For the ninth consecutive year, Alcudia Bay hosted the most important sports event in Mallorca, the prestigious IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon. The event attracted 3,800 participants from numerous different countries as well as a select group of seasoned triathletes for a few days of strong emotions and stories that we would like to share with you here in this post.

CONTENT

1. The big day: IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 2019


2. Winners of IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 2019


3. Stories from this year’s event

The big day: IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 2019

After long months waiting, the big day finally arrived! On Saturday, May 11, thousands of triathletes from all over the world took part in the race, with the transition area open up at 6 in the morning and the atmosphere and tension beginning to build. From 7am, athletes began to arrive to warm up their limbs and calm their nerves. The Zafiro Hotels team was there from the early hours offering support and information to athletes from our VIP tent.

And the big moment finally arrived! At 7:55am, the starting gun went off and, accompanied by warm temperatures that would increase as the day went on, the athletes dived into the calm seas to begin the 1,9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21km road race.

A few hours later, the athletes reached the finish line one by one to be showered with congratulations, selfies, laughter and stories of how the race had gone, as well as a medal for every participant from members of the Zafiro Hotels entertainment team. The athletes were very grateful and also extremely happy for having achieved their objectives and, above all, for having enjoyed a day that ended up being a big party.

Winners of IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca 2019

The Czech Karel Zadák took the lead early on in the race, chased by a large group of rivals. Zadák was first off the bike with a great chance of taking victory. Accompanied by a great atmosphere from the crowds in the streets of Alcúdia, Zadák showed no signs of cracking as he held on to the lead and became the first athlete to cross the finish line after 4h, 13’59. The Dutchman Eric Van Der Linden arrived shortly after in 4h 15'23, with third place going to the Mallorcan Guillem Tomeu with 4h 15'42.

In the women’s race, the victory of the British triathlete Alison Mackenzie started with a very solid swim that placed her amongst the first competitors to leave the water. Mackenzie ended the bike race as leader and went on to run 21 kilometres without any problems in consolidating her victory. In fact, Mackenzie ran the fastest marathon leg of the race to win with a time of 4h 43'14. Not far behind, the Swiss athlete Karen Schultheiss crossed the line in second place with 4h 47'10, while the Belgian Liesbeth Leysen came in third with a time of 4h 48'37.

But beyond the fastest athletes, all of the participants, from first to last, were able to enjoy the wonders of Alcudia and Mallorca, the beauty of the land, some more unfamiliar parts of the island and the hospitality of its people.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who made this beautiful experience possible, especially the Alcúdia Town Hall and all the volunteers, who once again made Mallorca the centre of the triathlon world.

Stories from this year’s event

• At the press conference prior to the event, it was announced that Ironman and Alcudia had reached an agreement to extend cooperation for another 4 years.


• Any time is a good time to show your love. Two participants surprised their partner by proposing marriage at the finish line. Both couples celebrated a beautiful end to the race with kisses and hugs!


• The Assistant General Manager of the Zafiro Palace Alcudia Hotel, Toni Cortés, took part in his first IRONMAN event and managed to complete the course!

Here is a video with a summary of such as special day. We hope you like it!