Jan Frodeno, like Daniela Ryf the day before, has positioned himself as the absolute top favourite for the Ironman Hawaii in 6 weeks with his second title at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in South Africa.
After the hard defeat at the Ironman Hawaii 2017 Frodeno lied to all critics after his success at the Ironman in Frankfurt and South Africa, who have already seen him above the zenith of his performance and have made competitors such as Lionel Sanders, Javier Gomez Noya or Patrick Lange the “new” favorites. This view must be corrected.
Regardless of weather conditions, Frodeno, who beat with Alistair Brownlee and Gomez a complete collection of Olympic medals and countless world championship titles due to his elegant physique, mental strength and incredibly precise tactical intuition, is the man to beat in October 2018.
Silver medal winner Brownlee had an energetic hanger due to his brisk cycling style and an early attack in the uphill sections of the half-marathon too early, while Gomez had to fight with side stitches from kilometre 14 on, in a phase of the race as Frodeno from the front constantly increased the pressure. Gomez finally had to let go of the actually beaten Brownlee.
Silver medal winner Brownlee had an energetic hanger due to his brisk cycling style and an early attack in the uphill sections of the half-marathon too early, while Gomez had to fight with side stitches from kilometre 14 on, in a phase of the race as Frodeno from the front constantly increased the pressure. Gomez finally had to let go of the actually beaten Brownlee.
Sanders can only dream of particularly tough conditions on the bike to keep his chance, while Lange, hoping for little wind, must continue to work on his weak discipline on the bike without compromising his killer run. A tightrope walk that could quickly knock him out of the top three.
Kona 2018 promises to be epic, until then the competition should watch the archived broadcast weekly during training...
