Outstanding performances in Challenge Amsterdam-Almere earned German Markus Fachbach (GER) and Heleen Bij de Vaate (NED) official ETU European Long Distance Triathlon Championship titles on Saturday.
Fachbach controlled the race from the early stages of the bike, when he overtook last year's winner Bart Colpaert (BEL). Bij de Vaate had to overtake a lot of oponents in the first 40 kilometers of the bike after a traditionally weak swim where she lost over five minutes to the competition.
Fachbach kept pushing the pace during the whole of the bike leg and after 180 km he had a comfortable lead to start the marathon. While some of his rivals faded or eventually dropped out of the race, as happened to Georg Potrebitsch and Dutch Diederik Scheltinga, Fachbach's victory was never in any danger. Behind him Chris Fischer (DEN) moved into second place, passing David Näsvik (SWE). From behind came strong runner Sergio Marquez (POR), shortly followed by the surging Dirk Wijnalda. The 41-year old Dutchman remained constant during the marathon and in the last lap he passed Fischer for silver. Marquez fell short for the podium as an overwhelmed Fischer took the bronze.
Heleen Bij de Vaate overcame a weak swim and worked her way through the field in the first hour of the bike section. She had Tineke van den Berg trailing at about ten seconds until midway through the second lap. In heavy crosswinds on the dykes of Flevoland Bij de Vaate shook off her last competitor and went solo. She kept increasing her lead but never felt completely sure of the win until the very late stages of the marathon. Van den Berg kept pushing as well and was rewarded with silver. A fully orange podium was what the home crowds were hoping for, but Rahel Bellinga couldn't hold on for bronze. Victoria Gill (GBR) came from behind for the remaining spot on the podium.
Challenge Amsterdam-Almere hosted the ETU European Championships for the third time in its 32 editions. It is the oldest triathlon in Europe. Over the weekend a grand total of 2,200 athletes participated in various distances of triathlon, staging the biggest triathlon ever held in The Netherlands. For further information, visit www.challenge-almere.com.
Results: Challenge Amsterdam-Almere
(ITU European Long-Distance Triathlon Champs)
Elite Men
1 Markus Fachbach (GER) 8:28:25
2 Dirk Wijnalda (NED) 8:33:09
3 Chris Fischer (DEN) 8:34:05
4 Sergio Marques (POR) 8:37:11
5 Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:43:57
Elite Women
1 Heleen Bij de Vaate (NED) 9:16:26
2 Tineke Van den Berg (NED) 9:26:04
3 Victoria Gill (GBR) 9:42:53
4 Celia Kuch (GER) 9:56:25
5 Lina-Kristin Schink (GER) 10:08:59
