Estonian Henry Räppo has – just like last year – won Ironman 70.3 Tallinn. While last year he had to sprint for the victory and ultimately finished just three seconds ahead, this time he secured a margin of over a minute. Still, he only clinched the win in the final stage of the race. In the women’s race, Italy’s Marta Bernardi took the victory.
During the swim, Germany’s Hannes Butters was the fastest, coming out of the water more than a minute ahead of Angert, Räppo, Marco Lorenzon, Enzo Bourdon, and Casimir Moine. However, Räppo is known for his strong bike leg and demonstrated why in the opening kilometers, though Butters ultimately remained dominant on the bike as well. In T2, Butters held a lead of over 2:20 minutes on Räppo, with Louis Woodgate following in third at 2:45 minutes.
As dominant as Butters was during the swim and bike legs, Räppo was equally dominant on the run: in the first four kilometers alone, he shaved off more than a minute of his deficit, catching up to Butters by the eight-kilometer mark. Any potential alliance was short-lived, as Räppo quickly pulled away from Butters to ultimately win in 3:38:31. Butters took second place in 3:39:38, and Bourdon finished third in 3:41:12.
In the women’s race, the win went to Marta Bernardi, who finished in 4:12:04, holding a one-minute lead over France’s Sandra Huon (4:13:05). Local favorite Liis Kapten completed the podium in third with a time of 4:13:08.
