Wild And Vodickova Triumph In Laguna Lăng Cô – Vietnam Airlines Triathlon 2014

Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, 29 March 2014 – Swiss Ruedi Wild was crowned the new male champion and Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic successfully defended her female champion title for a second year at the Laguna Lăng Cô – Vietnam Airlines Triathlon 2014, each finishing the race in just over 2 and a half hours at the Laguna Lăng Cô integrated resort in Central Vietnam.

Olympics triathlete Ruedi Wild and female world champion triathlete Radka Vodickova blazed through and won against an elite pro field that included three-time Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack of Australia and fellow Australian Ironman legend Belinda Granger, who has recently announced 2014 would be the final race year of her professional triathlon career after 12 years being part of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon.

A beautiful sunny day in Lang Co provided the perfect course for the race throughout the opening 1.8km swim, the 62km bike, and the 12km run.

Ruedi finished with a swim of 00:23:02; a bike of 01:26:53 and run of 00:43:21, for an overall time of 2:35:35. Michael Murphy, despite injury from the practice bike ride the previous day, came in second with an overall time of 02:38:51. Last year’s Laguna Lăng Cô champion Massimo Cigana was third in 02:39:21.

In the women’s field, Czech Olympian Radka Vodickova successfully defended her Laguna Lăng Cô Triathlon champion title with a swim of 00:22:59, bike of 01:43:48, and run of 00:47:15 for an overall time of 02:56:43. Belinda Granger also continued to defend her second place position in this year’s race at 03:05:49. German Katja Rabe came third in 03:13:37.

The second Laguna Lăng Cô – Vietnam Airlines Triathlon saw more than 250 athletes from 28 countries competing on the course in a heated race. The inaugural amateur Laguna Lăng Cô Bike Race in the afternoon on the same 62km course drew in a significant crowd of local bike enthusiasts.

Champion Ruedi said: “It’s an amazing course with beautiful scenery, and there is great enthusiasm from the crowd. I have raced in many places but the Laguna Lăng Cô Triathlon is one of my favourite races. It’s my first time racing in Vietnam, and I will definitely come back next year.”

Vodickova commented: “The run course through Banyan Tree was beautiful; it was even more amazing than last year. For me this triathlon is more than a race, it’s a wonderful holiday, and I’d love to come back to defend my champion title next year.”