Radka Kahlefeldt returned for the second year to Davao on the island of Mindanao to defend her title won just a few weeks after the birth of her child last year. She took on Caroline Steffen, who has enjoyed much success in the Philippines and also since her return to the sport following the birth of her son. After battling it out in the swim and on the bike, the duo had a 5:33 lead heading out on the run. Steffen held on until the 8km mark, but Kahlefeldt’s 1:25:11 run was more than enough in the hot conditions to defend her title in 4:16:52. Steffen was second 2:36 back with double figures back to Kirralee Seidel in third.
The men’s field was small but stacked with world champions in Tim Reed and Craig Alexander, defending champion Mauricio Mendez and strong performers Sam Betten, Eric Watson, Antony Costes and Tim Van Berkel. However, it was German Markus Rolli, who had a win in Thailand to his credit in 2017, who led Betten out of the water and was expected to be rounded up by some of the big guns on the bike. But in the relatively still conditions, Rolli had other ideas. His stunning 2:00 bike gave him an eight-minute lead on to the run. The German had more than enough in the bank with his 1:22 run to win by just under 3 minutes. It was 45 years young Craig Alexander who took up battle with the day’s best run of 1:17 but he ran out of real estate to settle for a highly merited second, 45 seconds ahead of a fast-finishing Van Berkel.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Rolli, Markus DEU 3:49:29
2 Alexander, Craig AUS 3:52:21
3 Van Berkel, Tim AUS 3:53:05
4 Reed, Tim AUS 3:57:18
5 Betten, Sam AUS 3:59:21
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Kahlefeldt, Radka CZE 4:16:52
2 Steffen, Caroline CHE 4:19:28
3 Seidel, Kirrlee AUS 4:28:37
4 Duke, Dimity-Lee AUS 4:32:41
5 Tyack, Lisa AUS 4:39:19