Gordon Ramsay has returned to triathlon racing, completing the Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg Remich – Région Moselle triathlon 2,106th out of 2,528 age-groupers in a time of 06:52:28. The race is Ramsay’s first since a bad cycling crash last year left him severely bruised.
An IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon is made up of a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 90-kilometre bike, and finally a 21.1-kilometre run (a half marathon). The IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg Remich – Région Moselle triathlon, which is now in its 12th year is the only race on the circuit which takes athletes through three different countries; a swim in the river Moselle on the German side, a bike through the rolling vineyards of Luxembourg and France, and a run through the host city town of Remich.
Gordon completed the one-loop swim course in the calm river waters in a time of 42:41. He then embarked on the one-loop rolling bike course, climbing approximately 750 meters elevation along the way. His efforts were rewarded with panoramic views, stunning vineyards, and charming villages. Gordon completed the 90-kilometer bike course in a time of 04:10:18. Finally, Ramsay set out on the pancake flat run course along the river and was cheered home by the epic crowds as he made it onto the famous red carpet and through the finish arch.
After finishing the Ironman 70.3, which passes through France and Germany as well as Luxembourg, Ramsay posted an Instagram video of him crossing the line captioned: “Ironman 70.3 … done. I’M BACK and Cooking”. He was greeted with a kiss from his wife Tana, who hung his medal around his neck.
The TV chef made a controversial Ironman Kona debut in 2013 having been granted a VIP entry to tri’s most prestigious long-course event. Ramsay told 220 Triathlon he had received a lot of flak from triathletes displeased that he had not met the qualifying standards. He has since completed several half-Ironmans.
In an Ironman press release, Ramsay was quoted as saying: “Super excited to be back, what an incredible race and well organized. From this time a year ago, it’s a dream come true. Looking forward to more races to come.”
The Masterchef US host completed the river swim in 42:41, the bike leg in 03:16:28 and the run in 2:34:03. His son Jack beat his Dad by an hour, finishing 1,312th overall in 5:53:19. Hella Haak won the women’s overall in 4:31:45 and Ben de Wolf was the fastest man in 4:07:22.
Our Startup Kitchen Team participated in RELAY, finishing at 3rd place, just 4 seconds behind local Luxembourg Team. “The race didn’t go as planned, Monika got sick 2 days ahead of the race, I had to fix several technical problems with my bike on the course, Tom lost the chip on leg and had to run back to search for it in order to avoid DNF of the team. In the end we are very grateful that we managed to secure 3rd place although 4 seconds gap from the 2nd place will impact our sleeping in upcoming days. Anyway, the season is not over yet and we will come stronger to the next race” stated Jakub Vrbovsky who cycled his part in RELAY.
Monika Stepanova, being the first one competing in RELAY as swimming is the first discipline happening, commented: “I love the atmosphere in our team. This was our third Ironman relay together, and we’ve consistently finished on the podium. But it’s never without chaos… something always goes wrong! I always say we should film it, because no one would believe it otherwise.
This time was no exception, but we pushed through every challenge. As Jakub said, a lot came our way but we’re problem-solvers, and we never lose sight of the goal.”
