IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland 2023 results: Ryf holds off Gentle

In a thrilling battle between long course legend Daniela Ryf and PTO World #1 Ashleigh Gentle at IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland, Ryf came out on top on home turf after putting together an incredible bike leg.

Featuring only a women’s race on the professional side of racing, the big matchup of the event didn’t disappoint, as Ryf showed once again why she should be considered one of the greatest long distance triathletes ever.

Having struggled for form at the start of the year, with a DNF at the PTO Tour European Open in Ibiza, Ryf now looks to be returning to full fitness just in time.

Swim – Siffert leads the way

Out of the water it was Swiss athlete Alanis Siffert who exited with a substantial lead over the rest of the field, as she came into transition with +0:46 over Ryf and +0:48 over Gentle, as all the contenders, including Swiss star Nina Derron, made it on to the bike within a minute of each other.

Further back, German duo Laura Jansen and Anne Reichsmann came out of the water in sixth and seventh at +3:31 and +3:39, leaving themselves a lot of work to do on the bike if they had any hopes of making it back up to the podium positions.

Bike – No catching Ryf

Despite bravely hanging on to the Swiss rocket for the first 10km of the bike, Gentle quickly lost time after dropping off Ryf, as the home favourite put 45 seconds into the Gentle by the 17km mark, with Siffert and Derron by then over three minutes behind.

At 42km, Gentle was riding alone over +2:30 behind Ryf, who seemed unstoppable at the front of the race. In third, Derron was riding hard but losing time to both Ryf and Gentle, as Reichsmann and Jansen slowly but surely moved up the field into fourth and fifth.

Into transition, Ryf had extended her lead to +6:17 over Gentle, as she put together an incredible 2:14:15 bike split, which was over six minutes quicker than anyone else on the course. Still in third place, Derron had been joined by Reichsmann, with the pair +13:30 back from Ryf and more than seven minutes down on Gentle.

Run – Ryf holds strong

Whilst a fantastic runner, Gentle was going to have her work cut out to make up the deficit to Ryf and from the start looked likely to be relying on a blow up by the Swiss star if she was to take the win.

Throughout the run, Gentle slowly whittled down the gap to Ryf, but it was clear that she was going to run out of real estate, as Ryf held strong to put together an impressive 1:22:13 run split off the back of her blistering bike leg to comfortably take the win, with Gentle +2:23 back after running a 1:18:19.

Daniela Ryf wins IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland — Photo credit – IRONMAN Switzerland

Behind, Reichsmann and Jansen continued to push through the field, passing Derron early on, with Reichsmann just managing to hold off her compatriot to take third, just 40 seconds ahead of Jansen, as Finland’s Heini Hartilkainen finished fifth.