Courtesy: event press release

Lothar Leder (GER) (photo, leading) battled nearly the entire day with his friend and foe, Chris "Macca" McCormack (AUS), and despite his talk about not planning to race tactically, Sunday's Quelle Challenge Roth (3.8 km S/180 km B/42.2 km R) came down to exactly that. Leder made his well- calculated move at about 200 meters for a literal sprint to the finish and his record fifth title at Roth. His 8:11:50 and Macca's 8:11:53 left them both splayed on the ground after what more than 100,000 on-course spectators will call one of the greatest races in triathlon history.

"I tried to attack two times in the course of the marathon, but Chris was able to catch up both times, so the race turned out very exciting for the spectators (and) for us as well," said Leder the champion, who knew he had only one more shot to pull away from the former ITU world champion short-course McCormack. "I was really surprised that it was such a close race."

"I expected to be ahead of him," said McCormack, who started the run only 45 seconds after die Konig von Roth. As countless people here, including the Aussie, recalled, the day was reminiscent of the unforgettable Dave Scott - Mark Allen match- ups. "He's an amazing athlete, and he's so strong. Running together the whole time, I thought, 'I'm a short course athlete. I will hang with him, take him in the end. It came down to strategy." For two superstars who are well heeled in Olympic distance racing, this eight-hour race was every bit as close as the ones which last less than one-quarter the time.

The Leder-McCormack differentials show just how tight things were throughout the 226 kilometers race on this partly cloudy, slightly windy day. The temperature started out cool, but warmed to mild as the sun rose to noon.

Swim: Australian iron-distance triathlete and standout swimmer Stephen Sheldrake, who was a late entry to Roth, swam alone for 47:20 in the cold canal water. Bryan Rhodes (NZL) led the chase group of women's swim leader Ute Muckel (GER), Tom Soderdahl (FIN) and McCormack. Leder was off the back and not able to stay in their wake. "Stephen swam over me, and I should have gone with him," said Rhodes. "Me and Macca were doing a catch-up stroke, to stay with Ute, but it held us back. We should have dropped them, too."

Sheldrake exited the canal to the sound of much more than 10,000 already wildly loud spectators who lined its banks and bridges. It's about 50 m from the swim exit to the tent, and another 50 m back to the lowest-numbered bikes - all with clear sightlines for spectators along the ground and in the bleachers.

Muckel exited 150 meters behind with Macca right on her heels. Soderdahl, McCormack, Mika Luoto (FIN), and then Francois Chabaud (FRA) exited by 50:13, with the barely-swim-trained Andriy Begen (UKR) a long and lonely 14 seconds behind. Alexander Taubert (GER) and Matthias Fritch (GER) followed, and Leder docked at 50:42 with landsmen Bernd Eichhorn and Ulf Bartels in tow. Roth had world-class swim times, indeed. Leder, +:35.

Transition 1: This early in the race, there was neither a crowd nor breakfast buffet in the changing tent to slow things down, but somehow the Aussie got lost inside or the German hurried to make up some time. Leder, +:22.

Bike: Sheldrake rode hard for quite some time, and held a two- minute lead over McCormack, Leder, Chabaud and Luoto. Rhodes and and Taubert paced each other from a distance. "We were going hard for the first 20 'k'. Stephen was riding pretty hard but the boys caught him up the hill at Greding," Rhodes detailed. "I thought this was a little bit fast for me so I stayed with Alex for a while."

"Lothar made up a gap of seven minutes, and he is a stronger runner," Chabaud said after the race, talking about the pressure on the bike. "What can you do to keep him behind you?"

Heiko Tewes (GER), a popular domestic athlete, Hawaii qualifier and scrapper on the bike course, joined the mix here. World's Best series runner-up Margus Tamm (EST) and Harald Funk (GER), husband to second place woman and World's Best runner-up Heike Funk (GER), gradually worked past other riders, including today's very strong seventh place finisher Alejandro Santamaria Perez (SPA) in his Euskatel-colored one-piece suit. He would later say in Spanish, "I was hoping for top ten, and this is really fantastic." At the same time, age grouper Jurgen Meymann (GER) was waking up from his 1:06:12 swim, all the while tearing through other riders en route to a monster 4:40:01 bike split over this curving, hilly course. He took 12th overall, posting the fastest bike split outside of the top three finishers of the day. Luoto was also clicking off riders as he regained position and the four minutes lost in an earlier flat.

At 60 km, Chabaud "had a big problem on the bike. I (flatted) my wheel, I must repair it, and I lost four minutes. I was riding with Lothar and Chris, and after that I stayed alone." It clearly frustrated France's top iron-distance triathlete, as he explained further in English. "When I (flatted) I was thinking, 'In Embrum and I flatted and afterward I crashed, and I still won the race.'

"In the Tour de France, the guys crash. And then they go back on the bike and still finish. So for me, it was not a good reason to not finish the race, and besides, my feet felt good and I knew I could run." Chabaud stuck things out, and as he is known to do, the powerful rider drove on. He would not make up all of the time, however.

On a flat straight at about 90 kilometers, Rhodesy was riding just barely in Taubert's sight and 10 minutes down from the front-runners. He was complaining of a consistent "thwap" but could not tell if it was in his deep-dish front or disc rear wheel, and the "poom!" came about 5 km later. Rhodesy flatted. Before his feet hit the grass on the side of the road, the burly New Zealander was pulling off the sew-up. Barely a word out of him, he laid his only spare and began to inflate it with a shot of gas, only to have the tire valve break off. He had no patch kit. Race management following his ride called back to transition seeking a bike support vehicle, but none would arrive.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly as the rider tried a few tricks to inflate the tire, and eventually, frustrated, he yelled out in his Kiwi accent one of the few German words he knew, "sheise!" When he began to see numerous riders shoot by and knew support was nowhere near, Rhodes called it a day. "This is one race I really wanted. I hate having to drop out, mate. I mean, a few minutes ago I was just thinking, 'I'm ready to keep racing just for the t-shirt and finishers medal.'" He would return later on, showered, groomed and excited to watch his friends sprint in the stadium. "It was amazing just to be a part of the actual racing in Roth. There are so many top stars here, you can't help but get a caught up in it all, even watching."

In the meantime, Leder pushed the pace up front and Macca stayed with him, leaving the third position rider, Chabaud, further back in no-man's-land, nearly nine minutes behind them but still turning the gear.

The others were, at this point, completely out of striking distance, but would still relish the competition for the top ten places as well as the Biermeile in Eckersmuhlen, Tour de France- like crowds, race announcers and pop music at the seven-percent grade Solarerberg and 10-percent grade Kalvarienberg climbs. Around the course there were at least three red devil characters were seen chasing, spurning and pushing the riders, and they no doubt pursued all 1,500-plus individual athletes and nearly 400 relay riders. For Leder, perhaps, the only devil was the one from Down Under, who relentlessly pursued him.

"We were close together, so that was exciting," said Leder, who said the wind on the course slowed their second bike lap down. "When I woke up in the morning and saw the strong wind, I knew a record wouldn't be possible." Nonetheless, he posted a 4:27:28 split. McCormack rode 4:28:13 and Chabaud a 4:36:51, both in their first iron-distance outing in Bavaria. The Aussie had trained a bit on the course and also won the local short- course Rothsee Triathlon just a week earlier. Leder, who knows this iron-distance course inside and out, would enter transition only a few seconds ahead of the challenger. Macca, +:3.

Transition 2: The Aussie entered transition only three seconds behind, but again had a tea party while the German ordered at the drive-thru. Macca, +:38.

Run: McCormack paced and chased in strong running form to about the 9 km mark at which point he caught up to the man in the very visible yellow Deutsche Post uniform. Leder had pulled off behind a bush on the side of the gravel path, along the canal where earlier in the day Macca's swim group had the same short lead on him. He had a bandage of some sort in his hand, and he quickly, in caught-by-surprise fashion, jumped back on the laufstrecke, the run course. Nobody asked what or why, nobody had time, as the race was once again literally neck-and-neck. Race marshals, journalists and spectators watched them run side- by-side and at times with Macca just a meter behind, perhaps hanging on for life or just using every bit of draft he could get. Still, while the Down Under wonder looked more graceful than the man he struggled to keep up with, he did not look as tough.

The leaders were running this flat marathon at a 4:05 per km pace, and amazingly enough, Leder had energy to talk. Leder worried about Taubert and their splits, and he kept turning his head to check on his competitor's condition. He asked McCormack a few times to come up and join him, shoulder to shoulder. They were all signs that the stoic German warrior indeed felt threatened, and it showed in his face. McCormack was feeling the effort and calculating his moves.

"We made the turnaround on the canal and we were cooking back. His tempo was just too quick, so I let him go. I ran most of the canal alone on the way back," said the Aussie. He fell back somewhere around the 15 km mark. "It was hard. I kept wondering if I shouldn't have let him go." He kept Leder always in sight. "When I caught him, I tried for three or four 'k' to drop him," but that would not happen.

Race director Herbert Walchshofer and Quelle Challenge Roth's top sponsors, Quelle and Deutsche Post, could not have asked for a prettier sight. The latter, Germany's official mail service and one of the world's leading international couriers, is also the courier partner for the former, Europe's leading mail order merchandiser, and two of the world's fastest triathletes were running side by side for nearly 33 km, wearing their logos, talking and passing sponges and making sure the other got aid station support. Macca sported the Quelle logo, and Leder that of Deutsche Post. The image portrayed was in every way as brilliant as the athletes' work, which got even more spectacular.

Shortly after 35 km, the runners' lead bicyclists, television and still photographers' motorcycles and dozen or so bike-riding spectators grew nearly into a parade. From in front of Leder and McCormack, one could lose track counting after about 30 followers when the rest blended together and were out-of-focus. And as far as the athletes were concerned, the fun was over now, and there was no more talking - the last seven kilometers were silent between the four-time winner and the man looking to knock him off.

By 41 km, the sideline spectators drew closer, making the course wide enough for not much more than a motorcycle, and their cheers were indiscernible and deafening. At the sharp left turn at about 200 meters, Leder made his first move - he took the left side of the narrow berth. "As we made the sharp left turn he took the inside, (and) went from the right to the left side. I said, 'damn, he's got the inside,'" recalled McCormack. "I was right behind him, but it was his lead. It came down to tactics." Leder did not appear to increase his pace much at that point, but in the shadow underneath the bridge, just 75 meters or so from the stadium and another 75 to the end, the slow motion break for the end zone began.

Leder cut back slightly right and then in nearly a lunge straightened out up the middle, bursting with all he had left. His strategy was amazingly sharp and worked as stereotypically exacting as a German's plans should. McCormack responded perhaps a blink-of-an-eye too late. Tendons in their necks were taught, stomach and quad muscles were at bursting, redline levels, both Macca and Leder's teeth gritted, and with absolutely no sound, their cries were as loud as anyone ever heard. This was a Tour de France stage sprint finish without wheels.

Leder then broke left into and through the threshold of street to stadium, the part spectators never see, and he burst onto the green runway carpet for the final two left turns. He nearly clipped a potted plant on the last corner. It was at the same time a short but discernible gap, for after he crossed under the finish gantry and collapsed, McCormack had still that very short, very last straight to go. Macca, +:03.

The stadium was wild, the bleachers shook from the volume of the spectators and announcers, and regardless of the finish places, this was the race McCormack, Leder and thousands of others dreamed it could be. This was Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed - friends and opponents, perfect sportsmen and showmen in their own way, and the best at what they do. This was Lothar Leder and Chris McCormack.

For a very brief but noticeable moment, the stadium's 3,000 screaming fans nearly fell silent as the winner lie face-down on the ground, five meters over the finish line on the left side, his body heaving for breath, while at the very same time his noble, equally heroic, runner-up lie in murder-scene-outline shape on the ground, immediately past the finish line on the right and nearly still. Race management and finish line staff surrounded each triathlete, waited, helped, supported, and lifted, and when the air cleared of those fully clothed and Leder regained his strength, he stood below the blue-and-white Challenge Roth finish structure, took a gulp of Erdinger Alkoholfrei bier from a meter-tall glass and dumped the almost 10 liters more over himself. The party had only begun and only got wilder into the night.

Leder and McCormack did a live interview with Bavarian television, which was also shown in the stadium, and then music came back up. Walchshofer and his colleagues greeted the crowd, and then fireworks and a "THANKS" sign brightened the arena. The stands stayed filled through the last finisher, Andreas Bischoff (GER), who crossed the line in nearly twice the time it took Leder. He came back out to run the green carpet in reverse direction, whipping his arms up in the air and getting the spectators even rowdier than before, and then race directors invited everyone onto the track. A conga line ensued, and the music went on for another hour.

"At the end of an Ironman, it does not come down to speed. It's your strength," McCormack said later, before the press conference. "Lothar is a strong, strong athlete." And so is Bischoff.

Having previously been to Roth only as a spectator, Macca's heart-felt experience on the course was to come out. "I have done maybe 200 triathlons in my career, but I have never seen anything like this. It was absolutely fantastic. I will be back next year if they'll have me," he said. "I want my name on that trophy." At the post-race press conference, and again at the awards ceremony, both Quelle and TEAMChallenge management wasted not a moment to let him know that he is invited back for 2004.

At Monday's ceremony, the predominantly German crowd of nearly 3,000 athletes and spectators gave the Roth first-timer an extended, overwhelming welcome when he approached the stage for his second place award. The man who openly stated his intentions was humbled. The winner was proud and professional, and knows that adding to his five wins in Roth could be the toughest challenge of 2004.

Quotable:

Rhodes said of his DNF: " Now I know how it feels here. You've got to have bad ones to have the good ones, and I've got unfinished business." The spectators were, he added, "just outstanding. It was intense. It would be great if we could get that kind of crowd at every Ironman."

Notes:

The second annual Quelle Challenge Roth had more than 2670 participants from 32 countries - including first-time entries from Egypt and South Africa. About 380 relay teams have been registered and more than 420 individuals raced for the International German Championship, which was held in conjunction with the Challenge. In addition to the 2,354 German athletes, 30 Swiss, 25 French, 20 English, 18 American, 15 Canadian, 14 Danish, 12 Italian, and numerous triathletes from 24 other countries participated. Local police and government officials said more than 100,000 spectators were along the course - more than any other race of its distance in the world.

Lothar Leder and his wife Nicole Leder (GER) both won the World's Best series, which is comprise of a middle distance, then short distance and finally the ultra-distance Challenge triathlon, all within one month. Margus Tamm (EST) and Heike Funk (GER) were the runners up, respectively. Tamm came in from Estonia for each race weekend, and returned to his full-time career as a fire fighter each week. Funk, a mother of three, beat Nicole Leder at the two shorter distance races, and said, "maybe I should have gone harder at both of them" after Leder reported to consider not racing Roth due to difficult recovery over the last two weeks.

Quelle Challenge Roth's sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, DB Regio, Powerbar, Sparkasse Mittelfranken Sud, Philips, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Arndt, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpolstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Lorenz & Kollegen, Flor & Sohn, Spedition Heinloth, CarbonSports GmbH and BIESTMILCH.com.

For live race coverage and more information on the Quelle Challenge Roth and Triathlon Festival, to participate in the on- line forum, and to receive the event's newsletter, please visit www.ChallengeROTH.com and www.ChallengeLIVE.com.

Quelle Challenge Roth
July 6, 2003
Roth, GERMANY
3.8 km Swim/180 km Bike/42.2 km Run
Men:
Lothar Leder (GER)                    8:11:50 
(50:42/4:27:48/2:51:05)
Chris McCormack (AUS)                 8:11:53 
(50:07/4:28:13/2:50:31)
Francois Chabaud (FRA)                8:23:02 
(50:13/4:36:51/2:52:53)
Tom Soderdahl (FIN)                   8:24:17 
(50:04/4:43:42/2:47:49)
Alexander Taubert (GER)               8:27:58 
(50:37/4:42:47/2:51:02)
Mika Luoto (FIN)                      8:31:54 
(50:11/4:57:51/2:41:21)
Alejandro SantamariaPerez (SPA)       8:34:15 
(54:45/4:52:32/2:43:54)
Margus Tamm (EST)                     8:42:00 
(55:58/4:44:02:2:58:39)
Harald Funk (GER)                     8:45:62 
(56:48/4:41:22/3:04:18)
Bernd Eichhorn (GER)                  8:46:45 
(50:44/4:54:53/2:58:02)
 
Women:
Nicole Leder (GER)                    9:15:01 
(54:43/5:19:02/2:57:49)
Heike Funk (GER)                      9:28:33 
(54:46/5:08:12/3:21:55)
Erika Csomor (HUN)                    9:29:16 
(1:01:05/5:06:05/3:16:02)
Karyn Balance (NZL)                   9:33:24 
(1:02:03/5:20:17/3:06:39)
Heidi Jesberger (GER)                 9:37:02 
(57:55/5:24:11/3:11:42)
Gillian Bakker (CAN)                  9:44:54 
(57:57/5:11:16/3:32:15)
Stefanie Glasenapp (GER)              9:58:54 
(1:02:03/5:23:37/3:29:24)
Yoko Hori (JPN)                      10:08:08 
(1:04:45/5:29:44/3:21:38)
Gabriele Keck (GER)                  10:12:20 
(58:04/5:39:22/3:27:54)
Beate Kleindienst (GER)              10:20:32 
(1:06:40/5:35:42/3:30:45)