Double Belgian victory in 24th Volcano Triathlon

Posted: Tuesday May 13, 2008

Second came The Lanzarote born triathlete Gregorio Cáceres Morales –also know as Goyo

Saturday 3rd of May, the Volcano Triathlon took place here at Club La Santa, Lanzarote. At 10 o’ clock 300 triathletes started the 1,5 k swim course. It was amazing to see all those swimmers in the Lagoon trying to find their way in the water, fighting for a good place. From the beginning 4 athletes were leading the group all the way back to the finish of the swim part. Bert Jammaer was in that group and so was Michelle Vesterby, who did very well in that swim!

On the bike Bert had a big lead on the rest of the athletes and had no problem keeping his first position. Among the women Francoise Wellekens caught up with Michelle during the bike race and eventually took the leading place.

Belgian Bert Jammaer, (12º Ironman HAWAII 2007 (8:35:53) – 4º Ironman LANZAROTE 2007 (9:05:08) lead the race from the very beginning, leaving no possible change to the Bellow triathletes. Bert finished with a clear difference of more than 5 minutes (and he took it easy on the run) upon runner-up Gregorio Cáceres Morales, and 7 minutes away from Brit living in Lanzarote, Nicholas Ward Muñoz.

Just before the race I had a little chat with Bert. Because he did so well in the IronMan Lanzarote 2007 we knew he had a good chance of winning the Volcano.
“I feel good today, but you have to feel good of course. The Volcano Triathlon is a good training for me, because a part of the track is the same as in the IronMan. This is a good preparation for the IronMan.”

After the race, he gave comment and mentioned: “I love this island, it is amazing and so is the race”.
On the women side, the Belgian Françoise Wellekens took the victory with a time of 2:20:04, followed by Danish young triathlete Michelle Vesterby and the Dutch Heleen bij de Vaate who came in third, quite happy with her race that she took as a training for the coming Ironman Lanzarote.
Aroa Merino Betancort, first Lanzarote female triathlete to cross the finish line – her time: 2:28:12

We want to thank and congratulate all the athletes with their achievements! It has been a great day!

For the results click here:

Male overall results download it as a PDF file
Female overall results download it as a PDF file

Male Age Group results download it as a PDF file
Female Age Group results download it as a PDF file