Ironman Hawaii 2014: Race Day

images by Nick Salazar

Oct 11, 2014   865,798

And here's the man of the day - Super Sebi. Kienle rode a beautiful race, both playing to his strength aboard his Scott Plasma 5 bike, but also saving enough to run well and keep all comers off his back. He's also sporting the new, unreleased Oakley prototype Jawbreaker sunglasses. Congrats, Seb!

Today, Rinny showed everyone the true grit of a World Champion, overcoming a massive fourteen-minute deficit to earn the victory. Her blistering 2:50:26 marathon breaks the previous record (which she herself set last year). She's an absolute beast. Her Felt IA looks awesome, and we did a detailed review of it earlier this week.

Rachel Joyce finished the bike leg of the race in 2nd, but ultimately took 3rd after Rinny flew past her on the run. Rachel rode the new Cervelo P5-Six on Shimano DURA-ACE wheels (C50 in front, C75 in back).

Ben Hoffman had an amazing day with a solid 2nd place (1st American). He came off the bike in 5th, 8 minutes back from the leader, and ran a consistent marathon while those ahead of him faded one by one. He ultimately finished 8 minutes after Kienle. Ben rode a Specialized Shiv on Zipp wheels with a SRAM mechanical groupset. Helmet was a Specialized Evade.

Andy Potts came out of the water in 1st place, just a second ahead of Jan Frodeno. After a windy day on the bike, he started his run in 9th place, 12 minutes off the lead. He then had an incredible 3rd fastest run of the day, finishing the marathon in 2:48:19. This put him in 4th place, which is Potts' best finish ever in Kona. Potts rode a Kestrel 4000, which we featured in a Service Course article earlier this year. Potts rode on DURA-ACE wheels (C50 in front, C75 in back), a Shimano Di2 drive train, and TriRig Omega brakes. His helmet was a Rudy 57.

Jan Frodeno came out of the water 2nd just behind Andy Potts. Jan flatted early on the bike course, and had a less than stellar bike time, ultimately coming into T2 in 11th place. He made up for that on the run though, ultimately finishing 3rd behind Ben Hoffman, and turning in the 2nd best run time of the day at 2:47:47. Jan rode on the very sexy new Specialized Edition S-Works Shiv, specifically the 'Fit' model. These showed up on Specialized's website earlier this year, and feature 3 very distinct paint schemes. Jan rode on matching Zipp wheels, and used a mechanical SRAM drievtrain. He's also sporting the new, unreleased Oakley prototype Jawbreaker sunglasses.

Crowie came back for one more stab at the big dance, and came in a respectable 13th place. It's far from the glory days of his three victories here, but the 41-year-old still did great out there. His Specialized Shiv is spec'ed to perfection.

Daniela Ryf finished the bike with a 2 minute lead over Rachel Joyce, and a 14:32 lead over Mirinda Carfrae. Daniela was able to hold off Joyce on the run, but ultimately got passed by the Rinny express, taking 2nd place. Not bad for her first time racing at Kona. Daniela rides a Felt IA on HED wheels. She decided to use a traditional road helmet instead of an aero helmet, which makes her bike split even more respectable.

Mary Beth Ellis looked like she would do well early on during the bike leg of the race, but faded as the day went on to ultimately finish 9th. She rode a Cervelo P5 Six on HED wheels. Helmet was a Rudy Wing 57.

Jodie Swallow started the bike leg on a tear, and looked like she might open up a big gap early on, but midway through the race dropped back. She came off the bike in 4th place, almost 6 minutes behind the leader. She hung on to 4th, ultimately finishing 10min behind Rinny. Jodie rode a Scott Plasma 5, and we took a closer look at her bike earlier this week.

TJ Tollakson had a tough day, ultimately dropping out of the race. He rode a Dimond that we featured earlier this week.

The GCM ('German Cycling Machine') rode HARD on the course, pushing the pace all day and racking his bike second, behind eventual winner Sebastian Kienle. Twelsiek is on the brand new Dimond superbike, and riding TriRig Omega brakes. We posted a detailed gallery of his Kona rig.

Paul 'Barney' Matthews took 14th, right behind his coach Craig Alexander. We took a detailed look at Paul's Blue Triad SL earlier this week.

Andrew Starykowicz started hammering really hard early on the bike course like everyone expected. But in a surprise twist of fate, he lost the lead on the ride up to Hawi, and never regained it. By the end of the bike, he didn't even make the top 15, and dropped out of the race shortly after starting the run.

Last year's champ FVL didn't have quite the race he would have liked, coming in eighth place.

Justin Daerr finished 26th, in just under 9 hours. We did some work cleaning up his Javelin Lugano earlier this year.

Tim O'Donnell was a favorite going into the race, but had a tough day, ultimately finishing 32nd. We took a detailed look at his Trek Speed Concept earlier this week.

The man known as 'Bink' is riding the new Scott Plasma 5, and we took a closer look at his bike earlier this week.