Roth live!
by  Michaela Findeis - Kjerag.com

The 14th Ironman Europe in Roth is on its' way! 2641 triathletes from all
over the world lined up this morning at the Channel where the race starts
traditionally at 6:10h, with the pros and women starting in the first of 13
starting waves. Conditions seem close to perfect to beat the 7:50: 27
Ironman record set by Luc Van Lierde in 1997: 18°C air temperature, no wind,
no rain, but cloudy skies. 21°C water temperature

6:30 h
Andreas Niedrig (Ger) takes the early lead in the swim, with Alexander
Merzlov (RUS) closing in soon. Lothar Leder, last year's winner and this
year's clear favourite, is on their heels, with Faris Al Sultan, Germany's
shooting star, and Ralf Eggert following.

6:55 h
Merzlov exits the water first, closely fowollowed by Niedrig. Faris Al
Sultan and Leder are 45 sec down on them, with Thomas Hellriegel and Ralf
Eggert (both GER) on their heels.
Ironman Australia winner 2000 and 2001, Normann Stadler (GER) had to quit
during the swim - stomoach problems are reported.

7:00 h
Peter Reid (CAN), reigning Hawaii Ironman Champion exits the water with
almost 5 min down while the leading group - Leder, Niedrig, Merzlov - start
the 180 km bike. First woman out of the water is Germany's Ute Mückel.

7:10 h
Karen Smyers (US) exits the water with about 4:30 on Mückel.

7:30 h
Lothar Leder and Andreas Niedrig drop Merzlov easily, and Ralf Eggert closes
in on the Russian swimmer. Ute Mückel already lost her early lead to Ironman
Southafrica winner Nina Kraft (GER) on the bike.

8:00 h
Karen Smyers is constantly making up time and rides into 3rd position behind
second placed Californian Gina Kehr (USA) and the leading Kraft. Mückel
seems to be unable to keep up the pace. And from behind comes Robyn Rooke
(AUS)...

Lothar Leder with substantial lead

8:25 h

Lothar Leder and Andreas Niedrig work together perfectly! The gap on Ralf
Eggert, 3rd, is almost 6 minutes, with Hellriegel and young pro Uwe Widmann
(GER) another minute down.

8:50 h

Robyn Roocke, the last minute entry from Australia is mixing up the women's
race: Around k 60 she takes over second 43 sec. behind the leading Kraft.
Gina Kehr still holds on to third place (- 1min), with Karen Smyers only 10
sec. behind her.

9:00 h

After two hours on their bikes, Lothar Leder and Andreas Niedrig took
together the famous climb at Solarer Berg, with Eggert in solo third
(-6min). Thomas Hellriegel lost more time on the leading Leder, in 4th with
7:30 on the leaders. Peter Reid is riding in 15th position only, about 13
minutes back.

Karen Smyers faboulous ride

9:15 h
About 80 k into the bike, Karen Smyers, 39, seems to have a perfect
come-back on ironman. In her first time racing in Roth she is only 10
seconds down on Robyn Rooke (2nd) and constantly making up time on the
leading Kraft, now 30 secs. ahead of her.

Leder und Niedrig chasing the record?

9:50 h

Niedrig and Leder are perfectly working together to build up an incredible
lead on the bike. At k 115 they are about 8 minutes ahead of "solo rider"
Ralf Eggert, and 9 minutes on the duo Widmann-Hellriegel. Is Niedrig riding
for Leder? The run will tell...

Robyn Rooke taking off

10:20 h
Australian Robyn Roocke took over the lead mid-way through the bike and took
off to leave Nina Kraft and Karen Smyers behind. At k 100, her lead was 1:45
on Kraft and 2:26 on Smyers, with Gina Kehr holding on into 4th place, 2:50
min. back on Roocke.

Check out the swim splits!

10:28 h
With 40 k to go, Leder and Niedrig manage to keep up their secure lead of 8
minutes on Ralf Eggert, 3rd, and 11 minutes on the Germans Hellriegel,
Widmann and Siegi Ferstl. Olaf Sabatschus and Frenchman René Rovera hold
onto 7th and 8th (-13 min).

Who's that girl?

10:30 h

Who's that girl, asked Karen Smyers our reporter when Robyn Roocke flew by
her on the bike. With only 40 k left to go on the bike in the women's race,
the question is indeed gaining prime status on the Roth grounds and news
rooms! The Australian, racing in Europe for the French Club of Beaune, had
shown her ironman talent before: 13th in the Hawaii Ironman 1998, 3rd in
Ironman Lanzarote 1999, she made the podium (3rd) in Ironman New Zealand
last year. And Roocke is in great shape: only three weeks ago she posted a
2:05 on the final 30 k run in the half-distance triathlon in "Ironloire" in
France.

Positions at T2 - unofficial bike splits

1. Lothar Leder 4:32:00
2. Andreas Niedrig 4:32:40
3. Ralf Eggert 4:41:58
4. Siegi Ferstl 4:39:35
5. Thomas Hellriegel 4:43:26
6. Uwe Widmann 4:44:08
7. Ulf Bartels 4:44:45
8. René Rovera (FRA) 4:41:17
9. Stefan Holzner 4:40:58
10. Cameron Brown (NZ) 4:45:16
11. Olaf Sabatschus
12. Dirk Niederau
13. Heiko Tewes
14. A. Merzlov (RUS)
15. Timo Bracht

19. Pilousek M. (TCH)
26. Eric Roy (CAN)

Leder vs. Niedrig

11:45h
They got off their bikes side to side, but Leder flies out T2 to drop
Niedrig from the very first k into the run. "I feel very good", Niedrig told
our reporter out on the course, "I just need about 5 k to pick up my pace.
No, I am definitely not settled in for second!" Temperatures are still very
cool, no rain on the run.

Positions in the women's race T2 - bike splits

1. R. Roocke (AUS) 5:16:07
2. N. Kraft (GER) 5:22:46
3. G. Kehr (USA) 5:23:15
4. K. Smyers (USA) 5:18:58
5. G. Bakker (CAN) 5:15:10
6. L. Bentley (CAN) 5:27:22
7. K. Schumacher (GER) 5:29:36

Roocke fades on the run
12:50 h

Robyn Rooke left Transition 2 almost three minutes ahead of Nina Kraft, but
the magic touch or pace seems gone: by k 6 Nina Kraft and Karen Smyers catch
up with the Australian. Gina Kehr stays in 4th, 37 sec behind the leaders.

Leder heading for a second title
13:30 h

Lothar Leder's stride looks steady and confident. At k 24, his lead is
growing to 3:42 min on Niedrig. A huge gap opens behind them with Eggert
following in third place, 13:10 behind Leder. Cameron Brown seems to close
in with 1:20 on Eggert. Hellriegel in 6th struggles for a decent Top Five
finish. As for Peter Reid - rumors say that the Canadian dropped out early
on the bike.

And the Winner is...

14:21 h
once more: Lothar Leder! In 8:10:39 he enters the packed arena of Roth
winning his second Ironman this year and defending his title at the last
Ironman Germany in Roth!

1. Lothar Leder 8:10:39
2. Andreas Niedrig 8:18:36
3. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:25:58
4. Ralf Eggert 8:28:24
5. Thomas Hellriegel 8:31:48
6. Stefan Holzner 8:31:53
7. Uwe Widmann 8:34:08
8. Siegi Ferstl 8:34:21
9. Olaf Sabatschus 8:35:47
10. René Rovera (FRA) 8:38:00
11. Margus Tamm 8:44:53
12. Timo Bracht 8:45:37
13. Ulf Bartels 8:47:51
14. Markus Forster 8:48:27
15. Alexander Merzlov (RUS) 8:48:35
16. Faris Al Sultan 8:50:13
17. Marcus Melcher 8:54:13
18. Dirk Niederau 8:54:18

Kraft racing smart

14:50h
Nina Kraft is not on the safe side yet. With 12 k to go, she has a
3-minute-lead on surprisingly strong Gina Kehr, USA, 2nd. Nicole Leder,
Lothar's wife, seems today's fastest runner and has moved up from 8th place
after the bike to third, 9:35 min behind Kraft. Lisa Bentley (CAN) is
looking strong as well, only 20 sec. behind Nicole. Karen Smyers is losing
some ground (5th, -15 min), and Robyn Roocke seems in serious trouble,
paying for her efforts on the bike.

Gina takes second

Nina Kraft wins her first title on homeground in the final Ironman Roth and
finishes safely in front of Gina Kehr, USA, who takes home her best Ironman
result ever, with Nicole Leder in third.

Final Standing Women

1. Nina Kraft (GER) 9:24:29
2. Gina Kehr (USA) 9:27:26
3. Nicole Leder (GER) 9:30:13
4. Lisa Bentley (CAN) 9:34:46
5. Karen Smyers (USA) 9:40:57
6. Katja Schumacher (GER)