Pete Jacobs 4th at the Challenge Roth (18.07.2010)
Pete Jacob as well as Swen Sundberg put a lot of energy in their preparation for this year’s Challenge Roth. Both of them have already collected good results in Roth in the last years. Despite a strong field of competitors they wanted to place themselves again under the top athletes.
It was not clear for Pete if he could even race in Roth after a bike accident in March. An injury stopped him training for several weeks and he started his preparation just 3 month ago. His motivation was high but the time for regular training was limited. So Pete came to Germany without knowing exactly how his shape would be. Before he injured himself his goal was to win the race after 2 second places in 2009 and 2008. But under the given circumstances his expectations were not that high any more.
Pete wanted to start the race from the front what he actually did. Most of the swim course he was ahead of the entire field followed by 2 of the main favourites, the Danish Rasmus Hening and the Spanish Eneko Llanos. So he was the first one out of the water. After 100 km on the bike course Pete and Hening were overtaken by the German long distance rookie Sebastian Kienle who teared the group apart. Pete did not follow because he wanted to safe energy for the run. He entered the second transition area as 4th just second behind the third Eneko Llanos. He knew that he could run a solid marathon but he was also sure that he could not get the guys in front of him as long as they would not collapse. But that did not happen. So Pete Jacobs crossed the finish line as 4th behind Rasmus Hening, the brave fighting Sebastian Kienle and Eneko Llanos.
“I am more than happy with the race. After the injury there was less time for preparation and with the strong field of athletes I did everything I could today. But in the end it was another top results in Roth. I am confident that I can use my full potential at the World Championship on Hawaii in October” Pete looks forward on some quite and relaxing days before starting his training again.
For Swen the day went not that luckily. He had a good training period before the Challenge Roth. Already in the water he could show that as 4th out of the water. The first kilometres on the bike went well but then it started. After 40 km he had a flat tire on his back wheel. After he changed that he run over glass and again a defect. He lost many minutes repairing that and in the end he dropped out disappointed.
Swen depressed after his DNF: “My high expectation ended soon in smoke. It was not the first time that I had bad luck in a long distance race. It is hard to be in good shape but if you are not able to show it. Now I have to think about the rest of the season.”
