It may not have featured the sport’s biggest names, but Ironman 70.3 Poznan offered the perfect stage for rising talent to shine. Taking full advantage, Denmark’s Valdemar Solok and Great Britain’s Rebecca Anderbury claimed impressive victories with dominant performances across the day.
Solok stamped his authority on the men’s race from the very first stroke. Exiting the water in 23:53, he already held an 11-second gap over Estonia’s Henry Räppo. Once on the bike, Solok turned the screws, steadily extending his advantage to more than four minutes heading into T2.
Though his half marathon saw the cushion reduced, the Dane’s lead was never truly under threat. He broke the tape in 3:33:50, securing a wire-to-wire win. Spain’s Vicente Hernández Cabrera mounted a strong run to claim second in 3:35:42, with Räppo hanging on for third in 3:36:05.
In the women’s race, Anderbury had to come from behind after the swim, where she trailed Germany’s Sophie Fischer – first out of the water in 27:19 – by more than three minutes. But once on the bike, the Brit immediately went on the offensive. She soon closed the gap, pulling clear of the field with only Germany’s Franziska Hofmann able to briefly follow her wheel.
By the time Anderbury reached T2, her lead over Hofmann had grown to nearly two minutes, while Henrike Güber was already over seven minutes adrift. From there, the run played out with little suspense: Hofmann could make no inroads, leaving Anderbury to seal the win in 4:03:58. Hofmann crossed second in 4:07:35, while Poland’s Agnieszka Gadomska completed the podium in 4:11:58.