This weekend the Bahrain Endurance 13 will see action in Austria as build-up to the Ironman World Championship as Jan Frodeno races to validate his spot and David Plese seeks to solidify his qualification.
While Frodeno’s training had gotten off to a good start in the European spring, the reigning Ironman world champion battled a cold virus for two weeks and has only been able to resume training properly in the past two weeks. He will only need to cross the finish line to seal a start in Kona, but the German is not one to race half-heartedly. He says, “It’s been my shortest and steepest training curve for a while so there’s a real sense of adventure about this race. Lack of training miles means less room for error and games but I’m still really looking forward to the race. I’ve heard good things about the race and always enjoyed the passionate fans in Austria!”
Plese’s path to Kona depends on his standing in the Kona Points Race. With his finishes from Ironman Arizona (4th) and Ironman Texas (8th), he is on the bubble. To ensure he gets that much-coveted start, he will need to place better in Austria. The Slovenian has been training back in his home country rather than his usual Bahrain base. “Conditions were perfect and I was able to train without any problems. I’ll try to make this Ironman Austria as good a race as possible. It’s my next step towards the World Championship.”
