Saleta Castro third in the Volcano Triathlon
Kenneth Vandendriessche and Alice Hector take the victory in this 32 edition. The Canary Raúl Leucona third
The triathletes Kenneth Vandendriessche (01: 59: 19) and Alice Hector (02: 13: 44) won the 32nd edition of the demanding Santa Volcano Triathlon Lanzarote 2016 Club, which brought together 500 professional and amateur specialists from 23 nationalities this Saturday.
Male Category
The Belgian athlete, European duathlon champion in 2015 and whose trainer is the legendary Luc Van Lierde, who has won twice the IRONMAN of Kona (Hawaii) and holds the record of this Lanzarote test from 1997 (01: 53: 01 ), surpassed the Briton Stephen Bayliss (01: 59: 35) in a last kilometer of vertigo to register his name in the highest of the longest triathlon in Spain.
On the other hand, the canary Raúl Lecuona (02: 02: 34), third in the Canarian ranking in 2015, completed the podium of this Olympic distance event, with a wind up to 30 km / h, which made it even harder for the participants to ride in the best conditions.
In the first swimming segment, of 1,5 kilometers, the canaries Juan Luis Diaz (00: 18: 01) and Karim Balli (00: 18: 13), champion of the last edition of the Canary Triathlon Series, and Bayliss (00 : 20: 40) were the fastest to complete the tour in the lagoon of Club La Santa.
Then, the hardness of this international event led the participants through the wonderful landscapes of Caleta de Caballo, Soo, Famara and even Teguise, within the cycling segment of 40 kilometers, with Bayliss (01: 00: 59) imposing its law before Vandendriessche (01: 02: 59) and Lecuona (01: 04: 21), ending with ten kilometers of foot race through the fishing village of La Santa.
After crossing the finish line, Vandendriessche was "very happy" for the triumph and recalled that "I did a good swim and only lost three minutes, which is a great personal result".
"My coach recommended that I get to Famara at the 95 percent in the bicycle segment and I think it was a good decision, since I could try hard to overtake Stephen to the sprint in the last kilometer," said the Belgian triathlete.
Bayliss said that he felt "very good" and that he carried out a "good race", but he regretted that it was not "enough" to sign up this edition due to the "hardness" of the last kilometers.
"Anyway, I think it was a great preparation for the IRONMAN Lanzarote," he added.
Likewise, Lecuona said he had "very bad" when the chain of his bicycle went off twice, "thinking that he could not even continue".
"In the end I was able to keep my mind calm and a strong rhythm, but not excessive either. I started the race with the Canarians in mind and forgetting about the podium, and it worked out well to maintain a very strong race pace. I can not ask for more when finishing in third place and be the first canary, "he argued.
Men's Classification
Kenneth Vandendriessche 01: 59: 19
Stephen Bayliss 01: 59: 33
Raul Lecuona Gil-Roldán 02: 02: 34
Female category
In the women's box, the British Alice Hector got into the fray between the great favorite Danish Michelle Vesterby (02: 15: 47), who won the fourth place in the Kona World Championship (Hawaii) in 2015 and was the current runner-up of the Club La Santa Volcano Triathlon, and the Spanish Saleta Castro (02: 17: 42), winner of the edition of 2014, third in the last exercise and third in the edition of 2014 of IRONMAN Lanzarote - both trained also by Luc Van Lierde-.
Precisely, Vesterby (00: 20: 45) could take advantage with respect to Castro (00: 21: 21) and Hector (00: 21: 25) in a swimming segment in which the Belgian Amber Rombaut dazzled (00: 19 : 59).
Vesterby, Hector and Castro maintained their leadership on the Lanzarote roads before starting the fight to go first through the goal arch at the La Santa Club stadium.
Also, Dácil Hernández (02: 28: 22), who occupied the third position in the last edition of the Canary Triathlon Series was the first Canary in the general classification to occupy the eighth place.
The winner Hector acknowledged being "very surprised because I did not expect to win because of the very high level of the participants, like Michelle who is the fourth in the world".
"I really never thought I would win, but when it was presented I did not want to miss the opportunity," said the Briton.
For her part, Vesterby was not "very happy" because "I wanted to win and I thought I could do it in this edition, although Alice really made good news and deserved the victory
Women's Classification
1ºAlice Hector 02: 13: 44
2º Michelle Vesterby 02: 15: 47
3º Saleta Castro Nogueira 02: 17: 42
Photo: Club La Santa
There are no previous results.
