On the bike, first, the Antwerp rider let his experience speak for himself, overtaking his opponents one by one. Seventh, at 2’15, at km 40, third, at 1’40, at km 70, Bart joined Marten after 165 km in the company of the Frenchman Léon Chevalier while the American Chris Leiferman was in fourth position.
On foot, then, Bart Aernouts came out of the second transition, in front, with two seconds ahead of Chevalier and more than a minute over Leiferman. From there, the Antwerp rider took his pace to control the race and cross the line as the winner.
His marathon time leaves you speechless: 2h43’03, for a final time of 7h39’24. Hats off!
The incredible comeback of Marten Van Riel
Barely a week after winning the T100 world title in Dubai, Marten Van Riel seemed to be on his way to a new feat. For his first appearance on the “queen distance” (3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, 42 km walking), the Antwerp resident led for a long time, but a grain of sand came to halt the fine mechanics.
Marten Van Riel, new T100 world champion
It was not yet dawn and the party-goers still hadn’t returned when Marten left his apartment to head to the start line. But he was wide awake… Swimming the 3.8 km at a pace of 1’02/100 m, he came out of the water first with more than a minute ahead of another Belgian, Pamphiel Pareyn.
Marten then took his time preparing to tackle the 180 km on the bike, which he rode in front almost from start to finish with the “pack” clocking in about a minute behind him. Halfway through, there was Léon Chevalier, Chris Leiferman, Michael Weiss, Cameron Wurf and a certain Bart Aernouts. So many Ironman specialists.
Joined by Chevalier and Aernouts at km 165, Marten Van Riel then suddenly disappeared from the radars, losing more than… twenty minutes in fifteen kilometers! But he didn’t give up. On the contrary, the Antwerp player then began an incredible comeback. From 18th place, at 20’33, in the second transition, Marten returned to 7th place, at 17’11, after a marathon run in 2h39’38.
Ironman Hawaii: Bart Aernouts, second!
