Sebastian Kienle proves he’s one of the most aero in the sport with impressive bike split at Ironman Cozumel
"Not the strongest legs in the biz anymore, but possibly one of the fastest set ups."
We’re not going to agree with his comment about his leg strength (the above quote came from the German’s Strava post), but there’s no arguing that Sebastian Kienle has one of the fastest bike set ups in the sport, which he proved with his impressive bike split at Ironman Cozumel on Sunday.
Kienle’s 4:02:27 split meant he averaged 44.8 kmh (27.9 mph), with an average power of 252 watts. Kienle’s aerodynamic position appears to have made the difference – on the Ironman Cozumel 2021 Strava segment the German sits second behind Kristian Blumenfelt. Behind Kienle on the KOM leaderboard are athletes who pushed bigger power numbers, but weren’t able to match Kienle’s time, including Michael Weiss (322 Watts) and Ironman Florida champ Rudy von Berg (263 watts). (Blummenfelt’s Strava profile doesn’t provide any watt information, but one would guess the Norwegian star pushed higher numbers, too.
As we reported when Kienle started riding the new Scott Plasma frame in 2020, he adopted a more stretched out position on the bike, while remaining extremely low with elbows close together. Kienle takes advantage of the internal fluid storage within the Scott Plasma RC, with one additional water bottle cage hiding behind his seat post.
Kienle would have the day’s third-fastest bike split behind eventual champion Leon Chevalier and runner-up Chris Leiferman. He was just pipped at the finish line by Poland’s Robert Wilkowiecki for the final spot on the podium.
Kienle is one of the most popular pros on the circuit, renowned for his candour and humour during interviews, press conferences and award ceremonies. The 2014 Kona champion won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2012 and 2013. He won the Ironman European title three times – in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and took the Challenge Roth title in 2018.
View this post on Instagram
In this, his final season of racing, Kienle and his bike sponsor Scott offered up four special edition bikes to be auctioned off for charity. The bike Kienle used to fly to his super-fast split in Cozumel is the final race of his “Discontinued” season.
Sebastian Kienle calls it a career and raffles off “Discontinued” bike for World Bicycle Relief
The Discontinued raffle has already raised over 250,000 euros for charity this year, with one bike still to go.
View this post on Instagram
