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Weekend recap: Jackson Laundry second at REV3 Quassy, Canadians finish top 10 in France, Raleigh

June 6, 2016
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Jackson Laundry after his impressive second place finish at REV3 Quassy

This weekend saw several strong Canadian finishes, with some up-and-coming pros place in the top 10 at Ironman France, Ironman 70.3 Raleigh and REV3 Quassy.

Laundry and Rasmussen top five at REV3 Quassy

Guelph, Ontario’s Jackson Laundry started his season off strong with a second place finish in the non-drafting pro race at REV3 Quassy, which made its return this year. Laundry finished a minute behind winner Cameron Dye and clocked a remarkable bike split of 1:01:46 for the 40K.

John Erik Rasmussen, who finished in the top 15 at May’s St. Anthony’s Triathlon after some technically difficulties, finished fourth in just under two hours. Rasmussen, who consistently finishes in the lead pack out of the swim, has been working on his run this season and ran a 34:45 split off the bike, one of the fastest of the day.

Thibodeau seventh at Ironman France

Karen Thibodeau was the sole Canadian pro racing the challenging Ironman France on Sunday and finished seventh in a strong field including Leanda Cave and Belgium’s Tine Deckers. Thibodeau suffered a wrist injury earlier in the season that set her training back, but proved her fitness hasn’t suffered and she’s ready for some strong results this year.

Thibodeau’s 00:53:18 swim put her near the lead entering T1, but she fell slightly behind after the bike leg because of her injury. She redeemed herself with her 3:12:22 run split and finished in 9:54:05.

Quebec triathletes storm top 10 Ironman 70.3 Raleigh

Antoine Jolicoeurs Desroches, Isabelle Rouleau and Annie Gervais all earned top 10 finishes in the competitive Ironman 70.3 Raleigh men’s and women’s fields this weekend.

Quebec’s Annie Gervais made her season debut with sixth place, clocking 4:36:48 behind a top five that included strong Americans Lauren Barnett (women’s winner) and Meredith Kessler and Britain’s Laura Siddall.

Quebec’s Isabelle Rouleau earned herself eighth place in a time of 4:45:57.

In the men’s field, Antoine J. Desroches was pleased with his ninth place finish in a strong men’s field. Desroches, a strong swimmer, was one of the first men out of the water and stayed up front on the bike but fell some places after getting passed on the run.

“The objective today was to bike hard and that’s what I did, he said after the race. “I was third after the bike but I paid the price on the run. Still happy with ninth and with my bike split.”

Taylor Reid got a flat and pulled put of the race.