A total of 650 triathletes took part in the hep Triathlon Heilbronn powered by Audi over the three competition distances offered. The victories in the prestigious middle distance over 1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running went to Philipp Nothof and Sophia Salzwedel.
After 4:14:46 hours, Nothof from the hep Team Neckarsulm crossed the finish line on the market square, where he was loudly celebrated by family and spectators after a tough competition.
Because Nothof, who only practices his sport as a full-time employee in his free time, briefly lost his bearings on the challenging cycle route through the undulating terrain of the Heilbronn area with a total of 1,100 meters in altitude, two chain drops also brought the father of two on the route via Böckingen, Nordhausen, Schwaigern, Stetten am Heuchelberg, Haberschlacht and Neipperg back to downtown Heilbronn temporarily out of step:
“It was brutal, a turbulent race but with a great result,” said the local hero, who will be starting in Roth at the beginning of July, summing up his triathlon experience in Heilbronn. Nothof continues: “That was one of the craziest routes I’ve done. I’ve already started in Walchsee, I’ve already started at the Ironman and Lake Zurich. That was one of the toughest races because you always have such brutal stabs, short ramps with 450 watts.”
Nothof was “extremely proud” that despite all the hardships, he was still able to win his first big win in the “home race”. For me, that’s ideal in terms of logistics: short distances, that’s exactly my thing. I celebrate the local. I don’t have to go far. That’s why I think it’s cool what Audi and hep are doing here with their commitment.”
It was even nicer that a teammate, Moritz Bickel, secured the double victory (4:14:44). “That’s the icing on the cake. He also works so hard in every free minute. That’s just awesome!” says Nothof. Third place went to Florian Heck from KickAss Sports (4:17:01).
Tough fight for women
While Nothof ran towards a relatively confidently controlled victory in the men’s race, the women’s race was only decided in the final kilometers. Cheered on by her husband and friends, Sophie Salzwedel provided the previously leading Florentine Exner, who immediately showed herself to be a true sportswoman and cheered her rival’s attack loudly on the track.
“It was very tough today. I ran so that I feel good. Then my husband said I was only 30 seconds behind. So I thought I’d throw everything in again and overtook her just before the refreshment station,” said the SV Ludwigsburg 08 triathlete, summing up the crucial meters of what was only her third middle-distance race.
“That was a cream day. You just have to enjoy it. I can’t believe it at all,” said the native of Baden-Württemberg, who just a few weeks ago at the German Championships in Ingolstadt as a newcomer to the middle distance, experienced a genuine Waterloo and had to get out of the race with hypothermia in bitterly cold conditions.
“I was incredibly disappointed because I had trained so well. Then I spontaneously wrote an email on the way back in the car and switched from the short to the middle distance,” said the former 2nd triathlon Bundesliga starter, who moved to Bietigheim-Bissingen from Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia a few years ago. return.
Next to Salzwedel (4:51:30) and Exner (Triathlon Team Düsseldorf; 4:55:29), the Czech Lilly Zednikova (Vfl Waiblingen Triathlon, 5:08:46) rounded off the middle distance women’s podium as third.
Sprint distance winner Henseleit: “It’s a cool event that’s fun.”
While Janina Fabriz (Soprema Team TSV Mannheim; 2:40:11) and Florian Hochuli (Tri-Team Heuchelberg; 2:20:53) celebrated victory on the Olympic distance, the probably most prominent participant of this year’s edition of the sprint distance cheered hep Triathlon Heilbronn powered by Audi. Simon Henseleit, newly crowned U23 European Champion, triumphed with a total time of 1:00:19 hours and was correspondingly satisfied in the interview after the clear success: “It was clear that I wanted to do a training competition here, but against the background , where I come from, of course with the aim of winning and living up to expectations. That worked perfectly today.” The experienced athlete from the hepsportsteam was also impressed by the event overall: “Of course it’s different compared to an ITU race because you have a lot more people on the track. But it’s also fun to see that hobby athletes can start and race again. Such a format is not designed for professionals to come and set course records. It’s a cool event that’s fun.”
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