Frenchman Denis Chevrot has just won Ironman Klagenfurt in impressive fashion. After coming off the bike a few minutes behind, he made up for everything during the marathon and eventually secured himself a stunning victory.
During the swim, it was still German Lukas Wojt – known anyway for his strong swim – who led the field and after 46:29 minutes he came out of the water solo. Behind him, however, a huge group of fourteen athletes formed, who quickly caught up to Wojt on the bike. Among them were the biggest favorites, including Florian Angert, Niek Heldoorn, Simon Viain and Chevrot as well.
The large group stayed together for a long time, but after about 65 kilometers Norwegian Kristian Grue went on a solo adventure. He saw his lead grow to about 2:30 minutes, but after about 120 kilometers Heldoorn also began to pick up the pace. It eventually led to the Dutchman riding alone to Grue and from that point both leaders rode together to T2. There they arrived with a two-minute lead over Chevrot, Arthur Horseau and Ion Saeveraas Breivold to start the marathon with that same margin.
During the marathon, however, it became clear fairly quickly that both Grue and Heldoorn did not have it in them to run to a podium finish: Chevrot and Horseau quickly advanced to the front and took over the race lead after about fifteen kilometers. From then on, the two compatriots also stayed together for nearly fifteen kilometers and Breivold also closed in, but with about ten kilometers to go, the decision fell in Chevrot’s favor. He ran away from both Horseau and Breivold and did not relinquish the victory anymore.
Chevrot won the race in 7:49:11, Horseau finished second in 7:52:20 and Breivold finished third in 7:53:13.
