Michael Raelert will be trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps on Saturday May 12, 2012 and win the race his brother Andereas won in 2011.

A field of over 2300 triathletes from over 60 countries will answer the starting gun of the second annual Ironman Mallorca 2012.

THE IRONMAN 70.3 MALLORCA COURSE

The swim takes place in the Bay of Alcudia and from the swim/bike transition area the athletes will make their way around the Bay of Pollenca as they begin the 90-kilometer bike.

This course is very challenging and it will most likely come down to who can handle the tough bike course and yet still leave enough for the run. Michael Raelert is impressive in all three disciplines and could try and lead the entire race.

Usually the area traversed by the bike course experiences strong winds and there is also an eight kilometer climb to navigate.

After arriving back in Alcudia at the bike/run transition there will be a three-loop run course. Last year Andreas had a pretty remarkable run split of 1:11:46 on the way to victory and that’s going to be a challenge for anyone to match this year. His winning time was 3:53:07 and of course it’s the race record to beat as last year was the inaugural event.

If Michael Raelert is in top form he will be very tough to beat. There is a good chance that Johann Ackermann will win the swim, but the strongest over-all challenge for the top of the podium will most likely come from Stephan Vuckovic of Germany.

Russian pros Evgeniy Nikitin and Dmitrii Nosarev might also have a good chance at a podium spot.

THE PRO MEN

Ackermann Johann 
Bischof Marcel 
Dreitz Andreas
Hotchkiss Jonathan 
Howard Ben 
Huttunen Anssi 
Johannessen Oyvind 
Johannessen Håkon 
Kharin Ivan 
Lassonde Cedric 
Leder Lothar 
Lindberg Pontus
Moldan Johannes 
Nikitin Evgeniy 
Nosarev Dmitrii 
Pernold Daniel
Pinosto Joni 
Raelert Michael 
Remman Tom 
Santamaria Alejandro 
Saukko Ari 
Schmid Stefan 
Snilstveit Gudmund 
Strijk Erik-Simon 
Sundberg Swen 
Threlfall Mark 
Van Beijnum Kamil
Vander Hoogerstraete Tom 
Vuckovic Stephan 
Wihlidal Nikolaus 
Woodward Alun 
Wyss Manuel

Most likely for the pro women it will be last year’s winner Emma-Kate Lidbury of Great Britain and Tine Decker of Belgium who will be going in as pre-race favorites. However Sophie Goos from Belgium and Germany’s Kristin Moeller have upset potential on their best performances.

PRO WOMEN

Deckers Tine 
Eikre-Telle Marthe 
Goos Sofie 
Hufe Mareen 
Koivula Venla 
Krebs Meike 
Larsson Camilla 
Lewis Tamsin 
Lidbury Emma-Kate 
Liebendörfer Christine 
Möller Kristin 
Nelen Corine 
Neuscheler Evi 
Schmitt Natascha 
Wiegand Kristina

THE RACE

The top four pro men in the swim came out of the water virtually together and officially it was Tom Vander Hoogerstraete first out of the water.

SWIM-TOP PRO MEN

Tom Vander Hoogerstraete...........24:35 
Ben Allen..........................24:37
Michael Raelert....................24:39
Johann Ackermann...................24:41
Stephan Vuckovic...................25:55

It was not a huge surprise for the pro women as favorite and defending champion Emma-Kate Lidbury led the way along with Natascha Shmitt who was one second behind her.

SWIM-TOP PRO WOMEN

Emma-Kate Lidbury................27:10
Natascha Schmitt.................27:11
Sofie Goos.......................28:11
Meike Krebs......................29:38
Tine Deckers.....................30:32
Kristin Möller...................32:25

Michael Raelert never left much doubt as far as what his race strategy would be. He took the lead right out of the swim/bike transition and started to build a cushion between himself and the rest of the field.

At the 60k mark he had an incredible lead of almost seven minutes.

At 50k Emma-Kate Lidbury is in a much tighter race as her lead over Natascha Scmitt is only 41 seconds.

BIKE AT 50K-TOP 5 PRO WOMEN

Lidbury Emma-Kate...............02:08:06
Schmitt Natascha................02:08:47
Deckers Tine....................02:11:30
Krebs Meike.....................02:12:54
Lewis Tamsin....................02:14:15

BIKE AT 60K-TOP 5 PRO MEN

1 Raelert Michael...............01:48:21
2 Schmid Stefan.................01:54:14
3 Goehner Michael...............01:54:15
4 Ackermann Johann..............01:54:16
5 Vander Hoogerstraete Tom......01:54:16

Michael Raelert reached the bike/run transition first with a lead of almost nine minutes over second place Michael Goehner.

Raelert’s bike split was 2:13:26! He was just flying and according to the race spotters looks great on the run course.

LEADERS AFTER THE BIKE-PRO MEN

Raelert Michael................02:40:53
Goehner Michael................02:49:30
Ackermann Johann...............02:49:31
Vander Hoogerstraete Tom.......02:49:32
Threlfall Mark.................02:49:33

At the 80k mark of the bike Emma-Kate Lidbury has extended her lead to 4:50 over Tine Decker and Natascha Schmitt is in third 10 seconds back of Decker.

I suppose the biggest question at this point is whether or not Michael Raelert can cross the finish line faster than his older brother Andreas did in 2011.

RUN-TOP FIVE MEN AT 7K

Raelert Michael...............03:07:03
Goehner Michael...............03:17:16
Vander Hoogerstraete Tom......03:17:21
Allen Ben.....................03:18:52
Moldan Johannes...............03:19:03

Stephan Vuckovic is over 13 minutes off the pace back in 7th spot and that’s a bit of a surprise as he seemed to have a good chance at a podium spot going into the race.

The women are also on the run course and it is still Emma-Kate Lidbury leading by over Tine Decker by just under 5 minutes at the 3k mark. Christine Liebendörfer is third and Natascha Schmitt is fourth almost 7 minutes off the pace being set by Lidbury.

At the 14k mark Raelert has a lead of over 12 minutes over Michael Gohner but his torrid bike pace will most likely mean he will not be breaking the course time set by brother Andreas in 2011.

RUN-TOP FIVE PRO MEN AT 14K

1 Raelert Michael..................03:30:46
2 Goehner Michael..................03:42:15
3 Vander Hoogerstraete Tom.........03:43:15
4 Allen Ben........................03:44:03
5 Moldan Johannes..................03:44:50

Michael Raelert wins Ironman 70.3 Mallorca in a time of 3:57:08.

Michael Gohner just hangs on for second over a hard-charging Ben Allen who finishes in third.

FINISH-TOP 5 PRO MEN

Raelert Michael........................03:57:08
Goehner Michael........................04:10:11
Allen Ben..............................04:12:51
Vander Hoogerstraete Tom...............04:13:25
Moldan Johannes........................04:13:37

Emma-Kate is the winner for the pro women with a time of 4:39:05. Tine Deckers is second in 4:43:18. Natascha Schmitt finishes in 3rd place with a time of 4:47:11.

FINISH-TOP 5 PRO WOMEN

Lidbury, Emma-Kate......................04:39:05
Deckers, Tine...........................04:43:18
Schmitt, Natascha.......................04:47:11
Goos, Sofie.............................04:49:43
Möller, Kristin.........................04:50:04