Triathlete Andrew Starykowicz sets new bike course record at 2015 Challenge Roth

Challenge Roth this year was going to be signifcant for a number of reasons. Not only because it's a great race that attracts some of the best triathletes in the world and over a quarter of a million spectators, but also because Spanish bike brand, and Orca's global distributors, Orbea were releasing their brand new Orbea Ordu triathlon bike. And that the fastest biker in triathlon, Andrew Starykowicz was going to be riding it.

This was to be the first race of the international season for Starykowicz after recovering from hip labrum surgery, and with much hype about his return to the race course, everyone was waiting to see what he would be able to pull off. In typical Starykowicz fashion, and with the aid of the brand new Ordu, as well as the wind tunnel tested Orca RS1 Aero Race Suit, he did not disappoint. 

Although riding in the front pack for the first lap of the bike, it was not until the second lap that American Starykowicz and Nils Frommhold of Germany were able to break away, putting a good four minutes on the chase pack by the 120km mark. This lead steadily grew by T2, with Frommhold leading 1:41 ahead of Starykowicz and the next competitor trailing by 11:20. This stellar performance on the bike not only saw Andrew move up from 13th to 2nd place, but most importantly set a new bike course record in a time of 4:09:13, beating the previous record of 4:11:43 set by Andreas Raelert in 2011.

After fading big time in the run due to missing almost a year of training after injury, Starykowicz was quoted as saying: "The number one goal was to finish. I think this was the most successful pathetic performance in my life.”