Five-time IRONMAN World Champion Daniela Ryf is certainly a triathlon legend that is worth listening too when it comes to full-distance race.
The long-course supremo was the IRONMAN South Africa champion back in 2017 and finished eighth last year in her final race as a professional triathlete.
Ahead of this year’s iteration of the event, ‘Angry Bird’ discussed, on IRONMAN’s A Fighting Chance YouTube series [embedded at the bottom of the article], what triathletes – both professional and age-groupers – can expect from the IRONMAN South Africa course.
A rough ocean swim
The swim takes place just off Hobie Beach in Nelson Mandela Bay, and Ryf warns that competitors can expect rough waters in the two-lap swim – before a windy bike leg further challenges the field.
“There is potential for a rough ocean swim to begin the race,” explained the Swiss legend, “and following that you can definitely expect a windy bike leg. There is a lot of exposed stretches and these really make the race hard having to fight against the wind.
A troublesome first discipline could benefit the stronger swimmers in both fields. T100 world champion Marten Van Riel, Danish star Magnus Ditlev, Italian Mattia Ceccarelli, German Florian Angert and Britain’s Andrew Horsfall-Turner are the PTO’s top ranked swimmers on the men’s side.
In the women’s race, a tough swim could help the likes of defending champion Marta Sanchez of Spain, Denmark’s Maja Stage Nielsen, France’s Charlene Clavel, Germany’s Johanna Ahrens and Dutch contender Els Visser who rank as the PTO’s highest rated swimmers.
Surface concerns
However, Ryf also highlighted potential concerns on the bike course in addition to the wind, namely uneven surfaces.
“What a lot of people don’t know is how rough the surfaces are on the bike course, and then there is the run which is pretty much rolling hills, so it definitely requires a lot of strength off the bike.
The IRONMAN G.O.A.T. picked out a number of male cyclists who could put the pedal to the metal and shape the trajectory of the race.
“With guys like [Leon] Chevalier, Van Riel, Angert and Ditlev – the amount of power that is in that field on the bike is honestly a little bit scary, so it will be really fascinating to see how hard they push each other and who is going to save something for the run.”
The 37-year-old’s overarching opinion, however, was that triathletes should try to take in the atmosphere of one of her favourite races.
“It is a tough race, but the scenery is beautiful – along the coast you have these amazing ocean views. For many athletes this is the first race of the year so we can expect a lot of surprises – many will use the race as a platform to build on for the season.”
“The race brings back a lot of memories – the amazing crowd support and what I will never forget is the frying you can smell along the run course – the locals doing their barbecues while they spectate and cheer for the athletes which make a great atmosphere.
