete came out of the water after 49:30. On the bike Kenneth advanced nicely into the top-10. He maintained his own pace, making sure he didn’t blow himself up on the very tough course that makes Ironman Lanzarote as famous as it is.
The race leader at that point, British Dane Matt Palmer, did blow himself up completely. The former Club La Santa employee and only second-year pro triathlete went hard on the course he knows like the back of his hand. After realizing a 4:35 bike time, which is a stunning performance on Lanzarote’s leaden course, Palmer had a 6:41 minute lead over Mikel Ugarte and 7:38 on Dutchman Pim Van Diemen. Kenneth Vandendriessche came off the bike in 7th position, 12:27 minutes behind the race leader.
During the marathon, Palmer dropped off very quickly. Mikel Ugarte took over the lead position after 10km, while his compatriot Jordi Montraveta followed in second. By then, Vandendriessche had reduced the gap to 3:16 already. After 30 km, Vandendriessche went up and over the two Spaniards. From then on the road was open to a spectacular victory and a nice revenge for Ironman South Africa where he had to drop out earlier this season with stomach problems.
After a marathon in an impressive 2:39:23, Kenneth Vandendriessche won his second Ironman Lanzarote in 8:29:54. Jordi Montraveta was second in 8:32:26 and Ramos third in 8:36:39.
