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The second edition of KMD Challenge Aarhus (1,9/90/21,1) has an exciting
sprint finish to the line in the mens' race.
Swiss fast man Reto Hug used his brilliant sprint speed from Olympic
distance racing to take the 2012 KMD Challenge Aarhus title today in an
nail biting sprint finish where local hero Mads Vittrup-Pedersen despite a
fantastic run effort crossed the finish line two seconds slower.
Mads Vittrup recorded the fastest bike and run splits of the day
respectively but came short in the sprint after being shoulder to shoulder
with the experienced swiss athlete for the entire run.
Run split: 1:12:27 (Hug ran 1:12:30)
Bike split: 2:15:25.
Last year's winner, Rasmus Petraeus, came third around four minutes down.
"The swim wasn't too bad but I had some bike problems which meant I
couldn't use all my smaller gears. My chain came off twice so I hadn't got
an easy bike ride. I tried not to push it too hard the first 10 km on the
run as I didn't know Mads. I thought that I would have more speed than him
coming from the shorter distance so I felt comfortable with running with
him near the end. He tried to push hard in the last km and I felt
comfortable and stayed with him. On the last 400 m I made a move because I
knew I had a really good sprint," Reto Hug says.
*Race leader in catastrophic puncture*
Danish sprint champion Emil Dalgaard led the race after the swim and
exited the water with Rasmus Petraeus in 23:47 but quickly opened up a gap
on the defending champ out on the 90 km bike. Dalgaard kept putting heavy
watts in the pedals and had a massive lead over his competition when the
rain set in during the bike ride. The leader had a flat with 15 km to go
and because his hands was so cold it took 8 minutes to change his tubular.
The almost sure champion saw his title hopes vanish as the lead group came
past him and now we suddenly had an open race.
On the run Hug and Vittrup quickly opened up a lead together and ran
shoulder to shoulder for almost the entire race. The fast swiss used great
sprinting abilities to overtake his Danish counterpart and take the win on
the last few 100 meters.
*No one near Camilla Pedersen who takes home second Half Challenge title in
three weeks*
In the womens' race there was only one lady out in front the entire day and
Camilla Pedersen also came out as a glorious winner on the day. She had 3
minutes on the competition after the swim and pushed through on the bike to
hold a 7 minute lead out on the run. She could ease into a nice rhythm on
the run and the win was never in danger. A fast moving Bella Bayliss
overtook Åsa Lundström on the last 2 km on the run to claim second while
Lundström came third.
"It was really great to get a win leading from start to finish as I did
three weeks ago in Barcelona. I knew I should be able to get out of the
water first and I had hoped that I could open up the gap on the bike and
then control it on the run and that was what happened. I have had some good
run performances these last few races but I was nervous about how I would
on the run with this being my third half distance in three weeks. It was
really great to compete on my home soil and I heard many cheering for me so
that was a nice feeling," Camilla Pedersen says.
*Biggest half distance race in Northern Europe*
1.100 athletes had signed up for the event and the day truly belonged to
all the hard working Age Groupers who celebrated and enjoyed a fantastic
effort at the finish line here today.
A big THANKS goes out from Race Director Thomas Veje Olsen and his team to
the 400 volunteers who gave it their best and cheered for the athletes all
day long. We can't do it without you!
*Top-5 men*
1) Reto Hug, Switzerland - 4:00:58
2) Mads Vittrup-Pedersen, Denmark - 4:01:00
3) Rasmus Petraeus, Denmark - 4:05:20
4) Dejan Petrcevic, Croatia - 4:05:33
5) Stephen Bayliss, Great Britain - 4:06:56
*Top-5 women*
1) Camilla Pedersen, Denmark - 4:31:33
2) Bella Bayliss, Great Britain - 4:38:21
3) Åsa Lundström, Sweden - 4:39:23
4) Linda Schücker, Germany - 4:44:52
5) Dana Wagner, Germany - 4:49:41
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