There was only one woman who was the very best at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship today and that was Germany’s Caroline Pohle. Already during the swim she took the lead solo and only at the finish did she see some competitors again for the first time.
With a swim time of 25:10 minutes – in a beautiful setting – Pohle immediately distanced herself from the other women: at forty seconds followed a large group that included Marta Sanchez and Sif Bendix Madsen, while Lisa Norden and Kat Matthews followed 1:10 minute behind.
Even on the bike, Pohle kept going and gave no one a chance to get close. Even though she was being chased from behind – especially by Bendix Madsen and Matthews, who ended up riding together in positions two and three – her lead actually only kept growing. At the halfway point, her lead was already almost a minute and a half, and even after that, Pohle’s gap continued to grow. Once in T2, Madsen and Matthews followed at 2:20 minutes and Solveig Lovseth came back fourth with a gap of 3:08 minutes. That these four women would compete for the podium was clear by then, as the next women followed at more than six minutes.
Even during the run, Pohle did not crack anywhere and only managed to increase her lead. In the end, she ran to a stunning victory and Ironman 70.3 European Championship title in a time of 3:59:40. Matthews was second in 4:02:39 and Lovseth third in 4:05:56.
