A Canadian sweep at Ironman 70.3 Texas

Triathlon Magazine April 26, 2015

Ontario speedsters Lionel Sanders and Cody Beals put the pressure on Olympian and former 70.3 Ironman World champ Andy Potts in Galveston, Texas today. The pair gave him a bike and run clinic that saw Sanders take his lead for the win and Beals grab a close third place finish behind him. Only a second place finish was missing for Canadians, but Angela Naeth took care of that thanks to a dynamite bike-run combo which got her silver behind Denmark’s Helle Frederiksen.

The race began with Potts’s standard domination in the water as he lead a small pack with his 24:00 min swim in Offats Bayou. That pack included Italian David Giardini who would race the day’s fastest bike split of 1:59:14, heading out of T2 in the lead. Over five minutes behind him was a legal chase pack including Australia Greg Bennett, Potts, Sanders and Beals. After passing Giardini early on the run Sanders would run a 1:12 to take first in 3:45:39. Potts ran 1:14 and finished in 3:47:22 and Beals’s half marathon time of 1:15 took him to third overall in 3:48:21.

Cody Beals training in Woodland Texas. Credit: Payton Ruddock of Ruddock Visuals

The women’s race was equally as exciting as Angela Naeth proved she’s fit and ready for Ironman Texas next month finishing second in 4:13:50. Although she had some swim specialists to contend with making her have to work extra hard on the bike, she came off the bike in fourth after overcoming a deficit from the swim of almost four minutes. The lead swimmers included Lauren Brandon, Helle Frederiksen and Brianna Baird. Naeth, Emma Kate Lidbury and Frederiksen all rode around 2:19 for the 90km course.

It was around the 13km mark of the run that Naeth passed Lidbury while running a 1:21 half but Frederiksen’s 1:19 half marathon split would secure her win in a time 4:07:52. Lidbury held on for third in 4:17:58.

Thanks for the awesome day @redbull @RideShimano @bikeonscott @pearlizumi! 2nd 70.3 Texas. Rolling 4 Ironman in 3wks! pic.twitter.com/Bk5ofsHyLp

— Angela Duncan(Naeth) (@AngelaNaeth) April 26, 2015

Stay tuned for Taylor Reid’s interview with race winner Lionel Sanders.