First Ironman title for Ben Hoffman
MultiSport | July 27, 2010
Specialized Pro Ben Hoffman of Durango, Colorado recorded his first Ironman with a very strong performance at Ford Ironman Lake Placid in upstate New York, on a day that also saw Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck finished first and second overall at the 2010 Tour de France and Javier Gomez rocked to a fantastic win at the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series in London, England.
Ben emerged from the swim in third position in a time of 55:06 and set out with Germany’s Maik Twelsiek to chase down swim leader Bryan Rhodes and runner-up Nicholas Becher. Ben and the German then rocked to the two fastest overall bike splits, riding 4:38:03 and 4:37:58 respectively and arriving in T2 together.
Early on the 2 competitors ran side-by-side but eventually Ben eased away and with his 3:01:24 marathon crossed the finish line first, 6:59 ahead of Petr Vabrousek of the Czech Republic who had managed to pass Twelsiek for second place. For Ben this was his first Ironman win, and it certainly won’t be his last one. Expect to see much more from this Duranho, Colorado resident.
“I came out of the non-wetsuit swim a little slower than I would have liked, but paced off Maik because I knew he was the man to watch. After making it through 90 miles with him, I started thinking I could win the race, but it was one of the hardest things I've ever done to find strength in those last 6 miles of the run. Fortunately I had an amazing support crew here, and the fans, volunteers, and spectators were top notch, bringing me home. It still hasn't sunk in yet, but I'm happy to at least say that I am an Ironman champion.”
Ford Ironman Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York / July 25, 2010
swim 2.4 m / bike 112 m / run 26.2 m
Top 5 men
1. Ben Hoffman (USA) 8:39:34
2. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:46:33
3. Maik Twelsiek (GER) 8:48:33
4. Justin Daerr (USA) 9:05:09
5. Tim Snow (USA) 9:10:48
