Helle Frederiksen vinder Ironman 70.3 Vichy

Foto: James Mitchell/Activ’ Images

Pressemeddelelse fra Helle Frederiksen

Lyon, France – Newly crowned ITU Long Distance World Champion, Helle Frederiksen, has yet again demonstrated her formidable form by taking victory at the IRONMAN 70.3 event in Vichy, France and setting a new course record.

From the gun Helle positioned herself as the early aggressor, leading the 1.9km swim and exiting alongside London 2012 Olympic Triathlon Silver medalist, Lisa Nordén (SWE), with Lena Berthelot-Moritz (FRA) in tow.

Once out and onto the 1-loop 90km bike leg it would be Nordén that proved to be the pace setter with Frederiksen always remaining in contact with the lead. Many times Frederiksen was put under pressure by the recently crowned Swedish National Time Trial Champion.

“Lisa is one of the best cyclists in the sport, so when she hit the front and set such a high tempo, it came as no surprise. I was really made to work to stay in contact for the lead. I’m proud of my bike performance today, I was always in contact with the lead throughout the entire 90km. It’s a sign that my biking shape is in a good place and where it needs to be as we now focus on Kona.”

Frederiksen and Nordén entered the Bike-Run transition with a sizeable gap on the chasers, which included defending champion Jocelyn McCauley (USA), who held a previous course best of 4:18:21. Jocelyn trailed Frederiksen and Nordén by 1:38 starting the run. Frederiksen made quick work of getting out onto the run course and opened a gap to Nordén in the opening kilometres. At 7km into the run Frederiksen’s lead over Nordén was over 2:00 and 2:50 on McCauley.

“My game plan was to run hard and test myself. I had some down time after my recent World Championship win and I wasn’t really sure what that would mean for my run fitness out there. I felt strong throughout which is a sign our efforts in training are paying off.”

Frederiksen never looked back and never slowed, crossing the line in a new course best time of 4:11:27 with a winning margin of 3:48 to Jocelyn McCauley who passed Nordén during the second lap of the run.

Vichy was the first race for Helle following last months victory at the ITU Long Distance World Championships. Frederiksen has gone from strength-to-strength throughout the 2018 season and her victory in Vichy provides added confidence as she now focuses on the final preparations for the 2018 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

Frederiksen will now base herself on the Balearic Island of Mallorca and make her final training preparations for the IRONMAN World Championships. On September 24th Frederiksen will travel to the Big Island of Hawaii to acclimatise in good time before the IRONMAN World Championships which take place on Saturday, October 13th