The 14th edition of the IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland in Rapperswil-Jona comes up with a strong field of professionals. While the four-time IRONMAN world champion Daniela Ryf is claiming for her seventh victory in a row on the upper Lake of Zurich, the competition in the men’s field is particularly fierce.
3 starts, 3 wins – the calendar year 2021 has proven to be extremely successful for Daniela Ryf so far. At the IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai at the start of the season, at the IRONMAN 70.3 St. George and at the IRONMAN North America Championships in Tulsa, there was no way around the five-time IRONMAN 70.3 world champion. This means that the Swiss, who has already won the last six IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland events, is the clear favorite at the start. In the wake of Ryf, Anne Reischmann is also considered a podium candidate. The 29-year-old German recently presented herself in excellent shape and won the IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne in France a few weeks ago. We can also look forward to the performance of French rider Alexia Bailly, who narrowly missed the podium at the IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne and finished around two and a half minutes behind Reischmann.
The starting position for the men could hardly be more balanced. From a Swiss point of view, local hero Ruedi Wild, IRONMAN Switzerland record winner Ronnie Schildknecht and the Salvisberg brothers Florin and Andrea have several interesting names in the running. The latter was still at the start for the Swiss mixed relay at the Olympic Games in Tokyo the week before. With Rudy von Berg (USA), Bart Aernouts (BEL) and the Germans Nils Frommhold and Ruben Zepuntke, the Swiss face strong competition. Aernouts won the IRONMAN 70.3 Florida in April and von Berg recently achieved two 2nd places at the IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne and the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Elsinore. The battle for the podium can therefore be expected with great excitement.
