With a 6.9 kg bike and weighing just 65 kg himself, Thomas Steger has just won the Alpe d’Huez Triathlon. Of course, athletes first had to swim 2.2 kilometers before tackling the nearly 120-kilometer bike section – with the climb of Alpe d’Huez as the grand finale – followed by a run of over 19 kilometers. The Austrian triathlete proved to be the fastest of them all.
For Steger, this is a significant step up from last year’s result, when he took home the bronze in the same race. After the swim, today he still had a fair amount of time to make up, particularly on Pierre Dupuy, but Steger proved exceptionally strong on the bike, steadily riding his way to the front. He was equally impressive during the run, even as the chasers managed to close the gap slightly.
Steger won with a time of 5:33:41, finishing a few minutes ahead of Emile Blondel-Hermant, who took silver in 5:36:07. Blondel-Hermant had already won Monday’s duathlon on Alpe d’Huez – for the sixth time, no less – and once again proved to be entirely in his element competing in high-altitude mountain races. The bronze went to another Frenchman, Louis Richard, who finished third in 5:38:48.
