The IRONMAN European Championship is one of the highlights of the IRONMAN race circuit. This year, the 14th edition of the event, a deep field will show up to test their mettle over a fast but tough course.
Great names have been battling here since the inaugural event in 2002. In fact, fans of the sport look to this race as a preview for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona. This year, the field is more stacked than ever, with 47 pro men and 18 pro women ready to rock the financial heart of Europe and nail down a historic race.
On the Men’s side, the 14th edition defines the next step for IRONMAN racing in Europe. Olympic champion Jan Frodeno will be on the fire very early in this race together with some other extraordinarily strong swimmers. 2010 champion Andreas Raelert decided to start in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, and he should be in the first group in the Lake Langener Waldsee, as well as 2013’s winner Eneko Llanos from Spain, Dutchmen Bas Diederen, Andreas Boecherer, Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield, Carlos Lopez, David Dellow from Australia, and 2013 IRONMAN world champion Frederik van Lierde.
After taking several impressive wins in the past few weeks after a long break due to injury, Boecherer will most likely enjoy some screen time on the bike. He could very well be the man to catch on the bike for defending champion Sebastian Kienle. Last year, Kienle clocked a race record time of 7:55:14 thanks to a sensational bike split (4:12:14). It was a perfect way to celebrate his 30th birthday, and the best preparation on the way to become the 2014 IRONMAN world champion three months later. Kienle seems to be stronger in the water and on the run this season. Four weeks out of Frankfurt he celebrated a superb win at the IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau where he was able to hold off Boecherer with a brilliant run.
Kienle will be in the center of attention, but he knows that he's in for a tough day. Last year, he was about 4 minutes behind in the water, and it's clear that fast swimmers like Boecherer and Frodeno will try to get away early on the bike. Frodeno won IRONMAN 70.3 Barcelona in May, and his running speed there was superb. Though he had three flat tires last year in Frankfurt and cramping on the run, he was still able to finish in third place. He is one of the Germans who could bring up the country's male victors at this race to 12.
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