Macca claims victory at Ironman Austria

Ironman 70.3 Austria
St. Polten, Vienna, Austria
May 24, 2009
1.2-mile swim / 56-mile bike / 13.1-mile run

While McCormack's victory at Ironman 70.3 Austria comes as no surprise, no one could have known what was in store for the Aussie. McCormack crossed the finish line just three seconds before Belgium's Marino Vanhoenacker who was 5th at Ironman Hawaii in 2007 when McCormack claimed the World Title and won Ironman South Africa early this year.
 
Fresh off a sprint distance win just 7 days prior, McCormack once again showed why he's considered the best all around Triathlete in the world at Sunday's Half Ironman, showcasing not only his physical power but what could only be called a tactical master piece.  Still feeling the effects of jetlag, Mccormak arrived in Austria only four days before the race and just three days after having won a sprint Triathlon in California the weekend prior.  "I was pretty tired after all the travel when I arrived", stated McCormack after the race.
 
Estonia's Albert and Hungary's Molnar led the men out of the water in an abnormal swim course with McCormack and Vanhoenacker leading a large chase pack that was more than a minute back.  Two separate lakes were used to help give the large crowds a better show.  After the field swam 1k in the first lake, they exited the water and ran through a stadium filled with a large crowds before entering another lake to finish off the 1.2 mile swim.
 
Though over a minute back after the swim, both McCormack and Vanhoenacker easily erased the deficit the faster swimmers had built and took the lead on the 56 mile bike.  On what proved to be a rather difficult bike course, McCormack was able to press things and put pressure on everyone else to keep up.  With a large pack of many top Europeans such as Cigana from Italy, a former pro cyclist and the fastest rider on the day, trailing just two minutes back.
 
"I felt up and down on the bike and had some good sections but Marino was very strong, especially through the small towns along the Danube River", stated McCormack.  "I was able to hang tough on the two big climbs and pushed really hard as there was a good size pack behind me and I wanted to put as much time as I could into them."
 
After a quick transition in T2 and out onto the run, the race continued to be a two-horse show with McCormack and Vanhoenacker running side by side throughout the entire 13 miles on the run.  "Marino is an unreal runner and in good form so I knew he was going to be hard to beat", said McCormack.  "I felt pretty off on the bike today but when I got onto the run I had good legs. I ran really hard the first 10k but Marino matched me stride for stride.  He (VanHoenacker) threw some attacks in on the second lap of the run but I felt unbelievable and was able to match them easily."
 
As always in Austria, the fans were out in large numbers to cheer on their favorite athlete.  The crowds filled the streets and the finishing stadium was standing room only.  "With 5k to go I knew it was going to come down to a last lap sprint", stated McCormack.  "We were running very fast and as the run finished on an athletic track in a big stadium I just sat off Marino's shoulder and then with 200 yards to go I hit him really hard and got the gap I needed to win."
 
In the end, McCormack was victorious yet again with a race time of 3:54:15. Vanhoenacker crossed the line at 3:54:18 for second position and rounding out the podium was Italy's Cigana.
 
Asked of the event, Macca was quoted as saying, "It was an unreal race!  It always feel great to win.  I feel like I am getting some great form and am stoked with the race considering all of the travel.  The crowd was just going crazy!  It felt great to win for all the people who cheered me on all day long."
 
Top 5 Men
1. Chris McCormack (AUS) 3:54:15
2. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 3:54:18
3. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 3:56:22
4. Marko Albert (EST) 3:56:26
5. Aaron Farlow (AUS) 3:56:37