MICHI WINS 70.3 ST. PÖLTEN IN AUSTRIA

After a second and third place, Austrian professional triathlete Michael Weiss was able to win 70.3 St. Pölten at his 6th attempt. The Austrian crossed the finish line of his home race in a time of 3:51:36, which resulted in a new course record.

The gun went off at 7am on a beautiful day with perfect conditions. As a start, the pro men dived into the Viehofner See for swimming the first 1000m. After a short running section, the additional 900m were in the Ratzersdorfer See. Both lakes' temperatures were still cold enough for a wetsuit-legal swim. Michi exited the water with his Blueseventy Helix in a solid 27:40 in 17th position.

The Austrian Überbiker posted the fastest bike split of the day aboard his Diamondback Andean triathlon-bike, although he did not have great legs: "I only averaged 335 Watts on my SRM PowerMeter and felt kind of flat. Those are pretty low numbers for me, considering the 378 Normalized Power I pushed at 70.3 St. George 3 weeks ago!" reflects the 4-time Ironman Champion. The 90k (56mi) bike course was anything but flat: On completly closed roads through scenic Wachau, athletes were challenged by 900m (3000ft) of elevation gain. Clocking 2:09:13, Michi arrived in T2 in 9th position, about 3:30 behind the leader Giulio Molinari of Italy.

With the confidence of out-running Sanders and Kienle at 70.3 St. George recently, Weiss started the half marathon very aggressively and was able to close the gap to the runner in second place, Switzerland's Ruedi Wild, at kilometer 10. Quickly Molinari was in sight as well, and combined with a section through the finish area the Austrian gained extra motivation being cheered on by thousands of spectators. At 10k to go, Michi finally took the lead and never looked back again. Home crowds welcomed him and celebrated a first Austrian victory in the event's 12th edition.

Bottom line: Michi Weiss seems to be in the shape of his life. Although taking a closer look, you will not find any major performance improvements: For example, his run split at 70.3 St. Pölten 2014 was 1:09:20- in other words 8 seconds faster than on Sunday! As with most of Michi's races in the last 5 years, SRM will post the power file analysis by British coach Garth Fox. This informative write-up with helpful insights for training and racing- especially targeting agegroupers- will be published at www.srm.de soon. You will not get that kind of transparency from many of Michi's competitors!