Ironman in Hawaii: Patrick Lange has to give up due to cramps

Patrick Lange has to prematurely bury his dream of a fourth Ironman triumph in Hawaii. After a strong swim, the veteran was gradually passed on the bike course and finally had to give up due to cramps.

After a good 65 kilometers, the 40-year-old pulled over to the side of the road, grabbed the back of his left thigh and, after several minutes of consultation with his trainer Ben Reszel, continued driving. »He stopped by us and said it didn't feel good. There is a tendency to cramp across the entire posterior chain,” Reszel told ZDF. After the involuntary stopover, Lange was already in positions above 40, and any chances of a top position were gone. After 96 of the total 180.2 kilometers of cycling, we finally couldn't go any further.

“This is of course a brutal decision,” said his coach. Lange had already had similar problems during his task at the Ironman Texas in April. Now he hoped that the symptoms would subside over time - but in vain. It was “incredibly brutal, shocking, extremely difficult,” said Reszel. If you get on the bike in fifth place and keep getting passed on, “that does something to you. You lose a bit of connection with the race and it becomes more and more difficult. Finally he drew a line at the turnaround. The winner of this year's Ironman World Championship has not yet been determined at this point.

Lange won the previous men's event in Hawaii in 2024, and he had previously triumphed on the Big Island in 2017 and 2018. With a fourth success, the Hesse could have become the sole German record holder ahead of Jan Frodeno. But there are still three gold, one silver and one bronze medals at world championships.

Lange had already announced the end of his career in July, and after the drama in Hawaii he will contest his final race next July at the Challenge Roth.