IM Hamburg

Update June 21st:

• Added Corinne Abraham, Maja Stage Nielsen (WPRO), James Cunnama, Christian Haupt, Christian Kramer, Philipp Mock, Joe Skipper and Jesper Svensson

Male Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
James Cunnama	ZAF	6500	1+2 (5250/500)
Jesper Svensson	SWE	2620	1+2 (2000/220)
Christian Kramer	GER	2355	2+1
Miquel Blanchart Tinto	ESP	2340	3+1 (405/15)
Joe Skipper	GBR	2140	2+0
Horst Reichel	GER	1445	1+2 (405/400)
Johann Ackermann	GER	1185	1+2 (685/220)
Michael Patrick Alonso Mckernan	ESP	960	1+0
Victor Arroyo Bugallo	ESP	405	1+0
Per Bittner	GER	325	2+0
Christian Brader	GER	265	1+2 (230/15)
Inaki De La Parra	POL	150	2+0
Markus Liebelt	GER	135	0+1
Pavel Simko	SVK	135	1+1
Philipp Mock	GER	100	0+2 (0/35)
Christian Haupt	GER	75	0+1
Markus Mlinar	AUT	17	0+2 (0/7)
Kevin Thewes	GER	5	0+1
Aleksander Kochetkov	LTU	0	0+0
Andreas Niedrig	GER	0	0+0
Andreas Raelert	GER	0	0+0
Alexander Schilling	GER	0	0+0

Female Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Sarah Crowley	AUS	6480	1+0
Maja Stage Nielsen	DEN	3335	2+1
Laura Philipp	GER	3180	0+2 (0/750)
Daniela Saemmler	GER	2460	1+2 (1280/540)
Katharina Grohmann	GER	2020	2+1
Anja Beranek	GER	2000	1+2 (960/500)
Sonja Tajsich	GER	1800	2+1
Corinne Abraham	GBR	1280	1+1
Carolin Lehrieder	GER	0	0+0
Kristin Lie	NOR	0	0+0

Kona Qualifying

Here’s a look at the male athletes that can secure a Kona slot in Hamburg:

• James Cunnama just needs a finish.
• Jesper Svensson could get a slot with fourth place.
• Christian Kramer would need podium finish.
• Joe Skipper needs at least a second place, but is on a number of other entry lists.
• Miguel Blanchard and Horst Reichel can secure a Kona slot but probably need a win.

A number of female Pros could also secure their Kona slot:

• Sarah Crowley just needs a finish (but is probably only on the list as a backup for IM Frankfurt).
• Maja Stage Nielsen will secure a slot with a podium finish.
• Laura Philipp is also racing IM Frankfurt, in case she races Hamburg she’d need a podium.
• Daniela Sammler has to defend her title to get a July slot.

Race Conditions

This was the first edition of IM Hamburg, and almost all of the Pros seemed to like the venue and the course. The swim was wetsuit-legal (and still not very fast), the rolling bike course wasn’t very quick, followed by a fast run-course with lots of spectators. This race had adjustment of 5:18, comparable to Mont Tremblant or Switzerland.

Male Race Results

James Cunnama showed a great performance, in the end he won by more than twenty minutes. He was in the first chase group after the swim and rode the first loop of the bike with four other athletes (who ended up in second to fifth). Towards the end of the first bike loop he took control of the race, quickly building a demanding lead that he extended for the rest of the day, posting the fastest bike leg and a 2:40 marathon. A great confidence builder for Kona!

Since winning IM Sweden in 2014, Horst Reichel hasn’t had a good Ironman distance race (and DNF’ing a number of times). He was very solid in Hamburg: Swimming with James Cunnama and biking with the first chase group. In T2 he was three minutes behind Markus but then methodically closed the gap and secured second place with the second best marathon.

On the surface Markus Fachbach could be happy with his race: A third place finish secured a Kona slot for him, but he wasn’t satisfied with his performance. He said he tried to ride too long when James out down the hammer and never really recovered from going a bit too hard for a bit too long. Even though he suffered quite a bit, his third place was never in doubt.

 

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to exp.	Prize Money	KPR Points
1	James Cunnama	ZAF	00:49:05	04:24:32	02:40:58	08:00:36	-21:31	US$ 15,000	2000
2	Horst Reichel	GER	00:48:59	04:40:12	02:47:35	08:22:27	-34:30	US$ 7,500	1600
3	Markus Fachbach	GER	00:49:10	04:36:27	02:53:47	08:25:36	-05:14	US$ 5,000	1280
4	Carlos Lopez Diaz	ESP	00:47:38	04:45:34	02:54:55	08:35:36	-04:16	US$ 3,250	960
5	Alexander Schilling	GER	00:49:02	04:40:02	03:07:00	08:42:05	07:44	US$ 2,750	720
6	Mike Schifferle	SUI	00:59:01	04:47:46	02:57:09	08:54:09	-06:43	US$ 2,000	540
7	Lachlan Kerin	AUS	00:52:42	04:52:02	03:10:40	09:03:00	-32:37	US$ 1,500	405
8	Lukas Polan	CZE	01:03:18	05:22:22	03:11:40	09:45:12	05:02	US$ 1,250	305
9	Valentin Zasypkin	RUS	01:03:48	05:17:45	03:20:02	09:50:11	-23:25	US$ 1,000	230
10	Michal Ivanco	SVK	01:19:23	05:14:39	03:20:19	10:04:51	-03:46	US$ 750	170
11	Marek Nemcik	SVK	01:09:19	06:12:29	05:02:00	12:38:35	1:02:35		120
	Christian Birngruber	AUT	00:52:40	04:52:55		DNF

Female Race Results

Daniela Sämmler had focused her 2017 summer on racing IM Hamburg, and she won the female race in dominating fashion: She was first out of the water and then posted the fastest bike split. Her 4:55 was the only female sub-5 bike split and almost 15 minutes quicker than any other woman. She then continued with an even-paced 3:08 marathon, just a few seconds slower than her marathon PR from 2013. 

Before the race Eva Wutti hoped that she had recovered from her win at IM Austria just six weeks earlier – after the race she said she had never had to work so hard to finish a race. Even if she was disappointed that she wasn’t able to contend for the win, she still finished second but coming short of securing the points she needed to qualify for Kona.

Similar to Eva, third place Kristin Möller wasn’t happy with her swim and bike, in T2 she was in sixth place with a gap of more than 20 minutes to third place.

But Kristin was clearly the best runner in the field, she methodically closed the gap to the women in front of her. By the third of four loops on the run course she moved into fifth place and eventually even managed to build a gap of nine minutes to Sandra Wassink-Hitzert who was fourth in her first Pro Ironman race. Kristin’s 2:58 was the best marathon of the day and she finished in third place, also scoring a few more KPR points so she is now safe for an August slot.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to exp.	Prize Money	KPR Points
1	Daniela Saemmler	GER	00:55:53	04:55:24	03:08:53	09:07:49	-26:16	US$ 15,000	2000
2	Eva Wutti	AUT	00:58:58	05:14:59	03:02:02	09:23:35	10:54	US$ 7,500	1600
3	Kristin Moeller	GER	01:03:37	05:30:06	02:58:10	09:39:43	05:46	US$ 5,000	1280
4	Sandra Wassink-Hitzert	NED	00:55:56	05:25:10	03:19:31	09:48:37	n/a	US$ 3,250	960
5	Verena Walter	GER	01:00:30	05:19:04	03:24:29	09:52:03	08:26	US$ 2,750	720
6	Rahel Bellinga	NED	01:05:53	05:09:05	03:59:54	10:23:56	04:38	US$ 2,000	540
7	Annabel Diawuoh	GER	01:28:45	05:42:35	04:03:43	11:26:29	01:52	US$ 1,500	405
	Angela Kuehnlein	GER	01:03:45	05:42:41		DNF

Saturday in Hamburg has been a wet affair. Grey, low hanging clouds brought rain for most of the day – as you can see on this photo from the “Binnenalster” where the swim will happen on Sunday:

The buoys in the foreground are for the second part of the swim, the first part will go into the bigger “Aussenalster” and swimmers have to pass under the bridge next to the white tents on the right hand side. The weather for race day is supposed to be much better, but the rain added to the tension most athletes feel at bike checkin.

Starting with bib #1 will be Kristin Möller, she had a wide smile when dropping off her bike (before packing it into a number of orange trash bags to protect it from the rain):

You can see Kristin’s bike in the foreground, the picture shows bib #2 Daniela Sämmler who has focused her summer racing on Hamburg and seems confident but relaxed:

Eva Wutti (bib #4) was among the first to drop off her bike – it was setting unprotected in the rain, collecting a number of water droplets as the day progressed. Hopefully her electronic shifting is water-proof!

Dutch Pro Sandra Wassink-Hitzert (bib #14) came prepared – her kids helped her pick out some princess-themed pink plastic tablecloth in a discount store that she used to build a makeshift tent for her bike:

Mike Schifferle has finished more than 70 Ironman-distance races so far – of course he is “Thumbs Up” for the first edition of Ironman Hamburg:

Horst Reichel took some extra care to protect his chain from the rain – he’s hoping for a good, solid Ironman finish after a couple of not very satisfying races:

Carlos Lopez Diaz is going to be one of the fastest swimmers tomorrow, he’ll need a good finish to make it to Kona. I didn’t particularly like the color scheme of his bike, but that won’t impact how fast he’ll finish:

James Cunnama is the pre-race favorite on the men’s side – he was all business when he quickly dropped off his bike. It didn’t take too long for the bike to be drenched, with some droplets forming on the seatpost of his P5X.

Happy racing to all starters at IM Hamburg tomorrow!

Update Aug 10th: I have crossed out the athletes that won’t be racing as per the latest startlist.

Update Aug 11th: I’ve crossed out a few more athletes who have not showed up for the Pro Meeting. Most notably, Michael Raelert won’t be racing as he is in bed with a fever. The male race will consist of 13 Pros, for the females there are expected to be 8 starters.

Here’s a shot of the top contenders from Friday’s Pro Panel (from left to right: Markus Fachbach, James Cunnama, Daniela Sammler, Eva Wutti and Kristin Möller):

This is the first race on this course – therefore there are no previous results, course records or adjustment of the predicted times for a fast or slow course.

KPR points and Prize Money

IM Hamburg is a P-2000 race. It has a total prize purse of 80.000 US$.

Male Race Participants

The strength of the field is 13% of a typical Kona field.

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. T2	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	85	James Cunnama	ZAF	08:21:01	08:26:50	00:48:54	04:32:08	05:26:02	02:54:59	54% +23% -23% (25)	26
2	86	Giulio Molinari	ITA	08:29:09	08:31:54	00:48:51	04:32:45	05:26:36	03:02:33	100% +0% -0% (3)	42
3	53	Michael Weiss *	AUT	08:29:26	08:34:12	00:54:06	04:30:46	05:29:53	02:59:33	94% +5% -1% (18)	50
4	57	Jan Van Berkel	SUI	08:33:34	08:37:57	00:49:19	04:39:36	05:33:55	02:59:39	46% +25% -29% (14)	62
5	52	Michael Raelert	GER	08:36:59	08:54:08	00:48:03	04:44:37	05:37:40	02:59:19	12% +0% -88% (5)	(117)
6	51	Markus Fachbach	GER	08:37:15	08:35:48	00:50:36	04:41:39	05:37:15	03:00:00	69% +1% -31% (20)	55
7	84	Alberto Casadei *	ITA	08:37:56	08:49:52	00:48:03	04:49:06	05:42:09	02:55:47	28% +22% -49% (11)	100
8	65	Pedro Gomes *	POR	08:40:01	08:41:23	00:52:11	04:46:37	05:43:49	02:56:12	46% +1% -54% (28)	77
9	75	Alexander Schilling	GER	08:40:20	08:49:55	00:47:42	04:49:03	05:41:45	02:58:35	100% +0% -0% (2)	(101)
10	70	Carlos Lopez Diaz	ESP	08:41:55	08:50:11	00:47:30	04:48:20	05:40:51	03:01:04	29% +18% -53% (10)	102
11	58	Ritchie Nicholls	GBR	08:42:06	08:55:11	00:51:11	04:54:55	05:51:06	02:51:00	35% +0% -65% (7)	124
12	68	Philipp Koutny *	SUI	08:42:10	08:49:57	00:51:08	04:38:59	05:35:07	03:07:03	35% +21% -44% (6)	101
13	66	Esben Hovgaard *	DEN	08:42:27	08:49:49	00:52:54	04:42:51	05:40:45	03:01:42	56% +29% -16% (12)	99
14	56	Michael Goehner	GER	08:46:26	08:55:37	00:53:40	04:45:36	05:44:17	03:02:09	58% +2% -41% (20)	(126)
15	83	Thiago Vinhal	BRA	08:47:03	08:57:06	00:49:35	04:54:05	05:48:40	02:58:23	58% +34% -8% (13)	133
16	54	Horst Reichel	GER	08:50:00	09:07:18	00:49:02	04:47:20	05:41:22	03:08:38	18% +10% -72% (18)	167
17	89	Harry Wiltshire *	GBR	08:51:15	09:02:44	00:47:40	04:53:23	05:46:02	03:05:13	25% +16% -59% (22)	148
18	69	Markus Liebelt *	GER	08:55:38	09:09:07	00:55:14	04:43:03	05:43:17	03:12:21	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(171)
19	59	Nick Baldwin *	SEY	08:56:27	09:10:53	00:53:30	04:48:00	05:46:29	03:09:58	53% +0% -47% (20)	175
20	60	Christian Birngruber	AUT	08:58:39	09:03:55	00:52:45	04:48:48	05:46:33	03:12:06	52% +0% -48% (6)	156
21	77	Michael Van Cleven *	BEL	09:03:41	09:22:57	00:50:05	04:39:51	05:34:55	03:28:46	37% +0% -63% (3)	(208)
22	76	Pavel Simko	SVK	09:04:46	09:12:28	00:52:32	04:49:13	05:46:46	03:18:00	70% +0% -30% (3)	179
23	55	Mike Schifferle *	SUI	09:05:14	09:05:03	01:00:37	04:52:28	05:58:05	03:07:09	89% +10% -2% (65)	160
24	71	Philipp Mock	GER	09:09:41	09:23:31	00:57:53	04:42:07	05:44:59	03:24:42	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(210)
25	82	Sean Donnelly	GER	09:13:44	09:57:50	00:48:02	04:51:33	05:44:35	03:29:09	5% +6% -90% (4)	(283)
26	78	Hendrik-Jan Verhaegen *	BEL	09:18:31	09:32:23	00:55:37	05:01:05	06:01:42	03:16:49	44% +0% -56% (8)	237
27	72	Urs Mueller	SUI	09:21:39	09:25:29	00:54:43	04:59:29	05:59:13	03:22:26	79% +0% -21% (4)	217
28	63	Antony Costes	FRA	09:22:13	09:41:02	00:48:54	04:39:50	05:33:44	03:48:29	28% +0% -72% (7)	254
29	74	Lukas Polan *	CZE	09:37:04	09:51:47	01:02:51	05:10:06	06:17:57	03:19:07	22% +36% -42% (14)	270
30	67	Lachlan Kerin	AUS	09:43:51	10:04:32	00:50:42	05:03:30	05:59:12	03:44:39	49% +0% -51% (2)	(288)
31	88	Michal Ivanco	SVK	10:04:50	10:26:54	01:19:11	05:15:36	06:39:46	03:25:04	50% +0% -50% (2)	(297)
32	81	Valentin Zasypkin	RUS	10:12:29	10:25:34	01:11:23	05:23:08	06:39:31	03:32:58	5% +70% -25% (8)	296
33	87	Marek Nemcik	SVK	11:21:11	11:57:35	01:11:45	05:45:37	07:02:22	04:18:49	25% +24% -50% (41)	308
	80	Richard Westover	GBR	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Note:Athletes with a ‘*’ are also registered for another race within 8 days.

Female Race Participants

The strength of the field is 9% of a typical Kona field.

Carrie Lester is on the official start list, but as she has secured her Kona slot at IM France, she won’t be racing Hamburg.

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. T2	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	4	Eva Wutti	AUT	09:17:20	09:18:13	00:57:42	05:10:37	06:13:20	03:04:00	86% +0% -14% (9)	12
2	2	Daniela Saemmler	GER	09:37:11	09:42:21	00:56:12	05:12:17	06:13:29	03:23:42	68% +0% -32% (9)	52
3	1	Kristin Moeller *	GER	09:38:20	09:39:38	01:03:13	05:25:56	06:34:08	03:04:12	76% +6% -18% (24)	47
4	11	Celine Schaerer *	SUI	09:41:07	09:50:17	00:51:13	05:22:44	06:18:57	03:22:10	72% +0% -28% (9)	66
5	12	Natascha Schmitt	GER	09:44:13	10:03:02	00:54:41	05:15:00	06:14:41	03:29:32	33% +23% -43% (8)	85
6	3	Verena Walter	GER	09:46:33	09:49:26	01:00:26	05:15:42	06:21:08	03:25:25	64% +28% -8% (8)	65
7	8	Kate Comber *	GBR	09:58:26	10:01:20	00:53:56	05:28:03	06:27:00	03:31:26	100% +0% -0% (5)	80
8	10	Angela Kuehnlein	GER	10:23:03	10:36:32	01:02:47	05:41:48	06:49:35	03:33:28	44% +0% -56% (6)	(146)
9	6	Rahel Bellinga *	NED	10:24:35	10:32:18	01:05:59	05:18:58	06:29:57	03:54:38	71% +21% -8% (7)	141
10	9	Annabel Diawuoh *	GER	11:10:56	11:34:18	01:26:16	05:46:23	07:17:40	03:53:16	66% +34% -0% (3)	155
	7	Franziska Bossow	GER	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	14	Sandra Wassink-Hitzert	NED	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Note:Athletes with a ‘*’ are also registered for another race within 8 days.

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

• James Cunnama: 27% (3-1)
• Michael Weiss: 21% (4-1)
• Jan Van Berkel: 18% (5-1)
• Giulio Molinari: 16% (5-1)
• Markus Fachbach: 6% (16-1)
• Alberto Casadei: 4% (27-1)
• Horst Reichel: 2% (54-1)

Female Race Participants

• Eva Wutti: 69% (1-1)
• Daniela Saemmler: 10% (9-1)
• Kristin Moeller: 9% (11-1)
• Celine Schaerer: 5% (18-1)
• Natascha Schmitt: 4% (26-1)
• Verena Walter: 3% (29-1)

Winning Odds

The following graphs show which athletes still have a chance of qualifying for Kona and what results they will probably need.

Male Race Participants

Female Race Participants

Male Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Markus Fachbach	GER	2120	1+2 (1600/240)
Nick Baldwin	SEY	2095	2+2 (405/90)
Philipp Koutny	SUI	1680	3+1 (170/140)
Esben Hovgaard	DEN	1565	3+1 (290/195)
Pedro Gomes	POR	1125	2+2 (540/10)
Mike Schifferle	SUI	755	3+0 (120/0)
Ritchie Nicholls	GBR	720	2+2 (170/45)
Markus Liebelt	GER	615	0+2 (0/180)
Christian Birngruber	AUT	600	1+2 (305/75)
Lachlan Kerin	AUS	460	0+2 (0/180)
Alexander Schilling	GER	405	1+1
Lukas Polan	CZE	180	2+2 (10/5)
Urs Mueller	SUI	170	1+2 (85/35)
Pavel Simko	SVK	122	2+0
Richard Westover	GBR	80	0+2 (0/35)
Michael Goehner	GER	50	0+2 (0/15)
Valentin Zasypkin	RUS	50	2+2 (3/2)
Philipp Mock	GER	40	1+0
Michael Van Cleven	BEL	0	0+0
Yuri Novikau	BLR

Female Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Kristin Moeller	GER	4180	3+1 (340/435)
Carrie Lester	AUS	3535	1+1
Celine Schaerer	SUI	3000	3+1 (515/345)
Eva Wutti	AUT	2220	1+1
Kate Comber	GBR	1780	3+1 (385/135)
Natascha Schmitt	GER	1125	1+2 (540/255)
Daniela Saemmler	GER	1070	1+2 (235/400)
Annabel Diawuoh	GER	725	3+1 (120/220)
Verena Walter	GER	340	1+0
Rahel Bellinga	NED	305	1+2 (120/5)
Franziska Bossow	GER	135	0+1
Angela Kuehnlein	GER	85	0+1