Lasse Nygaard-Priester and Laura Philipp Claim 70.3 Zell am See in Dominant, Course-Record Fashion

The men’s race came down to a battle between Lasse Priester and Jelle Geens after a blistering bike set up a tantalizing showdown between two of the fastest runners in the sport. In the end, the in-form German took down the two-time 70.3 world champion with relative ease, firing a warning shot to the competition just two weeks out from Nice.

Laura Philipp once again proved that her fortunes this season have well and truly flipped. Just two weeks after winning Ironman Kalmar, she amazingly put together another dominant day, starting with a strong swim, taking control on the bike, and then, as she so often does, running away with the race.

On one of the most picturesque courses in the world, with the Austrian Alps as the backdrop, it was also one of the more intriguing fields of the season, with athletes arriving in Zell am See for very different reasons at such a pivotal point in the year.

There were athletes like Philipp and Trevor Foley (USA) racing just two weeks after Ironman Kalmar and eyeing potentially year-defining Pro Series points. Geens, meanwhile, was returning to racing for the first time since April, hoping to show he was back in world championship-winning form with Nice just two weeks away.

With a rare in-water start and a straightforward out-and-back swim, 18 men exited the water within 31 seconds of each other, making for a packed start to the bike. Short-course staple and Pro Series debutant Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) led the way out of the water and was through transition in a flash.

Two of the biggest surprises from the swim were Cameron Wurf (AUS) and Foley, both exiting well within contention at just 54 seconds and 1:21 back, respectively, with plenty of targets up the road to leapfrog using their bike strength.

However, both lost significant time in transition. Foley opted to put on his laced bike shoes and run with them on rather than have them pre-mounted to the pedals, while Wurf had a kit malfunction that forced him to stop and cost him precious time, and he eventually did not factor into the race.

Geens and Priester were the quickest movers early on and became the catalysts for the entire bike leg, splitting up the field on the climbs of the hilly course and doing even more damage on the descents.

Initially, it was Geens pushing the pace before Priester came through and continued the pressure. Geens shared afterward that he wasn’t feeling great on the bike and was glad the German was willing to come through and help drive the pace.

The two stayed together for the remainder of the bike as those behind continued to lose time, eventually building more than a two-and-a-half-minute buffer heading into T2 – time they ultimately wouldn’t need on the run.

Gregor Payet (LUX) was the closest behind, with Foley making up significant ground to arrive in T2 in fourth, almost three minutes back.

Onto the run, and it didn’t take long for Priester to show just how good his current form is. He put the pressure on almost immediately and quickly opened a gap to Geens.

On a typical day, seeing Geens dropped that early might have come as a massive shock. But after being out of racing for so long with injury, he was clearly a couple of percentage points off his best and beginning to feel the effort from the bike.

Priester never looked back.

The German picked up his second 70.3 win of the year and fourth podium, throwing down a 1:10 run split that was comfortably the fastest of the day. His 3:43:29 finishing time also broke the course record, further cementing him as one of the athletes to watch in Nice. Also, with two 1:07 run splits so far this season, it’s safe to assume there is still more in the tank.

“Almost perfect, I would say,” he shared afterward. “I felt in control for the whole race.”

Not wanting to put too much pressure on himself ahead of the upcoming world championships, Priester remained optimistic but said his focus is on enjoying the build-up and putting himself in the best position to perform when race day arrives.

Geens, meanwhile, was far less satisfied when asked how the performance might stack up in Nice.

“I will need to be a lot better in two weeks,” he said. “A performance like this would get me maybe top 20 in Nice. I don’t know, maybe not even.”

Behind them, Kaindl picked up a remarkable home-country podium and likely won’t be able to fly quite so far under the radar going forward, although, thankfully for the other middle-distance racers, for now, his eyes remain firmly set on LA 2028.

Foley fell back to fifth on the run behind Payet but added the necessary Pro Series points to his collection, allowing him to fully focus on Kona going forward.

Women’s Race

The women’s swim was even more surprising than the men’s, with Philipp spotted right toward the front of the pack early on, continuing the significant swimming progress she has shown in recent races.

That momentum continued throughout the swim, and she eventually exited just nine seconds down from the front, alongside her biggest competition for the day in Lisa Perterer (AUT).

A quick transition put Philipp onto the bike in the lead – just about the worst-case scenario for the rest of the field.

Perterer, however, was determined to stay with her. Knowing Philipp’s running strength, she needed to keep the pressure on during the bike and give herself some kind of chance once they reached the half marathon.

Unfortunately for Perterer, two defining moments on the bike shattered that game plan.

First, she picked up a blue-card drafting penalty early in the ride while behind Philipp, which she would have to serve later on course. Then, to add insult to injury, she dropped her chain on a difficult section of one of the climbs. She shared afterward that chasing back up to Philipp took a significant amount of energy out of her.

Further back, Leana Bissig (SUI) was the closest of the rest but still seven minutes adrift, while India Lee (GBR) had an uncharacteristically poor swim-bike combination that left her more than 10 minutes back heading onto the run.

It was a dream scenario for Philipp starting the run, with Perterer’s penalty helping turn her advantage into roughly two minutes.

From there, the result never looked in doubt as she extended her advantage with the fastest run split of the day, wrapping up another dominant victory, the course record, taking maximum points and moving into pole position in the Ironman Pro Series.

From being hospitalized and missing races early in the year to now looking like a favorite for the Pro Series title while finding some of her best form ahead of the World Championships, Philipp has turned her season around at exactly the right time.

Lee impressively saved her best for last, running her way into third behind Perterer and explaining afterward that her misfire on the swim and bike was due to being stuck in “Ironman pace,” with her training focused firmly on the upcoming Kona World Championship.

Before attention shifts fully to Kona, though, the first World Championship showdown arrives in Nice in two weeks. With 3,000 Pro Series points on offer and one of the strongest men’s fields we have seen all year set to race, Priester has just given the rest of them another name to worry about.