ITU Winter Triathlon World Cup Wildhaus Results
Wildhaus, Switzerland
Saturday, January 25, 2003
4.8km run, 11.2km mountain bike, 10 ski
Complete Results

Wildhaus, Switzerland: German athletes dominated the ITU Winter Triathlon World Cup opener in Wildhaus, Switzerland. In the women's event, the current World Champion of Winter Triathlon, Marianne Vlasveld of the Netherlands, had to settle for 2nd, as Germany's Sigrid Lang and Jutta Schubert took steps #1 and #3 on the podium. Benjamin Sonntag made it 3 medals for Germany by winning the men's event and retaining his Wildhaus World Cup title.

In the days leading up to the event, heavy snow fell making lots of challenges on the course. The event organizers, in consultation with Technical Delegate Michel Gignoux and the Athletes Representatives, decided to shorten the race from 5 laps for each leg to 3 laps run (4,8 km), 4 laps bike (11,2 km) and 10 km skate skiing (10 km). During the entire event, a constant but thin layer of clouds hid the scenery of the magnificent Churfirsten mountains and the Säntis Massiv. The sun only came up shortly after the finish.

Sigrid Lang and Marianne Vlasveld provided an exciting women's race. The battle began from the start and continued through the 4.8 kilometer run until Vlasveld took over on the mountain bike section, building up a 1 minute lead on the technical and demanding sections of the course - it almost seemed as if the course was not difficult enough for the flying Dutch woman. But the lead was not enough to hold off Sigrid Lang once she got onto the skate section. She not only caught Vlasveld, but also put 1:11 on her by the finish line. Third place went to Germany's Jutta Schubert.

In the men's event, Benjamin Sonntag completed the run in the lead group together with French teammates Nicolas Lebrun and Olivier Bulle, as well as Patrik Kuril (SVK). On the mountain bike course, which included last year's spectacular downhill section, Sonntag broke away. Reigning world champion Marc Ruhe (Lie) caught Lebrun and moved into second position - Lebrun and Ruhe entered the second transition together, 2:10 behind Benjamin Sonntag. While Ruhe faded, the Norwegian Frode Pederson had the fastest skating split to take third place. No one could contest Benjamin Sonntag for the win - his second success in a row at this event.

The exciting day of winter triathlon concluded with a huge celebration in the Oberdorf Restaurant, with entertainment by the local Guggenmusik band. Sunday's racing program is set with the premiere of the team sprint race and several fun races for kids and citizens.

Focus now shifts to Donovoly, Slovakia for next weekend's European Winter Triathlon Championships which also carries valuable ITU World Ranking points for Winter Triathlon.