Renowned chef Gordon Ramsay made a successful return to triathlon competition at the weekend, before confirming there would be more to come from him throughout the remainder of the season.
The 58-year-old Scotsman completed the IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg Remich – Région Moselle in a creditable time of 6:52:28 as he made his long-awaited return from injuries sustained in a cycling accident a year ago.
Posting on his Instagram account after the race, he shared a video showing him hugging his wife Tana, along with the caption “IRONMAN 70.3… done! I’M BACK… and Cooking!!!”.
Bouncing back
Ramsay’s IRONMAN history includes completing the sport’s pinnacle event – the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 2013 and IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire, along with several other IRONMAN 70.3 races.
But he was forced to put his training on hold after being involved in a ‘scary’ cycling accident last year, something he was quick to reference prior to his comeback race.
“Good morning Luxembourg!!! So excited to be able to participate at this @ironmantri. It’s taken a lot of hard work and training to get me back to where I am today and it was all for this! Good luck to everyone participating today and LFG !!!! See you at the finish Gx,” he posted on Instagram.
‘More races to come’
After crossing the line in 2,106th place overall, he said: “Super excited to be back, what an incredible race and well organised. From this time a year ago, it’s a dream come true. Looking forward to more races to come.”
The IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg Remich – Région Moselle triathlon, which is now in its 12th year is the only race on the circuit which takes athletes through three different countries; a 1.9km swim in the river Moselle on the German side, a 90km bike through the rolling vineyards of Luxembourg and France, and a 21.1km run through the host city town of Remich.
Ramsay completed the one-loop swim course in the calm river waters in a time of 42:41; his loop on the rolling bike course took him 3:16:28, while his run time across the flat course along the river, where he was cheered home by the large crowds, took him 2:34:03.
Hella Haak won the women’s overall race in a time of 4:31:45 and Ben de Wolf was the fastest man in 4:07:22.
Meanwhile, Ramsay’s son Jack beat his dad’s time by an hour, finishing 1,312th overall in 5:53:19.
