Fabian Kraft & Kat Matthews Victorious at IRONMAN Pro Series 70.3 Zell am See Kaprun

The tranquil waters of Lake Zell and sun-drenched Austrian alps made the picture-perfect backdrop for today’s IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun triathlon. The race saw Fabian Kraft (DEU) clinch his second IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon win, and first ever IRONMAN Pro series win. Kat Matthews took the tape in the women’s professional race in a time of 4:08:50, setting a new course record in the process.  
 
In the men’s race, Germany’s Jannik Schafler led a huge group out of the water, in a time of 23:06, closely followed by compatriot Fabian Kraft and Michele Sarzilla (ITA) who were just seconds behind him. It was Kraft however who surged ahead on the bike, setting the pace as the pack headed into the Austrian Alps.
 
Kevin McDowell (USA) began to make his move just ahead of the climb to up Filzensattal (1280m+), relinquishing control over the front of the race. Behind him Kraft, Simon Viain (FRA), Lasse Nygaard Priester (DEU), and Gregor Payet (LUX) juggled for position, with the latter sitting in second place halfway into the ZOOT bike course.
 
Kraft,who was first off the bike in a time of 2:06:33, had  a seven-man chase pack in his wake, including Priester, McDowell, Thompson and Cameron Main (GBR). Onto the run, Kraft and Main ran neck and neck out of T2 with Kraft again keen to assert his dominance over Main, peeling away from him in the first kilometer.
 
Main dropped back to fifth and exciting battle between McDowell and Payet unraveled behind Kraft. Kraft remained unfaltering right up until the end, taking the tape. Payet who had eventually distanced himself from McDowell followed him 90 seconds behind, and in a heartbreaking final kilometer, McDowell lost three places, meaning he finished in sixth, and Nick Thompson completed the podium.
 
In the women’s race, it was Rebecca Clarke (NZL) who led  out of the water, followed by an eight-strong pack which also included the likes of Daisy Davies (GBR), Nina Derron (CHE), Kat Matthews (GBR) and Lisa Perterer (AUS).
 
Clarke maintained her lead as she embarked on the 90-km (56-mile) ZOOT bike course, but it wasn’t long until Matthews quickly got to work on the bike, and established herself at the front of the pack. Meanwhile, a hungry Solveig Løvseth (NOR) began picking off her competitors, moving herself from ninth to second within the first 30k.
 
In the descent from Filzensattal, Lisa Peterner (AUT) became the biggest mover, putting 25 seconds into Matthews and bridging into second place. Løvseth slipped into fourth, and local athlete Derron sat in third.
Matthews came off the bike in 2:17:52, with Perterer just seconds behind. A speedy transition of 02:42 meant Matthews was able to bridge a bigger gap between herself and the Austrian early on.  A chase pack including Løvseth and Derron were next to follow into T2.
 
Matthews set a blistering run pace of 03:39 per kilometer, remaining untouchable until the end. Meanwhile, Perterer continued her aggressive form to keep her competitors off her back, while Løvseth ran herself back into third.
 
Top Five Male Professional Results – IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun

 
Top Five Female Professional Results – IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun

 
News and Notes    

• Today’s win marks Kraft’s first IRONMAN Pro Series victory and follows an impressive season to date which includes the IRONMAN 70.3 European Champion title and two second place finishes at both IRONMAN 70.3 Valenca and IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau triathlons.
• Matthews clocks her third IRONMAN Pro Series win of the season. Across both the 2024 and 2025 season to date, Matthews has not positioned any lower than second place.
• The fastest swims of the day went to Jannik Schaufler and Rebecca Clake in times of 23:06 and 25:11 respectively,
• Matthews won the prize for fastest bike AND run split in the female professional race, while Thompson had the fastest male bike split of the day and eventual winner, Kraft, took the fastest run split in a blistering 1:09:45.
• For Payet, the race marked a position best at an IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon, with his only previous podium coming at the 2024 edition of the race, where he came second.

 
Full results for the 2025 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun triathlon can be found at https://www.ironman.com/races/im703-zell-am-see/results. For additional event information, please visit https://www.ironman.com/races/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 18 select races in 17 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.  

In the female standings there was a lot of movement at the top; Matthews moved into first place, and Løvseth moved up two places to second. The biggest mover in the top ten however, was Perterer, who moved up four places to now sit in third. Previous leader, Jackie Hering (USA) moved down to fourth, and Germany’s Laura Jansen moved into the top ten.
 
In the men’s standings, there was less movement; the top nine men all remained in place, and Dominik Sowieja moved up six places to 10^th. Jonas Hoffman (DEU), who did not feature heavily in the pointy end of the race today, did manage to clock up all important points which moved him from 17^th to 11^th.
 
Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After 14 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 $2,450,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. With twelve races now complete, and over one million USD has been earned by professional athletes so far – leaving just under $1.5million USD to be claimed at the remaining events.
    
Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After 14 Events)  

 
 
Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After 14 Events)