Gallery: Teide Xtreme Triathlon
Thar she blows! An active volcano dominates the bike course in Tenerife earlier this month
On the second edition of an extremely tough and hot Teide Xtreme Triathlon in Tenerife, Ireland’s Kevin Thornton won the men’s race and Spain’s Elsa Werth won the women’s race after safely riding up and down the eponymous volcano El Teide.
The middle distance race started early on the beach of Playa de Las Vistas, with Werth dominating the women’s swim and Thornton notching up a whopping 2min lead in the men’s as they headed into T1.
The 96km bike started out at sea level and climbed 2,200m through different landscapes that included the volcano, forests and Las Cañadas del Teide National Park. Thornton stayed in the lead on the way up, but Belgium’s Martijn Debaene pushed so hard that he recovered an incredible 27 places and reached T2 in second place.
Thornton protected his lead and crossed the line in 5:27:49, with 2013 winner Pieterjan Penne (BEL) and Nicolas Dominguez (ESP) rounding out the podium.
In the women’s race, Werth held on to her lead throughout the bike and run to take victory in 6:41:22, with chasers Femke Reynaert (Belgium) and Lucia Funes (ESP) taking silver and bronze respectively.
For full results head here.
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
