BMC Pro Tri's Høgenhaug qualifies for Ironman World Champs
Kristian Høgenhaug secured his Kona qualification after an outstanding performance at the Ironman European Championship.
Høgenhaug earned his spot in Kona by finishing in 4th place at IM Frankfurt. The BMC athlete took an early lead during the bike leg, pushing through on the run to finish in an impressive time of 7:35:32. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR; 7:27:21) won the race, with Kieran Lindars (GBR; 7:32:14) and Gregory Barnaby (ITA; 7:33:44) claiming second and third.
Incredible bike performance despite crash
After narrowly missing a Kona slot at IM Vitoria a month ago, Høgenhaug arrived in Frankfurt with a clear goal: to secure his Kona qualification.
The day began with a solid swim for Høgenhaug. He exited the water in 14th place, just 2 minutes behind the leading group. On the bike, he quickly made up ground, moving into 2nd place after just 30 kilometers. At that point, he still had to close a one-minute gap to solo leader Hirsch. However, 15 kilometers later, Høgenhaug bridged that gap and took co-lead of the race. He then managed his efforts, using the next few kilometers to settle in before taking full control of the race.
Around the 70-kilometer mark, he began to break away, opening a gap over Hirsch. Despite a small crash on the wet roads around Frankfurt, Høgenhaug built a lead of 40 seconds over Hirsch and 1:45 over the rest of the field by the halfway point of the bike leg. During the second lap, he continued to extend his lead, posting the fastest bike split of the day (3:57:09). Høgenhaug began the marathon with nearly a 3-minute lead over Zepuntke in second place and almost 5 minutes over the main chase group, which included Blummenfelt.
Though Høgenhaug started the marathon at a solid pace of 3:50 min/km, he couldn’t prevent the others from closing the gap. During the first of four laps, he dropped to 3rd place, and around the 18-kilometer mark, Barnaby pushed him back to 4th. Despite this, Høgenhaug maintained a consistent pace of around 3:50 min/km throughout the marathon, securing his 4th-place finish in a time of 7:35:32. More importantly, he earned his Kona qualification.
His BMC teammate Clément Mignon also competed at IM Frankfurt, aiming to score solid points in the Ironman Pro Series. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was forced to withdraw after suffering two punctures early in the bike leg.
