Matthews and Løvseth clash again in star-studded IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See

It’s the last IRONMAN Pro Series race of the season before the respective World Championships and Zell am See in Austria next weekend (Sunday 31 August) promises to be a cracker.

On the women’s side especially we have a stellar start list, headed by Kat Matthews (GBR) as she puts the finishing touches to what has so far been a near-perfect build to the IRONMAN World Championship.

But Olympian Solveig Løvseth (NOR) has taken the long-distance world by storm since moving up and takes Matthews on, as do Anne Reischmann (GER) and local favourite Lisa Perterer.

The men’s field meanwhile features Jonas Hoffmann (GER) and Cam Wurf (AUS).

Women’s field

IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun – to give it its full title – features over 100 professionals, one of the largest fields for a 70.3 event outside of European and World Championship races.

Matthews wears bib #1 for the women, hot off the heels of her 70.3 Swansea win last month.

She started the season with victory at IRONMAN Texas and was then second in the full-distance race of the year so far, behind reigning IRONMAN World Champ Laura Philipp at IRONMAN Hamburg.

In third that day in the quickest ever time (8:12:28) by an IRONMAN debutant was Løvseth.

She went on to win IRONMAN Lake Placid but was given a run for her money there by Austrian mid-distance expert Perterer who reopposes here.

Also in the reckoning will be Reischmann who won IRONMAN South Africa at the start of the campaign.

She’s part of a super-strong German challenge which also features arguably the sport’s fastest runner in Daniela Kleiser and short course star Lena Meißner.

Men’s field

Over in the men’s, the start list also shows a strong German contingent.

They are headed by Hoffmann, with three top-five finishes to his name this year.

Australian duo Wurf and Nick Thompson will bring added dynamism to the race while Brits Andrew Horsfall-Turner and Cameron Main go up against them – Horsfall-Turner is a big contender to lead out the swim, while Main has already claimed a second this season at 70.3 Venice-Jesolo.

And an interesting name down the list is Switzerland’s Adrien Briffod who is making real waves in trail running, notching a top five at the iconic Sierre-Zinal recently.

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