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IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside: Jan Frodeno dominates

Jan Frodeno Oceanside
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Photo credit above: Talbot Cox / Bahrain Endurance 13
Follow Talbot on his YouTube Channel HERE for great video content
Check out his video recap of the race HERE

Jan Frodeno is the California King with an Oceanside demonstration

Lionel Sanders a distant second as Frodeno opens 2018 in impressive style

The last time I saw Germany’s Jan Frodeno in racing action, he was struggling up Palani Hill, 10 miles into the run in Kona at the 2017 IRONMAN World Championships – and Lucy Charles was not too far behind and would overtake him a few minutes later. Anyone who thought his Hawaiian outing then was the beginning of the end, take note, that performance was just blip. Is he ‘back’? He never went away…

Saturday’s IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, California proved that.

Last years much anticipated head-to-head between Frodeno and Lionel Sanders had been much anticipated, but when Jan punctured, the excitement evaporated as quickly as the air from his tyres. Sanders went on to win – but didn’t get the ‘race’ that he wanted. He got his wish this year. He raced great, he thrashed all but one… but Frodeno was simply on another level again.

Fastest swim. Fastest Bike. Fastest Run. Course Record. Beats Lionel Sanders by almost four minutes. Impressive enough for you?!

For added context, it was an incredibly impressive performance from Lionel too. An opening 24:35 swim compared well to Frodeno’s 22:30. Remember, at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in 2015 (Mont Tremblant), Sanders was dead last of the Pro’s out of the water (eventually finishing fourth). His deficit then? 4:32. Sanders needed to improve his swim – he has been, and it continues to get better.

A great bike too from both – Frodeno clocked 2:08:27 to the 2:08:48 of the powerhouse of Sanders. “I pushed some of the best power I ever have in my life”, said Sanders, post-race.

And the run – a 1:11:46 off the back of that swim-bike effort is very impressive. Frodeno went even better with a 1:10:31 half marathon.

Alistair Brownlee totally dominated IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai in February. Javier Gomez beat off a classy field at Challenge Wanaka. Lionel Sanders crushed everyone at IRONMAN Pucon, Chile and now Frodeno has thrown his hat into the ring too. It’s going to be a great year.

IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside – Saturday 7th April 2018
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km – PRO MEN

1st – Jan Frodeno (GER) – 3:45:05
2nd – Lionel Sanders (CAN) – 3:48:58
3rd – Tim Reed (AUS) – 3:53:08
4th – Eric Lagerstrom (USA) – 3:54:11
5th – Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) – 3:56:48
6th – Jesse Thomas (USA) – 3:58:00
7th – Alex Libin (USA) – 4:00:39
8th – Kennett Peterson (USA) – 4:01:52
9th – Scott Defilippis (USA) – 4:03:34
10th – Nicholas Granet (FRA) – 4:04:07

CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT FROM THE WOMEN’S RACE

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