Multisport: Brown ready for test on bike in Germany

Triathlete Cameron Brown takes on world champion Normann Stadler and two-time winner Stefan Holzner on their home turf in the prestigious Ironman Germany on Sunday (NZ time).

The 33-year-old Brown is hoping to go one better than his two runner-up efforts behind a resurgent Holzner in the Ironman rated second in prestige and quality to the world championships in Hawaii.

It will be a key test for Brown, who has a new coach in Brendan Cameron, a former Olympic cyclist and coach of world champion Sarah Ulmer.

Brown also has a new desire to succeed following some indifferent performances last year, including his disappointing 26th placing at Hawaii.

Brown broke the course record in his fifth straight win at Bonita Ironman New Zealand in March just a few weeks linking with Cameron, who predicted the benefits of the new association would be better measured later in the year.

Brown and Cameron will be looking for that improvement on Sunday, especially on the bike, where Brown has often given ground to the strong Europeans and been forced to run down sizeable margins on the 42km marathon.

"I'm really happy with my build up in Switzerland. I've put in some big, big weeks of training on the bike and running," Brown said. "Apart from an ear infection this week which I hope won't affect things, I've felt really good and I've been pleased with the workload and the quality of my training. Now it comes down to race day and putting it all together.

"The Germans are the strongest cyclists in ironman anywhere in the world. I can't afford to be giving them such big margins off the bike. I want to be much closer and still have the ability to run well off the bike. That's the key. There's no use putting everything into the bike and then blowing on the run. It's a balancing act."

Holzner, the 1995 and 1996 winner of Ironman New Zealand, had virtually retired in 2002 before being lured back to this race which he won in 2003 and 2004.

Holzner, Stadler, Steffen Liebetrau, the legendary Jurgen Zack and Marcus Foster are all noted for their powerhouse riding skills which will thoroughly test Brown. The 3.8km swim is in the Langener Waldsee lake near Frankfurt airport, with sweeping 180km bike including three major climbs, taking in downtown Frankfurt and the German countryside and 42km mostly flat marathon run along the Main River.

The race begins at 5pm Sunday (NZ time).

- NZPA