[JensH]

Frederik van Lierde hat auf Instagram bekannt gegeben, dass er dieses Jahr nicht in Kona startet:

After a successful first block of races this season I've made up my plans for the 2nd part of 2019. I qualified for both Ironman world championships (70.3 and full), so choices needed to be made. Together with my team we discussed things and here's what came out:

8 sept 70.3 WC Nice:
For the first time in my career I'll start at the WC 70.3 . With Nice being the host city I'm too excited not to race there. I want to give it a try and see what is possible when I race the best in the world over the half distance.
6 oct Ironman Barcelona:
This one has always been on my 'to do' list, since I know the region in Spain very well. A new adventure for me, looking forward to try this one out for the first time.
24 nov Ironman Cozumel:
A great race perfectly placed in the very end of the season. I won it in 2016 coming back from Hawaii, after a eventful 10th place. This year I want to see how it goes with a good specific preparation towards this one.
So no Ironman WC Hawaii for me this year. A difficult decision but I'm in the last 18 months of my career and I have to make choices. My goal is to add some more Ironman victories to my resume. Hawaii on my schedule would make things more difficult since you need to sacrifice months of training for 1 race. I won Hawaii in 2013 and for now, I don't feel I have anything left to prove there.
See you soon, first some time for holidays!
Fred

Das heißt gleichzeitig, dass der Kona-Slot vom Ironman Lanzarote verfällt, weil es im neuen Qualifikationssystem keinen nachträglichen Slot-Rolldown gibt. Christian Kramer, der diesjährige Zweite auf Lanzarote, ist nun der Gelackmeierte. Hätte van Lierde direkt bei der Siegerehrung auf den Slot verzichtet, hätte Kramer den Slot erhalten und könnte nun auf Hawaii starten. Bei einem nachträglichen Verzicht ist das nicht mehr möglich. Über Sinn und Unsinn dieser starren Regelauslegung kann man prächtig streiten