Four German athletes will be competing in the Ibiza T100 – and they certainly have ambitions. Check out the favorites to see who can thwart Germany’s podium hopes.
PTO That was the first stroke of luck, will the second follow immediately? – Sam Laidlow with his victory at the London T100 a good two months ago.
It has been a good two months since the triathlon elite met for the last T100 race in the British capital. The winner at the time, the reigning Ironman World Champion Sam Laidlow. Kyle Smith and Daniel Beckegård completed the podium in London. The New Zealander, who competed in three of the four races of the current T100 season as a wildcard holder, is currently in second place in the T100 ranking behind Magnus Ditlev. However, neither athlete will be on the starting line in Ibiza. The Dane Ditlev is currently preparing for the upcoming Ironman World Championship in Colorado. The New Zealander Smith had to cancel his planned start this week due to illness with a sinus infection. This means that two favored athletes are missing. Nevertheless, the race for the podium places is not much easier.
Four Germans for a Hallelujah
In addition to the two contract athletes The Rico Book and Frederic Funk are also Mika Noodt and short term Maximilian Sperl with a wildcard. While Funk, Bogen and Noodt know the business of the T100, this will be Maximilian Sperl’s first race at the highest level. The 30-year-old may not be one of the young guns given his age, but he is certainly one of the wild ones. Maximilian Sperl’s racing style caused a stir at the beginning of the season in America. An aggressive tactic with a move forward secured him fifth and seventh place in the races in Oceanside and St. George. Last weekend he took fourth place in the Challenge San Remo, so he comes to Ibiza warmed up. He will probably take part in the swimming and cycling. In the final race he might be a few grains short of really annoying the big names.
Frederic Funk is the athlete who has been out of racing the longest of the four. He has not competed in a race since the London T100. The current number ten in the PTO rankings showed strong form in London and secured his best PTO result of fifth place. If he is in the swim, he can certainly do better than he did at the European Open at the same venue a year ago, when he finished 19th. He can also be expected to make the podium if he completes the final 18 kilometers in just over an hour.
Rico Bogen recently faced the concentrated Norwegian power and was narrowly defeated. At the Samarkand Challenge, he had to let Kristian Blummenfelt and then Gustav Iden pass him on the running course. Before that, the Ironman 70.3 world champion achieved the best time of the day in swimming and cycling. If he has the running strength from San Francisco, then the 24-year-old will be able to move up again. Mika Noodt has been given a wildcard, but is currently the best German in the PTO world rankings. With two races that he can count towards the ranking, he is in 12th place in the T100 ranking. He recently demonstrated his strength at the Ironman 70.3 Zell am See, when he left the competition no chance. If he can juggle all three disciplines as he did in Austria, then he could even win the Ibiza T100.
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