BMC-Etixx athlete Will Clarke finished third in the half distance Challenge of Denmark. Winner of the race was Andreas Dreitz (GER). Henrik Hyldelund (DEN) finished in second.
The day couldn’t start better for Clarke. He exited the water in 6th place, right in the middle of the leading group. Early on in the bike leg Will settled in 3rd place. The Brit rode his own pace and entered T2 battling for 4th with two other athletes, 2’ behind the podium spots. Together with Ospaly, Clarke started the hunt for Strange who ran in 3rd. Will had the faster pace and left Ospaly behind to chase down Strange on his own. With 12K to go on the run Clarke managed to pass Strange for third. The BMC-Etixx athlete kept running strong and secured his second Challenge podium of the season after taking 2nd in Challenge Fuerteventura in April.
Pleased with the result
Will Clarke was pleased to take another podium finish: "I am happy with the result today, if you finish on the podium you have to be pleased. It was definitely not a perfect race yet. I didn't feel super strong on the bike but I was happy with my run, that was very good considering. Probably one of my fastest IM70.3 runs. So after IM Brazil it feels like I have turned a corner and can take a lot of positives out of today's race. I am leaving to Sands Beach resort in Lanzarote later today to start my final preperation leading up to Ironman Frankfurt. It is always good to go into your final build up with a podium finish".
Romain Guillaume finished 8th in the Asian and Pacific Ironman Championship in Cairns
Earlier in the day Romain Guillaume finished 8th in the Asian Pacific Ironman Championship in Cairns. After a rough swim, due to strong currents, Romain exited the water in 12th place, 4’30 down on leader Luke McKenzie. The BMC-Etixx athlete managed to maintain his position over halfway through the bike. In the second part of the bike leg Guillaume moved his way up to jump of his bike in 9th. He gave all he had left in his tank and moved up to 8th place in the Asian Pacific Ironman Championship at Cairns. A tough day down under for Romain Guillaume, but he hung in there for 8th and some valuable qualification points for the World Championship in Kona.