Victory for The Germans: Caroline Pohle and Mika Noodt Take The Tape at IRONMAN 70.3 Zell Am See-Kaprun Triathlon

September 2, 2024

Pohle and Noodt both take home 2,500 points in last IRONMAN Pro Series Race before the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship races begin

– Pohle and Noodt both take home 2,500 points in last IRONMAN Pro Series Race before the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship races begin

– Jelle Geens (BEL) and Gregor Payet (LUX) complete the men’s professional podium, while Grace Thek (AUS) and Laura Masden (DEN) complete the women’s professional podium

ZELL AM SEE-KAPRUN, Aut. / TAMPA, Fla./ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Zell am See-Kaprun triathlon took place today against a stunning backdrop of the Kitzbühel Alps. In an incredible display of recovery, Caroline Pohle (DEU) stormed to a victory marking back-to-back wins, crossing the line in 04:17:34, just a week after becoming IRONMAN 70.3 European Champion in Tallinn, Estonia. In the men’s field, fellow German Mika Noodt took the course best time by two seconds on his IRONMAN Pro Series™ debut.

Pohle was second out of the water, right on Lauren Brandon’s shoulder, but managed to overtake the American in T1, meaning she was first on the bike and maintained her lead right up until the end. Behind her, a chase pack formed on the bike made up of the likes of Lena Meißner, Els Visser, Laura Madsen, and Grace Thek. As Pohle increased her lead on the run becoming more and more untouchable, a battle unfolded for the final podium places between Laura Madsen, Els Visser, and Grace Thek. At around 2km from the end, Madsen started to fade as Thek picked up the place, running herself down the red carpet in second, and leaving the Dane in third. Thek and Madsen finished within two minutes of Pohle, meaning the all-important IRONMAN Pro Series points remained tight.

Pohle commented: “It was my first back-to-back racing, so we had no experience about how my body reacted (sic), but I felt very, very good today, very strong and confident about last week, and yeah, I don’t know how it happened! My parents are here, they surprised me. I’m super happy.”

In the men’s professional field, a similar dynamic unfolded with Mika Noodt taking the lead early on the bike, resulting in him having the fastest bike split of the day and securing a course best in the process (2:02:11). Noodt started the run with a 04:47 minute lead over Jelle Geens, which he managed to maintain throughout the course, finishing just over 5 minutes ahead of Geens. Last year’s champion, Jan Stratmann (DEU) was third off the bike, but slowed slightly on run with Gregor Payet (LUX) and Tom Hug (DEU) overtaking him to take third and fourth place respectively. For Payet, this marked his first ever IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon.

When talking about the bike, Noodt commented: “I didn’t have any numbers, so I just rode to speed. I was quite relaxed. I really enjoyed that course, I think it’s the best bike course – some small rolls, and then some straights. Such a nice rhythm and great spectators.”

About the run course, Noodt added: “I was a little worried about the last 5km as that was my longest run since last October when I had to crawl the last few meters. I kept it quite conservative but I heard that Jelle didn’t come in close…With 2km to go I was quite sure I was going to make it, so I could enjoy the finish line, it was amazing with all those flags. I’m from Germany so it’s sort of like home to me.”

At IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun athletes were competing for a maximum of 2,500 IRONMAN Pro Series points, a total event pro prize purse of $50,000, and three qualifying slots per gender to the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon in Marbella, Spain.

Top Five Male Professional Results 

Top Five Female Professional Results 

News and Notes 

• Caroline Pohle secured back-to-back wins in the space of just a week after winning the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Tallinn. She is the second athlete to have earned back-to-back wins in this year’s IRONMAN Pro Series with Emma Pallant-Browne taking home back-to-back victories at IRONMAN 70.3 Alcúdia-Mallorca and IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga.
• Mika Noodt’s finish time of 03:46:04 broke Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) course best by two seconds which has been held since 2012.
• Noodt took a lead early on the bike, securing the fastest bike split of the day in a speedy 2:02:11, beating fellow German Frederic Funk’s standing course best from last year (02:04:27) by over two minutes. Noodt had a 4:45 minute lead over Jelle Geens (BEL) who was second off the bike.
• Els Visser (NLD) had the fastest bike split of the day with a time of 2:21:19, coming off the bike in third position.
• Local athlete Martin Demuth (AUT) played up to his home advantage by coming first out of the stunning Lake Zell. He was followed by four German athletes in Magnus Manner, Jan Stratmann, Florian Angert and Jannik Schaufler who made up a huge chase pack of 18 men all coming out of the water within 45 seconds of each other.
• Lauren Brandon had the fastest swim of the day in a time of 25:22 with Caroline Pohle right on her shoulder.
• In the IRONMAN Pro Series standings, Arnaud Guilloux’s (FRA) who came 11th in today’s race jumps eight places to sit in second. Guilloux already has two fourth place finishes from Athletic Brewing IRONMAN Lake Placid and Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns, and an eighth place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne Vendée under his belt. Bradley Weiss (ZAF) also jumps eight places to fourth as a result of his fast and consistent racing in the IRONMAN Pro Series so far.
• In the women’s IRONMAN Pro Series standings, there was no movement in the top three positions, as Jackie Hering (USA), Danielle Lewis (USA) and Maja Stage Nielsen (DEN) remain in first, second and third respectively. However, Els Visser jumps four places to sit in fourth, pushing Kat Matthews (GBR) into fifth in the standings.
• It was a dominant day for the German’s, as not only did Noodt and Pohle take the win on behalf of their country, but 6 professional German men and 2 professional German women made it into the top 10.

Full results for the IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun triathlon can be found at ironman.com/im703-zell-am-see-results. For additional event information, please visit https://www.ironman.com/im703-zell-am-see.

IRONMAN Pro Series Standings

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series with professional triathletes being able to earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. For any athlete, only their top five event results count towards their overall Pro Series points and standing, of which a maximum of three IRONMAN results can be counted. How it works can be found here.

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After 15 Events)

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Female (After 14 Events)

Full IRONMAN Pro Series standings can be found at proseries.ironman.com.

Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money

In addition to the IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7M year-end bonus prize pool, there is an event pro prize purse payout of $2,575,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. To date the IRONMAN Pro Series has paid out a total of $1.25M. Over $1.3M remains to be claimed at the remaining events.

Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After 15 events)

Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After 15 events)

Next Events Coming Up

In just three weeks today the professional women will toe the line at the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice. The men will then race a month late on October 26 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i.

As well as the ultimate title of IRONMAN World Champion, there will also be 6,000 IRONMAN Pro Series points on offer (1,000 points more than the other IRONMAN triathlons in the Series).

A free replay of broadcast coverage at the IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun triathlon to international audiences across multiple platforms is available on proseries.ironman.com or IRONMAN’s YouTube Page.  Outside+ for those watching from the United States and Canada; and for the rest of the world on proseries.ironman.com or IRONMAN’s YouTube Page.

For more information on the IRONMAN Pro Series, visit proseries.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

** Terms and Conditions: Photography and Video is provided courtesy of IRONMAN for news and editorial coverage and is not to be archived. Any commercial use or other use of the photos is strictly prohibited unless a separate written license is obtained from and signed by an authorized representative of IRONMAN. Additional terms and conditions can be found here. Usage of materials constitutes acceptance of terms. **

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About the IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN^® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN^® 70.3^® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB^®, Tarawera Ultra-Trail™ by UTMB^® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB^®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world, providing participants the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz^® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 14,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.