He's won the Ironman 70.3 World Championships twice, but now German IM champ Michael Raelert has set his sights on the seven time Tour de France Champion...Lance Armstrong.
On his FaceBook page that he shares with his brother, Michael Raelert has just announced that he's dropping out of the upcoming IM 70.3 in Puerto Rico in favor of racing Lance Armstrong at the April 1st at the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas.
If you are a fan of Lance Armstrong you'll be happy to hear that Lance will be racing again in just over a month in his home state of Texas.
Next up for the the seven-time Tour de France's race champion on his 2012 triathlon race schedule is the Memorial Hermann 70.3 Texas Triathlon in Galveston on April 1.
The Czech Republic's Lucie Zelenkova proved that she has what it takes to win in the scorching heat and humidity of the inaugural Ironman Sri Lanka 70.3 this weekend.
Zelenkova combined the best swim of the day with the second best bike and run to cross the finishline first in a time of 4:30:17.
Four minutes behind her across the line was Germany's Katja Rabe followed by Christie Sym in third place in 4:36:38.
Faris Al-Sultan won the inaugural Sri Lanka 70.3 this weekend topping Kiwi Triathlete Bryan Rhodes by seven and a half minutes. Al-Sultan took the lead of the race on the run and never looked back winning the men's race in 3:5139. Rounding out the podium was Alessandro Degasperi of Italy.
Should Lance Armstrong have shaken Bevan Docherty hand at the end of yesterday's Ironman 70.3 Panama triathlon to congratulate the race winner?
That's the question that has many international newspapers reporting that Lance Armstrong snubbed Bevan Docherty at the IM Panama 70.3 Finishline.
You can watch the controversial moment in question below as Armstrong crosses the finishline in second and walks past Docherty without even acknowledging the winner of the day's race.
In the video, a clearly miffed Docherty turns his head away after Armstrong walks past without the customary congratulatory handshake.
"I'm not sure what it was all about, I can only assume he was just disappointed to get beaten," Docherty said after the race.
Check out some of Dave Erickson's great video work today as Lance and Chris battle it out in T2 at IM 70.3 Panama. They're just seconds apart after a very hilly and hot bike race.
Canadian Triathlete Angela Naeth started were she finished last year by continuing her 70.3 winning ways. The Canadian Triathlete won Ironman 70.3 Panama in a time of 4:15:31 ahead of second place finisher Kelly Williamson.
Naeth had the fastest bike split of the day but still trailed the leaders into T2. She took the lead of the race on the run and never looked back.
American Kelly Williamson had the fastest run of the day which put her on the second step of the podium in a time of 4:19:11, while fellow American Margaret Shapiro rounded out the podium in a time of 4:19:34.
Bevan Docherty has never been beaten at the 70.3 IM race distance and today was no exception. He won Ironman 70.3 Panama this morning. But the Kiwi triathlete only edged out the win at Ironman 70.3 Panama by a mere 32 seconds ahead of second place finisher (and of course seven-time Tour De France Champion) Lance Armstrong.
In what must be a great first Ironman race for the professional cyclist turned pro triathlete, 38-year-old Lance Armstrong showed that even after a career spent riding and racing the bike, he still has what it takes to compete in the sport of triathlon at the highest level.
Before the race Armstrong tweeted, "Average start time for a TdF stage? 12 noon. Wake up? 9am. This triathlon stuff... 6:45 start wake up 3:45. Big difference."
Just in case you are wondering what Mr. Armstrong will be riding tomorrow on a surprisingly hilly and hard Ironman 70.3 Panama bike course....well wonder no longer.
With Ironman racing about to swing into high gear we thought you might enjoy a few videos from the professional Ironman athletes about this Sunday's upcoming inaugural Ironman 70.3 race in Panama.
In this video Pro Triathlete Leanda Cave chats with Dave Erickson about what it means to her, and the sport of triathlon, to line-up in the water at the start of the race with 7-time TdF winner Lance Armstrong.
With Ironman racing about to swing into high gear we thought you might enjoy a few videos from the professional Ironman athletes about this Sunday's upcoming inaugural Ironman 70.3 race in Panama.
In this video pro triathlete Rasmus Henning chats about the race and his winter training in the Canary Islands.
The Word Triathlon Corporation (WTC) has added another Ironman 70.3 race in North America.
The Ironman 70.3 National Harbor Triathlon will be held in Maryland, very close to Washington D.C. on Sunday August 5, 2012.
Our man Danny Ward found the scoop when he discovered the race's web site has already gone live. You can check out the race's new web site HERE and register for the race starting tomorrow.
According to the race web site the course will feature a one loop 1.2 mile swim, a single 56-mile bike loop, and a single 13.1 mile run.
Chris McCormack proved that he still has the leg speed to easily win an Ironman 70.3 race in Pucon, Taiwan.
The two time Aussie Ironman World Champ dominated the field this weekend at Ironman 70.3 Taiwan with a speedy 1:20:55 run to easily win the race ahead of Hideo Fukui of Japan and Frederik Croneborg of Sweden.
Swiss triathlete Ronnie Schildknecht has two new records to call his own: 1) at 7:59:42 he now owns the Ironman Florida course record and 2) he's the first triathlete this year to go under 9 hours at a Ironman race in North America.
"The last 30 km I got really tired. Then I came off the bike I got comfortable and got into a rhythm," Schildknecht said after the race.
Like repeat winner Jacobs in the women's race, Schildknecht was not the fastest out of the water nor the fastest on the bike.
But with a 2:43:47 marathon time he demolished the old course records and finished 10 minutes ahead of second place Ukrainian pro Maxim Kriat and 18 minutes ahead of third place American Justin Daerr.
German triathlete Andreas Böcherer proved why he is the European 70.3 champion today by winning Ironman 70.3 Cancun over Italian Daniel Fontana by just over seven minutes.
Böcherer ruled the bike and sealed the win with a 1:18:34 run split that put him on the top of the podium.
In the women's race it was Australian triathlete Christie Sym who used the fastest bike split of the day (2:28:49) to cross the finishline first over American Heather Gollnick who finished in second place just over 5 minutes.
