Víctor Arroyo and Saleta Castro win TriStar111 Madrid

The second edition of the TriStar Madrid took place in Casa de Campo park, and two of the favourites took the victory in an amazing day. Spanish Víctor Arroyo and Saleta Castro were the winners of the TriStar111 Madrid 2012 in a drafting allowed race over an unique distance hosted for the second time in the Capital of Spain: 1km swimming, 100km cycling and 10km running.

The world-famous athlete and actor, and ex Californian Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger gave start of TriStar Madrid. This was the first time that ‘TRI-erminator’ assisted to a triathlon race, which became possible thanks to a partnership between TriStar Madrid and the international event Arnold Classic Europe. Afterwards Saleta Castro, Spanish Long Distance Champion, got a smooth victory -she lead the race since the first kilometres of bike leg, while Víctor Arroyo had to fight hard with a strong pack of triathletes.

Saleta Castro faced the race confident on her options, despite of the presence of the reigning winner, Esther Leal and the great swimmer Sara Pérez, a young local triathlete who was the first off the water overall! Leal tried to defend her title but Saleta was today the strongest women on the bike, and pushed hard to break with her strong cadence. Finally, Saleta Castro win in 4h16:29. Leal was second (4h30:17) and Sara Pérez, third in 4h42:33.

In the male category, the race was so exciting due to the huge fight during the hard 10-lap bike segment. The main favourites (Lindén, Morten Top Truelsen and Spanish Víctor Arroyo and Rubén Guerra) were cyling pretty fast in order to control the head of the race. But Lindén pulled away after 80 Km and took the lead. He started the run 1 minutes ahead of the chasing group! After this exhibition on the bike, he was overtaken by Víctor Arroyo, finally the winner of this exciting race. Arroyo crossed the finish line in 3h42:30. Swedish Andreas Línden, a former pro cyclist was second in 3h43:09 and Spanish Rubén Guerra was third (3h:43:43). Danish Morten Top Truelsen finished fourth.

“I swam today fast so It was easy for me to ride in the leader pack from the beginning of the cycling. I had many mechanical problems, but I got a great help from Guerra and I could start running only 1 minute behind Lindén. After the first lap running I pulled away and then I pushed a lot because I felt I could lose. It was a nice race, I really enjoyed this format and this nice distance and I’m really looking forward to race a TriStar shortly!” said a happy Víctor Arroyo at the Finishline.

“It was very nice to discover this format because of the short run after the bike. At the beginning I overtook Pérez after the swimming, she is an incredible swimmer! but I was confident… Then I finished the cycling and just tried to keep the pace till the Finish Line. It’s was a fantastic day” said Saleta Castro.

The TriStar label is presented by Star Events, a Monaco based company specializing in organizing high quality sports events that are focused on fun, social responsibility and environmental protection. The TriStar Series has grown to 27 races in these 13 destinations in less than three years: Nevis (St.Kitts and Nevis), Mallorca and Madrid (Spain), Lyon, Deauville and Cannes (France), Worms-Germany (Germany), Salzkammergut and Kufstein (Austria), Milton Keynes (United Kingdom), Estonia-Otepää (Estonia), Monaco (Monaco) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). TriStar has introduced new distances to the sport of triathlon (A/N: 111km and 222km), officially recognized by ITU, as well as a brand new Team Racing Concept T5. More Info: www.tristarseries.com and www.star-events.cc

More info www.tristarmadrid.com and Live Coverage and Videos on madrid.tristarlive.com