Roth/Hamburg: The Abu Dhabi Triathlon team experienced mixed fortunes at last weekend's double header in Germany.
Returning from injury, Australian, Pete Jacobs finished fourth in the Challenge Roth gruelling swim, bike and run event on Sunday with a time of 8:08:56.
Swen Sundberg was forced to retire having suffered two flat tyres.
Meanwhile in Hamburg on Saturday at the ITU World Championships, another Abu Dhabi Triathlon Team mainstay, Jan Van Berkel, finished 22nd, remaining very much in contention for a 2012 Olympics berth.
The weekend was a huge success for Jacobs, who came first out of the water (3.8km) and lead throughout the majority of the 180km cycle stage.
"The (42km) run was tough, as I have been unable to train as hard as I would have liked to recently, yet I performed well and maintained my series of strong finishes," Jacobs said. "With this performance at Roth, I'm confident that I can perform at my highest levels again in Hawaii in October.".
Team captain, Faris Al Sulta, who himself used the relay event as a pre-Regensburg Ironman warm-up said: "I'm thrilled for Pete because after his injury, I wasn't sure if he could perform well. But I feel bad for Swen and it is really bad he couldn't show what he's truly capable of." In the mixed Roth Challenge relay, Abu Dhabi Triathlon team's, Christof Wandratsch, Philipp Gorgen and Elina Ussher finished 13th.
Van Berkel said of his Hamburg outing that he was "quite satisfied with 22nd place".
