Vitoria’s Ironman was more like Ironwoman. The best competitors in the world met in the Basque capital and in the end the athlete from Durango won. At the male level, she had a more popular tone. Nearly 1,400 competitors from 58 countries they participated in an edition in which the heat was quite bearable in the capital of Álava.
The professionals left Landa at 8 in the morning. Frades came seventh in the swim and then gained some camber in the bike segment, she finished third. When the marathon began, the Dutch Els Visser was the first classified but Frades had an ace up his sleeve: the running segment. And that he had discomfort.
Helene Alberdi, for example, entered the last stage with a deficit of 24:36. At kilometer 18 of the marathon section, Frades took the lead. In the end, she entered as the winner, which adds his third ironman after winning in Vichy in 2015 and in Cozumel in 2022. In Vitoria he invested 8 hours and 46 minutes.
Upon reaching the finish line, the woman from Durango said that “It has been very exciting to win at home, with my people close. I have suffered a lot because I was in pain. I was going from less to more and although in the race section I have recovered, I had discomfort. Winning is always very difficult. The day has been incredible, with a great atmosphere and a good temperature. I think I knew how to manage the race and the truth is that everything turned out well for me”.
In the men’s category, the victory went to the French Gwenael Changeon, with a time of 8 hours and 22 minutes. He was sixteenth in swimming but his comeback came with the bike where he finished first. During the marathon he did not lose the most privileged square and finished off the job in the Plaza de España in Vitoria.
SENIOR FEMALE CATEGORY
1. Gurutze Frades… 8:46:18.
2. Svenja Thoes… 8:53:17.
3. Els Visser… 9:08:59.
MALE SENIOR CATEGORY
1. Gwen Changeon… 8:22:10.
2. David Mendes… 8:38:51.
3. Nicolas Durif… 8:42:01.