Víctor Arroyo and Saleta Castro win the TriStar111 Madrid 2012

The second edition of the TriStar Madrid took place at Casa de Campo, and the victory was won by two Spanish triathletes. Saleta Castro and Víctor Arroyo were the winners of the TriStar111 Madrid 2012, a test with allowed drafting (to go in a peloton in the cycling segment) and with a very special format: 1 km of swimming, 100 km of cycling and 10 km of running.

The famous actor, athlete and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was in charge of giving the starting signal for the test. It is the first time that 'TRI-erminator' was the sponsor of a triathlon, and it was possible thanks to the collaboration between the Arnold Classic Europe and TriStar. After the fun outing Saleta Castro achieved a comfortable victory, leading the race from practically the beginning of the cycling segment. In the men's category, Víctor Arroyo from Madrid had to fight much more to beat a strong group of triathletes that made it difficult.

Saleta Castro faced the test knowing that she was the great favorite, despite the presence of the current champion, Esther Leal from Madrid and the great swimmer Sara Pérez, a very young triathlete who achieved the feat of the day when she left the water first of the general, ahead of all the registered men. Leal tried to defend his 2011 title, but Castro put on an impressive display on the bike. The Galician took the victory finishing the 111 kilometers of competition in 4:16:29. Leal was finally second (4:30:17) and Sara Pérez, third in 4:42:33.

In the men's category, the race was very entertaining, due to the terrible fight that four triathletes maintained throughout the race. The main favorites (the Swedish Lindén, the Danish Morten Top Truelsen and the Spanish Víctor Arroyo and Rubén Guerra) pedaled controlling the head of the race. On the 80 kilometer Lindén launched a very hard attack and escaped. He started the race on foot through the House of Camop with a minute of advantage over the pursuers. But Víctor Arroyo made an excellent partial on foot and managed to catch him on the 3 kilometer of the race. The Madrilenian took a deserved victory in 3h42: 30. Andreas Línden, a former cyclist reconverted to triathlon, was second (3h43: 09) and Spaniard Rubén Guerra was third. (3h: 43: 43). The Danish Morten Top Truelsen had to settle for fourth place.

“I swam very fast today and it allowed me to lock onto the front of the race easily from the start of the bike. I've had a lot of mechanical problems, I couldn't change the sprockets and I've only been able to 'play' with the chainrings. Thanks to Guerra, who did almost all the work, I haven't lost much compared to the Swede. I pushed as hard as I could because I wanted to win at all costs. It has been a great race and I have loved discovering this very special format, I hope to repeat it soon in another TriStar” indicated a happy Víctor Arroyo at the finish line.

“I liked discovering this format, especially because you suffer less. At the beginning I was able to overtake Sara Pérez after the swim, it's incredible how she swims, but I was confident in my chances. After cycling I went at my own pace to the finish line. It has been a lot of fun”, said Saleta Castro, who is one of the best Spanish long-distance triathletes. More information in www.tristarmadrid.com videos and Live Coverage in madrid.tristarlive.com