IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland 2022 results: Youri Keulen runs to victory

Chief Correspondent

Today’s IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland in Rapperswil-Jona was a Pro Men’s only race, with the Pro Women today racing at IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg.

There was $15,000 on offer ($4,000 for the winner) and three IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship qualifying slots to go with it.

Swim

Long-time WTCS regular, Florin Salvisberg (SUI), gave the home crowd something to cheer for from the start, exiting the 1.9km swim in the Obersee in 23:21. That gave him a clear 24 seconds advantage over a closely knit group of eight.

Amongst those who would be trying to chase him down were Nicolas Mann (GER), the recent winner at Challenge St. Pölten, Youri Keulen (NED), Great Britain’s James Teagle and Mattia Ceccarelli (ITA), who can typically relied upon to produce some speed on two wheels. He recently finished second at Challenge Riccione – one place ahead of swim leader Salvisberg.

Bike

It didn’t take too long before Salvisberg’s swim advantage was erased, and over the opening quarter of the ride he would be joined at the front by Keulen, Mann and Ceccarelli.

That quartet would continue to build a significant lead on their chasers over the remainder of the 90km bike course. By the time T2 came into view, their advantage had ballooned out to a whopping four and a half minutes over James Teagle, who would start the run in fifth place.

Run

Once out of T2, it was soon a case of four becomes two, as Nicolas Mann and Youri Keulen immediately separated themselves from Salvisberg and Ceccarelli. They would run virtually stride-for-stride for the first 15km, before the pressure finally told on Mann, and Keulen was able to gain a slight advantage.

Behind, Teagle had now moved into fourth place, passing Salvisburg, and with Ceccarelli in his sights. Could he close enough over the final quarter of the race to claim the final spot on the podium?

Keulen held strong over the final 5km, closing out his day with a 1:12:11 half marathon, which would leave him 1:06 clear of Mann at the finish.

Ceccarelli held on to complete the podium, with Teagle just 56 seconds down on the Italian at the finish in fourth place.