Jan Frodeno presented DATEV Challenge Roth with the best 15th anniversary present possible – a sensational world record over the 226km distance.
Frodeno’s time of 7:35:39 undercut Andreas Raelert’s former record of 7:41:33 by almost six minutes on the same course.
Frodeno announced half a year ago that he had Raelert’s record in his sights at DATEV Challenge Roth. And when a man of this calibre announces something then in his own words, “you do everything possible to make it happen”.
On the day the 2008 Olympic Champion and current World Champion not only faced the largest field on the long distance triathlon circuit but also perfect conditions: high cloud, warm temperatures and practically no wind.
Frodeno led from the start in a race against the clock although it was not lonely. Hundreds of thousands cheered him on towards his new world record as he became the first male world champion to win at Roth.
Frodeno was in a class of his own in the swim and also had no competition on the bike, despite a trip into a ditch on the second lap. “But that probably brought me more time thanks to the extra adrenaline surge I got from the crash,” said Frodeno afterwards.
During the run he experienced “many highs and lows” in the final kilometres but in the end, it was the highs that prevailed. And in his first interview at the finish line he said, “Now I understand why this is the greatest of all races”.
Frodeno’s history-making win was further emphasised by his lead on his competition. The United Kingdom’s Joe Skipper was more than 20 minutes behind the champion in 7:56:23 while last year’s defending champion, Nils Frommhold earned third, also coming under the eight-hour mark in 7:57:59.
Jan Frodeno's splits: swim 45:22 / bike 4:08:07 / run 2:39:18
