Double Victory in Frankfurt

Marino Vanhoenacker took the big win at the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt last weekend. He was not alone on the podium with his Plasma Premium as SCOTT triathlete Sebastian Kienle took second place and crushed the fastest bike split of the day despite the severe rainy conditions.

This was Marino’s 7th Ironman title in Frankfurt and he finished the race with an impressive time of 8:03:3, 6 minutes ahead of Sebastian, and a 10:33 margin over 3rd place finisher Clemente Alonso-McKernan of Spain.

“Today I had the opportunity show the people who have said that there hasn't been any competition in Austria over the last six years that I'm even better," Vanhoenacker told Ironman television interviewers. "Today I had a lot of doubts - the swim was incredibly fast, the bike was totally hard because of the (rainy) weather and Sebastian Kienle was pushing so hard. And it wasn’t so nice that Sebastian pushed so hard during the first 20 kilometers of the run."

Marino and Sebastian are now qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii this coming October, and they will be two of the top contenders for the title.