Courtesy: Quelle Challenge Roth

Germany's triathlon Super Bowl and Wimbledon is alive and well. With top-level winners Lothar Leder (GER) and Nina Kraft (GER), 1,871 athletes, nearly 100,000 spectators, mild weather, and live coverage throughout Germany, Quelle Challenge Roth - 3.8 km swim/180 km cycle/ 42.2 km run - was every bit the real deal.

Kraft, in 9:21:41, bested her 2001 win (9:24:29) with the fastest bike split and second fastest swim and run splits in the women's race. She beat second place finisher Erika Csomor (HUN) by an astounding 20:02, although Csomor set a new run course record with her 3:01:37. Leder posted his third straight win, with an 8:17:25 finish between his 2001 (8:10:39) and 2000 (8:19:38) times. Although they were not close to being the fastest splits, his combined efforts helped him to finish 4:04 faster than runner-up Cameron Brown (NZ).

Battle among the boys

The only athlete to swim sub-50 minutes, Andreas Niedrig (GER) posted a 48:51, but his lead over top swimmers Leder (50:50), Brown (50:53), Andriy Behen (UKR, 51:18), Juan Luis Izquierdo (ECU, 51:21), Mika Luoto (FIN, 51:25), and Thomas Hellriegel (GER, 51:30), disappeared quickly when, according to Niedrig and Brown, the Thomas express train came by. It was very early in the ride, around 20 km, and he was pushing a monster gear, perhaps 55 x 11, said Brown. "The train came by and just left us behind," he said, still amazed by Helldrive's speed under an overcast sky and 32 C temperatures, a far cry from his preferred hot weather conditions.

Translated from his native German, Niedrig said he was riding hard, at a good pace, when he, too, was passed in a flash. "Whoosh," he said, and Niedrig turned his head just as quickly from one side to the other. He made an effort, but said there was no way he would catch Helldrive, who was just way too fast. Challenge Roth's uberbiker took third place, in 8:21:53, with the day's fastest cycle split, 4:24:05 (40.9 kmh/25.4 mph), which was about 10 minutes off of his best effort at Roth. Nothing could stop him or break his concentration, not even an age-grouper, on his first loop, who rode alongside the hero (on his second loop) and even surged passed him a few times.

"I'm happy to have the title 'superbiker,' today," said Hellriegel, when asked how he is able to drive so hard, even when he's riding alone at the front with at times a 10-minute lead. "I was happy to have Steve Larsen racing because he really makes a challenge. Lothar and Cam are stronger runners, so I have to stay in front, I tried to get away." Leder posted the second fastest cycle, 4:30:59, and Larsen, the top American in Roth, rode 4:31:24 on the hilly course.

Brown and Leder seemed to trade pulls on the out-and-back canal swim until the backlash of waves from age groupers going the opposite direction separated the two by three seconds. Leder's in-and-out transition separated the two by an additional 13 seconds, and he was off to catch Niedrig, with whom he sparred for most of the 180 km cycle. The Kiwi was quickly left behind to eventually battle with Larsen, Siegi Ferstl (GER), Markus Forster (GER), Stefan Holzner (GER), Mika Luoto (FIN), and Heiko Tewes (GER). There were quite a few lead changes, and the group stayed almost too tight for too long. It eventually broke up, though, as Forster and Tewes fell off the back and Holzner dropped out of the race altogether after T2.

Back at the front, if Hellriegel didn't keep hammering, he said he thought he "would have very little chance leaving T2 without Lothar." In the meantime, Leder and Niedrig were still riding, each unrelenting to the other, but Leder made out only about 10 seconds better. He tore through the bike-to-run transition in 0:54 to Niedrig's 1:18, and set off to catch Hellriegel.

Larsen racked his bike and dashed 1:15 earlier than Brown, but was quickly caught by the fleet-footed Kiwi who at that point was more than nine minutes behind the leader. Brown then caught Niedrig at 35km, affording the schwimmeister only an 8:23:13 fourth place, which fell short of his second place 8:18:36 last year. Thomas the train admittedly went out a bit too fast on the run and only stayed away until Leder and Brown passed him at 19 km and 40 km, respectively.

Brown needed and ran the fastest run of the day, 2:49:28 with a 1:21-and-change first half, in order to try and close the gap on Leder, whose third fastest run of the day, 2:53:32, still kept him far enough ahead to take the win. Luoto ran the second quickest marathon of the day in 2:50:54, and took fifth place overall, crossing the line at 8:24:50.

Helldrive's strategy to go as hard as he could on the bike in order to create a large enough lead on the run was calculated. Despite his charging performance which impressed his incredibly enthusiastic fans throughout the race course, his third place left him visibly disappointed at the jam packed finish line stadium. "I ended up very tired, but I tried it. It didn't work," said Hellriegel, a former world champion who has placed second and third, but has yet to win at Roth.

Brown's strategy was a bit different. "I kept my poker face on, kept picking off the guys all the way up to 2 km to go," he said of his run. What could he have done better in order to win? "Not much," said Brown. "All the German athletes were on their home field. It was their race, and I think they were much stronger today. I class (Challenge Roth) as the second hardest race next to Hawaii. Second here is awesome."

Niedrig, on the other hand, was not just worried about his strategy but also his conditioning. After having a topsy-turvy stomach for many weeks as a result of a tooth infection, Niedrig said his training had begun to fall apart. He noted that his workouts were not quite up to par, his was not eating properly and that he is up to 78 kg from his normal 73 kg race weight.

"Last weekend I had a short distance race, and I knew then that I was not ready. I never even thought I would finish the race today," he said, adding that he told race director Herbert Walchshoefer that he just hoped to finish in the top 15 and did not want to disappoint everyone. Niedrig's fourth place did not come easily. "I was tired all day," he said, and the battle with Leder did not make things any easier. Niedrig, a stronger cyclist than Leder, took the whole race into consideration. "I could have pulled away from Lothar, but I think it would have been too hard for me on the run then." At 11 km into the run, he said his legs were just tired, and that he did not even look at his watch for splits. "I was only interested in finishing." He crossed the finish line in 8:23:13, and was greeted with an embrace from Walchshoefer.

Rough day for women

Despite another fastest swim split of the day - she's done it six other times at Roth - always-present Ute Mueckel (GER) didn't have her day. Mueckel's 51:23 was well off the Roth women's record she set in 2000, 47:45, yet it was still good enough for sixth overall, including the men. Paddling with the men and an artful 1:37 T1 helped her to separate from Kraft by 1:40, but that lead quickly disappeared. Kraft pedaled an average 35.2 kmh (21.6 mph) to Mueckel's 32.0 kmh (19.7 mph).

"I just didn't have energy in my legs today," she said. And that was not all. Mueckel got an upset stomach after only 30 km on the cycle, and felt ill for much of the day. Nonetheless, the day's fifth place finisher posted the fourth fastest marathon of the day, 3:31:15, behind Csomor (3:01:37), Kraft (3:09:51) and Nicole Leder (GER, 3:22:22). "I was not going to stop, I was going to finish," said Mueckel. "I was just so happy to finally get across the finish line."

Other women felt the same way. Leder, who raced uncontested for much of the day and placed third, also reportedly experienced illness and stuck it out for a 9:46:00. Her marathon was well off the 3:01:46 course record she set in 2001.

Still hampered by what she thought was a recovered herniated disk injury, Tara-Lee Marshall (CAN) stopped twice to try and stretch her back and relieve spasms, but eventually dropped out of the race at 87 km, and took a ride back to base camp in an ambulance. "I had a really good swim down, I got in a really good pack, but then at the turnaround, these two guys and I kind of bucked and bumped, and then the pack got away," she said.

Still, Marshall began to ride well, but only for a short while until the pain arose. She was grateful for Solarer Berg, the tough climb made easier by thousands of spectators screaming and yelling and pushing riders up the incline, just as they do in the Tour de France. "I could really put the pain out of my mind for those few hundred meters. It was wonderful," said Marshall, who added that she goes to no other race where she could experience that kind of excitement from the fans. Only her second race since her back issues have been better, until now, Marshall placed fifth overall in Brazil, with only about 80 percent of her power. "Today, I had none. I could ride alright, but with no power. So now I go back to the drawing board, and I'm going to have to think about getting this cleaned up."

Csomor, the current European and world duathlon champion, did not quite realize what she was in for when she signed up for Quelle Challenge Roth. She trains mostly alone, and only occasionally with other pros in Hungary, one of whom is top- ranked duathlete Benny Vansteelant. This was her first ultra- distance triathlon, and it was quite different than the half- iron race in Spain at which she won recently. "Being on the Roth course only for the first time, I said, 'whoa.' My dream was to be on the podium, but when I got out there, it was so hard," said Csomor. "Triathlon is a new experience for me, especially the long distance. I'm a fast runner, but at the shorter distances." She holds the Hungarian record for 1,500 m. "I enjoyed the few minutes before the race, but today I suffered. It is hard, and I am learning," she said.

Because she is not a swimmer, per se, Csomor says a triathlon is always a hard race. "I need to be more patient. Usually, I know I want to see them (other pros) on the course and that motivates me to run faster." Csomor's new run course record bested Leder's 3:01:46 by nine seconds. At the post-race press conference, she told reporters that she was actually hoping to break three hours. Amazed, Hellriegel's jaw nearly hit the table.

Illness, injuries and inexperience still don't take away from Kraft's outstanding performance. It could very well have stood the test of any of the challengers had they been as healthy as she is lately. Her splits were almost as strong as her personal bests at Roth, and her overall finish was 33:19 quicker than Leder, a deficit not easily erased under any conditions. In fact, she herself may have had a better day, too.

"The swim was terrible," Kraft said. "The first group was 200 meters ahead and the second group was behind me. I said, 'this is going to be crazy.'" She had a feeling that she would be riding alone.

"The bike was really good for me - the first loop was really fast, and the second was a little bit slower," explained Kraft. "At 120 km I was a little bit tired, so I just said I would be happy to see the finish of the bike and start the run. When I went out on the run, I was very fast for my first 10 km. Spectators were telling me, 'go! Go! Go," but eventually I had to slow my pace down. They really get you going."

Kraft's run pace started out at 3:55 km but eventually slowed to 4:30 km, and it still allowed for a great cushion. While most people might find this to be an opportunity to back off and relax, the Kraft machine kicked into high gear. "I realized that the gap was growing even bigger, from six to 10 minutes, and that was really motivating," she said. Kraft added that she began to focus on picking off men on the run course. They were just a few more notches in her race belt, so to speak, and on her way to a very major victory.

As she entered the packed horseshoe stadium and ran the perimeter with flowers in hand and blue-clad, blue-balloon- carrying children in tow, Kraft's face showed the crowd what it means to with at Challenge Roth. It was a bewildered smile, filled with her pride to win at home and the feeling you get when thousands of spectators soaking up the victory as much as you are.

"Here the atmosphere makes a lot for the race, which is so important. Most of the other races, even Hawaii, do not have such a brilliant atmosphere," Kraft said. "And I like Roth because it's very fair. There is no drafting due to the wave start and 20 minutes between the pros and age groupers helps."

Despite the tough day at work, Niedrig still was happy about his very early commitment to race the inaugural Challenge Roth. "Every time I race here, I have fun, fun, fun," Niedrig said with an ear-to-ear smile. Brown agreed, saying no other event management team treats the athletes with as much personal care, hospitality and support.

According to Greg Donovan (NZ), who finished 25th overall this week at his first race at Roth, "I'll do this one again for sure. You have to do it to get the full appreciation of Roth, to understand what everyone talks about."

Brown plans to return in 2003, as do a number of the other professionals. It's a special feeling, they said, unlike any other race. Sound familiar?