This is a sponsored article, brought to you in association with Canyon Bicycles.
7 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds. On Sunday 17 July at the Challenge Roth, Jan Frodeno made triathlon history by destroying the previous long distance world record.
Eclipsing the 2011 mark set by Andreas Raelert by an incredible margin of nearly six minutes, the German triathlete led through nearly the entire 226 km course in a breathtaking performance between him and the clock.
Adding the world record to his 2008 Olympic gold medal and 2015 World Championship titles at both the short and long distances, the 34-year-old Frodeno asserted his dominance over the sport of triathlon.
“I am incredibly happy that I got the record and just thankful that I didn’t break”, said Frodeno after the race, “but there wasn’t any other option except to risk it all and give everything I had. The time should hold for the next two or three years.”
The fastest bike
Finishing the swim in first place in a time of 45:22, Frodeno quickly went to work defending his reputation as pre-race favorite and laid the foundation for his incredible wire-to-wire victory.
During the bike ride, the Hawaii champion demonstrated his superiority with a 4:08:07 clocking that would remain the fastest bike split of the day.
The deal was sealed in the final leg as Frodeno ran the marathon in a blistering 2:39:18 which brought him in a staggering 20 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. “The last kilometer of the marathon the pain was unbelievable, but the feeling at the finish of getting the world record was worth it.”
Jan Frodeno talks about the Speedmax CF SLX
Shaving seconds with the Speedmax CF SLX
In an assault on a world record, every second counts, so the engineers at Canyon wanted to make sure that Frodeno’s Speedmax CF SLX was up to the challenge. The handlebars were designed specifically for this race to place the World Champion in an extra aerodynamic position that would encourage him to shave seconds.
A new hydration system was also created specifically to the triathlete’s preferences as well as custom tires which were made to have the least possible amount of rolling resistance and best possible aerodynamics in side winds.
Every piece of the setup, from Frodeno’s position on the bike to his hydration system, helmet and speed suit, were all newly optimized through rigorous wind tunnel testing.
