Search
shop

IRONMAN France 2022 results: Nice wins for Von Berg and Thoes

Rudy Von Berg claimed the expected full-distance debut win on 'home soil'
Chief Correspondent
Last updated -
STRENGTH. ENDURANCE. PERFORMANCE.

The top-ranked male athlete showed his class on debut over the distance on Sunday at IRONMAN France, while the new women’s champion in Nice put on a terrific cycling and running demonstration for a massive margin of victory.

Advertisement

PRO Men – winning start for Rudy

Nice and the Promenade des Anglais on the Côte d’Azur saw the full-distance debut of Rudy Von Berg on Sunday. While he represents the USA, the country of his birth, Von Berg grew up in the south of France as he explained to us in an extended interview earlier this year.

Having secured a memorable bronze medal at the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, there was never going to be anywhere else but Nice for his IRONMAN debut.

Rudy duly led through the opening swim before being joined later on the bike leg by William Mennesson (FRA), winner last month of IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca. A previous winner of Embrunman too, Mennesson, like Von Berg, will have been very happy in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes.

Mennesson led off the bike by a minute with everyone else basically in a different post code, with third-placed Matteo Fontana (ITA) was more than 16 minutes adrift.

A fast transition all but eliminated the Mennesson advantage, and for the first 25km the duo were never separated by more than a minute. Von Berg was able to pick it up in the final third of the race and with a 2:48:33 marathon, take the expected debut victory and the one Kona slot on offer.

PRO Women – Thoes in total control

Manon Genet (FRA) was first back to the beach after a 55:24 swim, followed 2:24 later by a quintet of Jeanne Collange (FRA), Svenja Thoes (GER), Gabriella Zelinka (HUN), Federica de Nicola (ITA) and Alexandra Tondeur (BEL).

Genet maintained the lead until around the halfway mark on the bike, when she was joined by Thoes, who had won last month at Challenge Malta. From then on, the race changed shape totally as Thoes pushed on to build a whopping advantage of almost nine minutes over Genet by T2, with De Nicola and Tondeur down by a quarter of an hour.

There would be no change on the run, indeed the Thoes domination extended further. Closing with a 3:01:34 marathon, her winning margin was a huge 23 minutes as Genet faded out of contention, leaving Tondeur (3:03:50 marathon) to take a distant second and Zelinka to round out the podium three minutes later.

In taking the win, Thoes adds to a previous full-distance win at IRONMAN Cozumel in 2018. She will have first option on the one Kona qualifying slot on offer for her efforts – and a winning cheque of $12,000.

IRONMAN France, Nice results 2022

Sunday 26 June 2022 – 3.8km / 180km / 42.2km

PRO Men

  • 1. Rudy Von Berg (USA) – 8:24:26
  • 2.William Mennesson (FRA) – 8:27:42
  • 3. Arthur Horseau (FRA) – 8:35:06
  • 4. Thomas Navarro (FRA) – 8:42:05
  • 5. Jaroslav Kovacic (SLO) – 8:44:31

PRO Women

  • 1. Svenja Thoes (GER) – 9:18:48
  • 2. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) – 9:42:17
  • 3. Gabriella Zelinka (HUN) – 9:45:15
  • 4.
  • 5.
John Levison
Written by
John Levison
TRI247's Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
Discover more
Dave Ellis / Luke Pollard - World Para Triathlon Championships Pontevedra 2023
Golden opportunity – British Triathlon launches search for LA2028 paratriathlon guides
IRONMAN Lanzarote 2024 - Anne Haug on run course
Best marathon shoes for Ironman – the ‘legal’ super shoes you CAN wear to level up your run split
Challenge Sanremo 2024 - Photo: Jose Luis Hourcade
How to fuel your triathlon training: Expert nutritionist tips to help you nail every session
swim start IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2024 photo credit Tony Svensson IRONMAN
Level up your Ironman swim split – must-read tips from an expert swim coach
Ironman gear guide – everything you need to get to the finish line of a full distance triathlon
latest News
Richard Varga Jonny Brownlee Arzachena
Triathlon legend Jonny Brownlee reveals ‘Last Dance’ motivation behind latest challenge
IRONMAN Kona 2022 Age Group Results
How will “re-imagined” IRONMAN World Championship at Kona actually look for Age Groupers?
Lucy Charles-Barclay IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2023 Finish
IRONMAN World Championship goes ALL IN on Kona again with men and women to race on same day from 2026
Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews on the run at the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship
Nice gets consolation prize of 70.3 Worlds after IRONMAN World Championships return to Kona
Kona scenic 2022 photo credit Getty Images for IRONMAN
The survey results which prompted IRONMAN’s dramatic Kona U-turn
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...