Looking like a super summer for TEAM SPORT FOR GOOD
TEAM SPORT FOR GOOD is a collection of five top triathletes who compete worldwide in triathlon events at the very highest level. Athletes within the team treat one another as equals, train together, celebrate their victories and stand by one another through all their highs and lows. They regard this as a fundamental principle for the success of the team and each individual athlete.
And kicking off their summer season, TEAM SPORT FOR GOOD athletes were off to a flyer as Timo Bracht won the Rheinauhafen Triathlon in Cologne and Horst Reichel was runner-up at the Heinerman Triathlon in Darmstadt.
After recently returning from their altitude training camp in St. Moritz, Timo Bracht and Horst Reichel participated in their last test races before the big highlight of the season, the DATEV Challenge Roth. After finishing first and second, respectively, both are looking forward to the big test in Roth.
"Rheinauhafen Triathlon in Cologne just three weeks after the altitude training camp was an experiment, but in the end it was successful. Despite training very hard I was in good shape. I felt fresh and was able to go to the limit in all three disciplines" said Timo Bracht immediately after the Olympic distance race in the cathedral city. After the swim, Timo Bracht was some 40 seconds behind Johann Ackermann and Christian Otto, who went ahead after a very strong swim. "After three of the nine laps on the bike I was able to close the gap, yet because of the almost 18 turning points on the course it was very hard to gain an advantage", explained the TEAM SPORT FOR GOOD athlete.
After recently returning from their altitude training camp in St. Moritz, Timo Bracht and Horst Reichel participated in their last test races before the big highlight of the season, the DATEV Challenge Roth. After finishing first and second, respectively, both are looking forward to the big test in Roth.
"Rheinauhafen Triathlon in Cologne just three weeks after the altitude training camp was an experiment, but in the end it was successful. Despite training very hard I was in good shape. I felt fresh and was able to go to the limit in all three disciplines" said Timo Bracht immediately after the Olympic distance race in the cathedral city. After the swim, Timo Bracht was some 40 seconds behind Johann Ackermann and Christian Otto, who went ahead after a very strong swim. "After three of the nine laps on the bike I was able to close the gap, yet because of the almost 18 turning points on the course it was very hard to gain an advantage", explained the TEAM SPORT FOR GOOD athlete.
After very quick time on the bike, Timo's legs felt great when he started the 10K run alongside the local triathlete Johann Ackermann. "After a quick transition, Johann attacked immediately and had a small advantage. Yet I ran my pace patiently and caught up with him after 4K", the 8 times Ironman champion explained. When Timo finally made his move, Ackermann offered no resistance and in the end, it was a comfortable win for the athlete from Eberbach. "I have never been International Champion of Cologne before. So it has been a great weekend in a great city. Now I am looking positively towards defending my title at the Challenge Roth in two weeks."
For Horst Reichel, it was also the last race before the season's highlight at Roth. He raced at Heinerman Triathlon in Darmstadt, his home town, in which he already had won six times. However, this year he was not able to defend his title. Still he was satisfied with his performance: "I was first out of the water, continuously in the lead on the 40 k bike course and also the first to start the run. In the end I lost the final sprint to a very strong Paul Schuster. Congratulations to him!" He is in great spirits ahead of the remaining two weeks of preparation before Roth: “Now, it's about time to put my feet up and dedicate myself to fine-tuning, based on the formula: shape = performance + physical freshness."
