As per usual, you can find additional information on the participants in the detail post.
Previous Results
Challenge Roth calls itself “the best of the old races”. It’s been an official IM race until the mid-2000s and managed to survive even after going out on their own. It’s a really fast course with a course rating of 18:54 and has been the site of the just-broken world record time.
It always attracts quite a few really good, strong athletes – mainly from Germany and Europe, so some names may not be that well known in the US. Last year’s race was won by Rasmus Henning in a fantastic time of 7:52 – but even going that fast he had to battle long-distance rookie Sebastian Kienle who posted a 7:59 in his first IM-distance race.
On the women’s side, Chrissie Wellington annihilated the world record with an unbelievable 8:19. (I’d rather avoid the WTC-speak of a “world best at another long distance race in Germany”.)
Male Participants
Sebastian Kienle is back for his second IM-distance race – and he’s going to battle it out with Andreas Raelert:
Rank |
Name |
Nation |
Expected Time |
Rating |
Rank |
1 |
Sebastian Kienle |
GER |
07:58:29 |
(08:16:17) |
|
2 |
Andreas Raelert |
GER |
08:00:25 |
08:18:17 |
1 |
3 |
Juergen Zaeck |
GER |
08:22:25 |
08:41:06 |
27 |
4 |
Andriy Yastrebov |
UKR |
08:28:18 |
08:47:13 |
48 |
5 |
James Cunnama |
ZAF |
08:28:34 |
08:47:29 |
50 |
6 |
Christian Ritter |
GER |
08:31:12 |
08:50:13 |
67 |
7 |
Clemens Coenen |
GER |
08:36:16 |
08:55:28 |
88 |
8 |
Keegan Williams |
NZL |
08:37:04 |
08:56:18 |
95 |
9 |
Bernd Eichhorn |
GER |
08:41:22 |
09:00:46 |
117 |
10 |
Andreas Niedrig |
GER |
08:45:34 |
09:05:07 |
136 |
11 |
Bernd Hagen |
GER |
08:50:37 |
09:10:21 |
164 |
12 |
Lothar Leder |
GER |
08:50:56 |
09:10:41 |
166 |
13 |
Gilad Rotem |
ISR |
08:56:51 |
09:16:49 |
212 |
14 |
Margus Tamm |
EST |
08:57:48 |
09:17:48 |
222 |
15 |
Justin Granger |
AUS |
08:58:24 |
09:18:26 |
228 |
16 |
Andreas Fuchs |
|
09:03:07 |
09:23:19 |
266 |
17 |
Andreas Borch |
|
09:10:32 |
09:31:01 |
310 |
18 |
Daniel Wells |
CAN |
09:12:22 |
09:32:55 |
323 |
19 |
Dion Harrison |
GBR |
09:14:00 |
09:34:36 |
331 |
20 |
Tim Sheeper |
USA |
09:16:08 |
09:36:49 |
348 |
21 |
Nicholas Kinsey |
GBR |
09:37:26 |
09:58:55 |
494 |
22 |
Benjamin Sanson |
FRA |
09:45:08 |
10:06:54 |
541 |
23 |
Manuel Wyss |
|
09:45:24 |
10:07:11 |
543 |
24 |
Jan Strangmuller |
USA |
09:45:41 |
10:07:28 |
546 |
Sebastian has just one race result so no “official” rating as of now – it’ll be very interesting to see if he can go as fast as last year! Given his race tactics (usually going out pretty quick on the bike), it’ll be great to follow. There’s been some smack talk on the web and in the German press, underlining the fact that this race appears to be as important as Kona for these German athletes. (An interesting side note: As far as I know, Andreas still has to do an official IM to validate his Kona spot. He doesn’t have much time left, especially if he’s going to race Roth quite hard!)
After these two, there is a bit of a gap. Jürgen Zäck is an “old” athlete coming back for another race, his rating (from one race six years back) is probably not a true reflection of what he’s able to do right now – I’ve got to update the methodology for these rare cases. James Cunnama and Keegan Williams are probably for a fast time – one more thing to watch what these upcoming athletes are going to be able to do.
Female Participants
I don’t think you’ll find anyone willing to beat against Chrissie:
Rank |
Name |
Nation |
Expected Time |
Rating |
Rank |
1 |
Chrissie Wellington |
GBR |
08:37:24 |
08:56:39 |
1 |
2 |
Rebekah Keat |
AUS |
09:08:14 |
09:28:38 |
9 |
3 |
Belinda Granger |
AUS |
09:23:51 |
09:44:49 |
43 |
4 |
Sonja Jaarsveld |
Net |
09:30:15 |
09:51:28 |
57 |
5 |
Heather Gollnick |
USA |
09:32:04 |
09:53:21 |
59 |
6 |
Belinda Harper |
NZL |
10:07:25 |
10:30:01 |
171 |
7 |
Celia Kuch |
NZL |
10:10:46 |
10:33:29 |
179 |
8 |
Helen Buley |
ZAF |
10:15:33 |
10:38:27 |
187 |
9 |
Alma Sarapuu |
EST |
10:21:46 |
10:44:54 |
202 |
10 |
Heike Priess |
|
10:22:16 |
10:45:25 |
206 |
11 |
Zeljka Saban |
|
11:22:15 |
11:47:38 |
267 |
My guess is that she will try to put another quick result in, but I think she’ll not go all out as last year (and try to avoid “weakening” for her Kona prep). Bek Keat and Belinda Granger have raced in Roth a couple of times before and seem to love this race. But they won’t be a match for Chrissie …