35-year-old Dirk Bockel has won the third edition of the Ironman Regensburg in Germany, his first Ironman victory. The Luxembourgish triathlete of LEOPARD TREK bested Michael Raelert for the win and finished with a time of 8h11m59s, a new course record in Regensburg.
“I’m incredibly happy with this result. I have sacrificed three months of my life to be at my best here. I have received amazing support from the team since this winter and I’m proud to put LEOPARD TREK on top of the podium.”
Michael Raelert was the first athlete out of the water of Lake Guggenberg in 45:01 minutes. The German is a specialist of the short distance triathlon, with two victories in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Bockel finished the 3,8 km swim just two seconds behind Raelert, and rode a steady pace in the challenging two-lap bike course through a national park.
“I wanted to push the watts that I know I can push for 180km. The course had 1,400 vertical meters of climbing and I managed to push an average of 300 Watts throughout the bike leg. My average speed was 41 km/h.”
Bockel was about one minute behind the German for most of the bike leg, but caught up with him just before the second transition. “I expected that Michael was pacing too high and I didn’t panic. When I caught up with him, it gave me an obvious boost.”
The temperature meanwhile had gone to 30 degrees celsius. Bockel: “I prepared in Florida for this race, so I was used to the heat. I’m of course completely empty and dehydrated now, and it will take three or four days before I can walk again.”
Early in the concluding marathon (4 laps through scenic parts of the historic city centre of Regensburg), Bockel had built a gap of several minutes on Raelert, with the third best athlete in the race more than 20 minutes down on Bockel. The gap steadily went up to about four minutes by the half-way point, grew to seven minutes with 10k to go. Bockel kept this advantage and finished seven minutes ahead of the German, who took second in his first Ironman ever.
This win is the first Ironman victory for Bockel, who finished fourth in the 2011 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. The Luxembourger won the Ironman 70.3 in Florida in 2009. “I’m super happy. I ran my fastest race marathon ever. All was super well in place in the last months and I was ready for a good fight.”
Bockel’s time (8:11:59) is good for a new course record in Regensburg. The previous record, set by Faris Al-Sultan in 2010, was 8:13:37.
“It was super hard, but the fans were incredibly supportive. I’m looking forward now to a good massage, a cold beer and a short break! After that, I prepare for my next race, in about six weeks time.”
Bockel’s split times: 45m03s minutes (swim); 4h31m08s (bike); 2h51m45s (run).
