Posted: July 2, 2004

Triathlon: Win or lose, top men want sub-eight at Quelle Challenge Roth

Lovato, Granger, Galindez, Al-Sultan, others: a race you must do in your career

NÜRNBERG/ROTH, Germany (July 1, 2004) – The United Nations of triathlon, more than 10 ultra-distance winners from around the world, met today at the pre-race press conference for the most powerful race on Earth, Quelle Challenge Roth (3.8 km S/180 km B/42.2 km R), and it appears a war will be launched this coming Sunday. The message they sent was clear: Sub-eight hours, shoot to kill.

Many of the world’s best triathletes spoke up front-and-center at Roth’s modern arts center, KulturFabrik – Stephen Sheldrake (NZ), Yoko Hori (JPN), Timo Bracht (GER), Faris Al-Sultan (GER), Heidi Jessberger (GER), last year’s champions Nicole and Lothar Leder (GER), Chris McCormack (AUS), Belinda Granger (AUS), Michael Lovato (USA), Heike Funk (GER), Oscar Galindez (ARG), Christophe Bastie (FRA), and Andreas Niedrig (GER). Others like Garrett Macfayden (CAN), Dave Harju (CAN), Yoko Okuda (JPN), Justin Granger (AUS), Marie Danais (CAN), and amateur hero Joe Bonness (USA) were present, too, but there just wasn’t enough room for the entire assembly of stealthy speeds, strategists, and pure stamina machines. For these ultra-distance winners, the others only improving over the last year and locking their sights in on a career-elevating podium, Sunday’s race will take every bit of heart, soul and speed they can muster. It’ll all be reported on www.ChallengeLive.com.

A brilliant runner-up in the 2003 Quelle Challenge Roth and the 2002 and 2003 Ironman Australia winner, McCormack said “aim is to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’ as quickly as possible. I think that I’m going stronger, more experienced than last year,” adding that he wants “to be three seconds ahead of Lothar this year,” and “go under eight hours. I don’t care if I am in fifth place, I just want a fast race.”

Lovato, ninth overall at Kona last autumn and a 2003 iron-distance winner, will be one of the most feared athletes on Sunday. “Michael Lovato is going to be strong. Expect a lot out of him,” said Macca. Lovato, not known for absolute brilliance in any one particular discipline, is the kind of athlete who just knows how to put it all together every time, and he’s one who’s grown into his own as one of the world’s best and likely long-time stars. Emboldened to test the global scene in the world-record’s host theatre, the American chose Roth over defending his title at Idaho. A Boulder, Col., resident who’s training smarter than ever, Lovato sees no reason why the eight-hour barrier shouldn’t be on every world-class athlete’s mind here or elsewhere. He agreed with McCormack, said he’s trained on and likes the Roth course, wants to see faster times, and will give everything he’s got in his first Roth outing on Sunday.

Among other Roth indoctrinates will be the South American triathlon hero Oscar “OG” Galindez, Germany’s “NG” – Next Generation – Bracht and Al-Sultan, Canadians Harju and Macfayden, newly-turned-full-time pro Justin Granger, and Bastie, who will lead more than 260 French athletes to the finish line.

Hori, who’s raced two ultras this year, including a recent win at Ironman Japan, returns to Roth knowing the course, and with plans to better her eighth-place finish here. Still, Granger, Danais and Okuda have done their homework on Nicole Leder, Funk, Hori, Jessberger, Ute Mückel and other experienced Roth racers, and they’ve done a bit of training on the course. Hori and Granger arrived in mid June to race the Kohler Haardman, near Dusseldorf, and are comfortable on the course by now, as is Danais. Okuda will have to rely on her former-pro-runner background in order to chase down the leaders, but Danais hopes to be biking with them. Jessberger, part of Germany’s Next Generation and forecasted as a Top Five finisher here, seems confident in her training and improvement in performance, including her third-overall finish in this Spring’s Half-Ironman South Africa and 17th overall at the world championship in Kona.

In an emotional moment, Niedrig discussed his leg injury with the full house of journalists and announced that Quelle Challenge Roth 2004 will be his last race as a professional athlete. He told the story of his first homestay family in town and the long-lasting friendships he’s built on his experiences here, and of what it meant to be a part of Roth, after which his friend, QCR race director Herbert Walchshöfer embraced him to the applause of the audience. If the Roth first-timer men, and women including Okuda, Danais and Granger, weren’t yet convinced, they likely will be when they’re greeted at the swim start by 20,000 or more spectators, and at least 70,000 more throughout the day.

Quelle Challenge Roth’s sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, DB Regio, Opel AG, Newline, Nürnberger Nachrichten (Nürnberg Newspapers), Bayrische Versicherungskammer, Maxim, Phillips, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Sparkasse Mittelfranken-Süd, ADAC, Arndt, Recaro, PowerBar, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpolstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Lorenz & Partner, INKO Energy, Flor & Sohn, Spedition Heinloth, and BIESTMILCH.

For more information on the July 4, 2004 Quelle Challenge Roth and Triathlon Festival, Deutsche Triathlon Union (DTU) ultra-distance International German Championship and Long Distance Triathlon World Championship for Firefighters, the on-line forum and the event’s newsletter, visit www.challenge-roth.com.

From Steve Handwerker, slhcomm@hotmail.com.