It gets sweaty. Jan Frodeno and Patrick Lange want to push each other to perform well at the triathlon classic in Roth. The eyes of the women are on Anne Haug.
Roth (dpa / lby) - Jan Frodeno against Patrick Lange - any questions? The duel of the Hawaii champions outshines the triathlon classic in Roth. Sebastian Kienle, the 2014 World Cup winner, recently had to cancel his participation due to the after-effects of a corona infection. The well-known starting field on Sunday (6.30 a.m.) leads among women Anne Haug, world champion of 2019. She and Lange had won the cult event last year.
Last but not least, Frodeno's comeback electrified the fans. At the beginning of May, the three-time Ironman World Champion was unable to take part in the World Championships in St. George in the US state of Utah. A tear in the Achilles tendon had stopped the 40-year-old.
The longed-for showdown with Lange drives Frodeno on. "It's extremely motivating for me to play against him. We have tough competition, so there's always a bit of a challenge. He definitely pushed me in training," he said on Thursday.
The competition in Middle Franconia should be a stress test for Frodeno over the 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running before the World Championships are due in Hawaii in October. He is still the last champion in the Mecca of triathlon.
Two-time Ironman World Champion (2017 and 2018) Lange also has a complicated season. The 35-year-old injured his shoulder joint when he fell off his bike. As a result, Lange also had to cancel his start at the Ironman World Championships.
About the duel against Frodeno, the native of Hesse said: "The title in Roth has always been hard-fought, it will be a very hot dance. It's the case that I always want to compete against the best in the world, so it's cool that too Jan is at the start."
Haug is the favorite for women. The Bayreuth native is the first and so far only German woman to win in Hawaii. Last year Haug was unstoppable at her Roth debut in 7:53:48 hours on the slightly shortened route.
"The record is not an issue for me this year. It's about doing my best race," said the 39-year-old. "You can't compare it to last year either, now it's midsummer, back then it was autumn."
In 2021 the event took place in September, in 2020 it was canceled due to the corona pandemic. This time there are spectators along the route again. The legendary Solarer Berg, on which fans usually cheer closely to the athletes, is also back as a stage. A total of around 3,200 athletes and 650 relay teams will start.
