Anne Haug bounces back with SENSATIONAL season opener at IRONMAN Lanzarote

Former IRONMAN World Champion Anne Haug produced a mesmerizing performance at IRONMAN Lanzarote, as the German superstar set a new course record and won by more than 40 minutes.

Running a blistering 2:49:08 marathon off one of the hardest bike legs in the sport, Haug dominated in her first race of the season and shows no signs of slowing down in her 18th season as a professional triathlete.

Having missed the first two T100 Triathlon World Tour events of the season due to health problems, there is no questioning her form and fitness ahead of the San Francisco T100 in June.

A mind blowing performance

With IRONMAN Lanzarote celebrating its 32nd anniversary this season, the race course deserved to witness a special performance, and that it did. Absolutely unstoppable, Haug led from gun to tape and never looked back all day.

Out of the water in 54:26, Haug already had a five minute buffer over Ireland’s Fiona Moriaty and defending champion Lydia Dant coming into T1, with the German starting the bike leg +4:30 ahead.

Dant, holding the gap to Haug for the first 50km, slowly started losing time from then onwards to the front, and by the halfway mark, Haug’s lead was almost in the double digits.

Riding a new bike record of 5:17:49, Haug was more than a match for the challenging course, which features 2300m of elevation gain, a similar amount of climbing to the bike leg at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.

With a twenty minute lead out on to the run, Haug, who has been the top ranked athlete in the world for the past two consecutive seasons, could have easily cruised her way to victory, but instead set out at a ferocious pace.

IRONMAN Lanzarote 2024 - Anne Haug on run course — Photo Credit: James Mitchell for IRONMAN

Running a 2:49 split, which is her second fastest marathon outside of Challenge Roth, Haug secured the triple crown of the bike, run and overall course records on her way to victory.

Almost 45 minutes ahead of French athlete Jeanne Colledge in second and Britain’s Dant in third, Haug underlined that at 41 years of age, she is still amongst the highest calibre of athletes in the world.