Skipper, Clarke, Don all top-10 at IRONMAN (Duathlon…) Hamburg

Bart Aernouts and Sarah Crowley are the winners in Germany

An (Ultra) Marathon kind of a day in Hamburg

When news broke last week that the swim would have to be cancelled at Sunday’s IRONMAN Hamburg, Great Britain’s Will Clarke likely summed up the thoughts of many in relation to the addition 6km of running to be completed in the revised duathlon format:

I’ll be doing my most ever running in one day on Sunday then. https://t.co/u2Ls8OEzFW

— Will Clarke (@Theclarke) July 27, 2018

Given the revised format, it was probably quite appropriate that a former Duathlon World Champion (from Edinburgh in 2010), Bart Aernouts (BEL), would take the victory.

The opening 6km run did all but nothing to impact the race as Aernouts lead a large pack of around 15 athletes into T1, separated by a handful of seconds and including all of the main contenders for the podium. The super fast bike course saw Aernouts and 2017 winner, James Cunnama (RSA) lead at T2, with British athletes Tim Don (54 seconds) and Joe Skipper (1:16) not far behind. Will Clarke was 8:19 down at T2.

Aernouts dominated the day by adding a 2:39:51 marathon to take the win, with Joe Skipper finishing his third full distance race in four weeks with a 2:45:38 run for second place ahead of the defending champion, Cunnama.

Silver for @Noaveragejoe88 in 7:12:35 only two weeks after winning #IMUK – great finish in front of defending champion @JamesCunnama who rounds out the podium in 7:13:54 #IMHamburg pic.twitter.com/ZTYeL2aa3b

— IRONMANLive (@IRONMANLive) July 29, 2018

Clarke ran an almost identical split to Skipper which allowed him to climb to fourth, while in his first full distance race since his Kona bike crash, Tim Don finished ninth.

Congratulations, dad – you are a true champion! @trithedon has fought his way back #IMHamburg into professional world class full-distance racing although today’s race didn’t fulfill his dreams – 9th in 7:40:59, huge respect pic.twitter.com/vmF1LAptPH

— IRONMANLive (@IRONMANLive) July 29, 2018

IRONMAN Hamburg – Sunday 29th July 2018
6km run / 178km bike / 42.2km run (swim cancelled)

PRO Men

1st – Bart Aernouts (BEL) – 7:05:26
2nd – Joe Skipper (GBR) – 7:12:35
3rd – James Cunnama (RSA) – 7:13:54
4th – Will Clarke (GBR) – 7:20:17
5th – Franz Loeschke (GBR) – 7:26:56

9th – Tim Don (GBR) – 7:40:59

Top 5 men: @bartaernouts 7:05:26, @Noaveragejoe88 7:12:35, @JamesCunnama 7:13:54, @Theclarke 7:20:17, Loeschke 7:26:56 #IMHamburg pic.twitter.com/jxziYPxQqr

— IRONMANLive (@IRONMANLive) July 29, 2018

PRO Women

1st – Sarah Crowley (AUS) – 8:08:21
2nd – Katharina Grohman (GER) – 8:13:30
3rd – Maja Stage Nielsen (DEN) – 8:21:23

Here is your #IMHamburg women’s champion: @Sarah_Crowley1 takes the win in 8:08:21 pic.twitter.com/wwAGsS0r4d

— IRONMANLive (@IRONMANLive) July 29, 2018