Francfort : Le live

[ironturtle]

Al-Sultan quickly loses ground
He was in the lead a few minutes ago, now he's in fourth. Here are the top 4 through 133 km.

1. Chris Mccormack, AUS (11) 0:00.00
2. Eneko Llanos, ESP (12)
3. Andreas Böcherer, GER (14)
4. Faris Al-Sultan, GER (5)

Macca looks like he's really starting to pull away from the rest of the men, but he's also starting to show a bit of strain on his face.
Et si LLanos tirait les marrons du feu?

[matafan]

Il se passe quoi là ? Macca vient de laisser passer un gars.

[ironturtle]

Bocherer takes his turn at the front
The weakest runner of the first four, Andreas Bocherer has now moved ahead of McCormack. Bocherer is the only one of the first three on the course right now not using a disc wheel.
04:33 Wellington pulls away once again
For a second time today Ina Reinders got to within a few seconds of Chrissie Wellington (#60), only to lose a ton of time over the next few kilometers.

Wenke Kujala is getting lots of television time right now -- she looks pretty good, but continues to lose time to Wellington. She's been sitting up to stretch her back a bit, and has some physiotherapy tape on her shoulder and arm. (No doubt courtesy of her physiotherapist friend Melanie.)

Nicole Leder has really struggled through this second loop -- she's now 7:05 back.

Here are the splits behind Wellington:
* Ina Reinders (#58) at 1:52
* Wenke Kujala (#57) at 4:24
* Meike Krebs (#53) at 5:56
* Nicole Leder (#50) at 7:05

[ironturtle]

Markus Schönbach makes it through 70 km
He's a blind competitor from Germany. He's riding on a tandem bike and is now almost through the first loop of the bike.
Respect

[ironturtle]

Al-Sultan is two minutes back
He's in fourth place, but continues to lose time on McCormack, Bocherer and Llanos.
05:01 Wellington loses a bottle
Chrissie Wellington was worried about the possibility of losing some of her nutrition before this race and we just saw her lose a water bottle by accident.

She remains out in front and, while she looks like she's pushing hard, seems to be riding very well. She now enjoys a lead of almost five minutes over the women behind her.
04:57 The men up Heartbreak Hill
Andreas Böcherer (#14) is in the lead, followed by:
* Chris Mccormack (#11) at 1 second
* Eneko Llanos (#12) at 3 seconds

We're now getting set up for what could be a great run. Llanos is former XTERRA world champion and has raced well in the past over the Olympic distance -- he's a two-time Olympian.

[ironturtle]

Al-Sultan
"I made a mistake going to the front," Faris Al-Sultan just told the television crew.

It sounds like he's already given up on any hope of winning, but still looks strong as he starts the run here.
05:13 Macca flies through T2
The former short course world champ, who also happens to be the current Ford Ironman World Champion, beat Llanos out of the change tent.

Bocherer is just behind, but he's not likely to be a factor as he's about a three-hour Ironman marathon runner.

Macca is already pushing the pace -- it looks like he's trying to break Llanos early.
05:10 A fast bike split!
Macca, Bocherer and Llanos are just seconds away from T2. They're going to get there in 5:12 -- which will be about a 4:27 bike split.
05:07 Macca massages his legs
We just saw Chris McCormack stop pedalling in order to massage his upper thighs a bit. Has he pushed a bit too hard on the bike here today?

He continues to ride behind Bocherer -- they're almost done the ride as they go through the tunnel here in Frankfurt.
05:06 The men through 170 km
German's very own Andreas Böcherer (#14) led up the hill. Now what's interesting is the chase group that is just over 7 minutes down. At the back of that group, in 11th, is Cameron Brown.

The splits behind Bocherer:
* Chris Mccormack (#11) at 1 second
* Eneko Llanos (#12) at 3 seconds
* Faris Al-Sultan (#5) at 2 minutes
* Timo Bracht (#1) at 7:10
* Uwe Widmann (#6) at 7:12
* Maik Twelsiek (#18) at 7:13
* Hektor Llanos (#7) at 7:14
* Jan Raphael (#4) at 7:16
* Markus Fachbach (#15) at 7:18
Cameron Brown at 7:19

[ironturtle]

The men starting the run
So let the games begin. Now we'll find out if McCormack and Llanos went too hard on the bike and are catch-able on the run today. The chase group is now on the run course, with some fast runners getting ready to pursue the leaders.

Here are the splits starting the run:
Chris Mccormack (#11) is the current leader.

Behind him are:
* Eneko Llanos (#12) at 6 seconds
* Andreas Böcherer (#14) at 9 seconds
* Faris Al-Sultan (#5) at 2:32
* Uwe Widmann (#6) at 7:33
* Hektor Llanos (#7) at 7:33
* Timo Bracht (#1) at 7:34
* Maik Twelsiek (#18) at 7:35
* Cameron Brown (#10) at 7:38
* Jan Raphael (#4) at 7:49

[ironturtle]

The women's positions remain the same through 167 km
1. Chrissie Wellington, GBR (60) is now very close to Heartbreak Hill in Bad Vilbel. She continues to look strong and smooth on the bike as she powers towards T2.

Behind her still are:
2. Ina Reinders, GER (58)
3. Wenke Kujala, GER (57)
4. Meike Krebs, GER (53)
5. Nicole Leder, GER (50)

[ironturtle]

Llanos and McCormack now running together -- sub-8 pace?
The two leaders are on track for a sub-eight-hour clocking here at the Frankfurter Sparkasse Ironman European Championship.

1. Chris Mccormack, AUS (11) and Eneko Llanos, ESP (12) went through 1.7 km of the run in an overall time of 5:20.20

Then we had:
3. Andreas Böcherer, GER (14) +0.24
4. Faris Al-Sultan, GER (5) +3.23

[ironturtle]

Un peu tôt comme attaque ou macca et Faris ont fait les couillons à se griller à vélo?
Llanos pulls away
Through 3.8 km of the run, Eneko Llanos has opened up a nine second gap on McCormack.

[ironturtle]

Frankfurter Sparkasse Ironman European Championship LIVE!

Men NAME DIFFERENTIAL
Run: 3.8 km
1. Eneko Llanos
2. Chris Mccormack 9 seconds
3. Andreas Böcherer 1 minute
4. Faris Al-Sultan 3:39
5. Timo Bracht 7:26
6. Maik Twelsiek 7:28
7. Hektor Llanos 7:40
8. Cameron Brown 7:48
9. Jan Raphael 7:48
10. Markus Fachbach 7:48

[ironturtle]

Still together through 7.7 km
Llanos and McCormack continue to run side by side through the first loop of the run here.
05:42 Wellington destroys the rest of the field
The women once chasing Chrissie Wellington (#60) are now struggling up Heartbreak Hill while she's riding through Frankfurt, almost finished the ride.

We now have a new rider in second -- Wenke Kujala, but she looked like she was struggling up Heartbreak Hill in Bad Vilbel.
Here are the splits behind Wellington:
* Wenke Kujala (#57) at 8:56
* Ina Reinders (#58) at 9:13
* Meike Krebs (#53) at 9:52

[ptitlance]

tu suis attentivement tout ca dis donc! mais tu pourrais quand meme nous faire la traduction

[ironturtle]

Suis fan d'IM!!
(J'ai tous les DVD de Hawaiii depuis 1984 sauf 1 que je n'arrive pas à choper. )
NDM mais vraie passion. Et tant qu'à faire je vous mets les posts. Pour la traduction, regardez les chiffres

[ironchris]

NDM, mais une page dans le dernier Trimag la turtle, the star! Dans NDM mag, ils n'ont pas voulu de toi