The reigning IRONMAN World Champion Laura Philipp of Germany started her season in perfect style with a sixth straight victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau, adding to her titles there in 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The area is dubbed the ‘land of the 1000 hills’ but it was once again relatively plain sailing on home roads for Philipp once we got to the run section of the women’s race as she left her rivals standing, winning by over four minutes from Caroline Pohle, with Laura Jansen and Lena Meißner making it a home 1-2-3-4.
Meanwhile in the men’s race and at the other end of the experience spectrum when it comes to winning at middle distance and beyond, Lasse Nygaard Priester notched his first 70.3 success in just his second race as he led a German clean sweep of the top five positions.
It completed a welcome comeback for Nygaard Priester after overcoming a heart health scare when racing short distance WTCS events last year.
Women’s race – Philipp runs away with it again
It was Pohle, now up to #11 in the world rankings after four straight wins last season, who just led the field out of the water, with Meißner and Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) right on her feet – and Philipp a minute and 36 seconds backing in ninth place exiting the water.
But 20km into the bike leg, Philipp had bridged up to that trio and it stayed close all the way to T2. But by that point Pohle and Van Coevorden had dropped just over a minute off the pace and the leading trio were Philipp, Meißner and Jansen.
They were locked together and it was Meißner who was out first onto the run course but her narrow advantage didn’t last long, Philipp easing to the head of affairs.
And just a third of the way in the race for top spot looked to be over, with Philipp nearly two minutes ahead of Meißner and Jansen who were still side by side.
The gap continued to grow but by now Pohle had joined the other two in the battle for the minor podium places and would go on to claim second, just under a minute ahead of Jansen.
For Philipp it was the ideal start to the season – and the perfect warm-up for next weekend’s IRONMAN Hamburg where she’ll take on Kat Matthews who chased her home at last year’s IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.
Men’s race – Nygaard Priester holds on
Less than 25 seconds separated the top 12 in the swim but it was Nygaard Priester, who made his return to the sport at IRONMAN 70.3 Jesolo earlier this month, who was out of the water first.
And three Germans – Nygaard Priester, Nick Emde and Fabian Kraft – would dominate the bike, with little between them throughout.
That trio reached T2 together, with nearly two minutes back to the rest, and settled down to a run battle.
And it was Nygaard Priester, with that super-smooth running style of his, who quickly opened up a clear advantage. He was 30 seconds ahead after 3km and over a minute by the halfway point. The gap then held steady before Kraft started to eat into it significantly in the closing stages.
However the line came in time for Nygaard Priester who was able to celebrate an emotional victory, with he and Kraft both clocking impressive 1:06 half marathons.
IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau 2025 results
Sunday May 25, 2025 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
PRO Women
- 1. Laura Philipp (GER) – 4:16:30 [26:11 / 2:30:29 / 1:14:18]
- 2. Caroline Pohle (GER) – 4:20:50 [24:34 / 2:33:25 / 1:17:25]
- 3. Laura Jansen (GER) – 4:21:41 [25:45 / 2:31:13 / 1:19:09]
- 4. Lena Meißner (GER) – 4:23:59 [24:36 / 2:32:11 / 1:22:101]
- 5. Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) – 4:24:56 [24:41 / 2:33:01 / 1:21:22]
PRO Men
- 1. Lasse Nygaard Priester (GER) – 3:45:19 [22:40 / 2:11:33 / 1:06:16]
- 2. Fabian Kraft (GER) – 3:45:40 [22:45 / 2:11:31 / 1:06:26]
- 3. Nick Emde (GER) – 3:50:41 [23:01 / 2:11:01 / 1:11:35]
- 4. Jonas Hoffmann (GER) – 3:52:03 [23:06 / 2:16:11 / 1:07:45]
- 5. Cedric Osterholt (GER) – 3:52:57 [22:41 / 2:13:32 / 1:11:18]
