Americans Win Both Tremblant and Syracuse 70.3, Canadians Close Behind

It was a beautiful day in both Mont-Tremblant and Syracuse for the 70.3 races that took place today. Although Americans won both races in the men’s and women’s fields, Canadian triathletes showcased some outstanding performances.

In Mont-Tremblant, Jesse Thomas was first in 3:52:31 followed closely by B.C’s Trevor Wurtele in 3:55:17  who ran a 1:14 half marathon, just one minute behind Thomas’s 1:13. Australia’s Leon Griffin  was third in 4:05:20.

Meredith Kessler blew away her competition in a winning time of 4:13:23. In second was former 70.3 world champ Julie Dibens in 4:20:53. Fellow British athlete Laura Siddall rode and ran her way to third place in 4:23:48.  Race ambassador Magali Tisseyre was fourth. As usual, Tisseyre smiled throughout her excellent performance, offering encouragement to  fellow athletes along the way. Quebec’s Annie Gervais was having a standout  race but ran into a mechanical issue on the bike course and was forced to drop out. In her gracious speech on the podium, Kessler spoke about the incredible event the town of Mont-Tremblant put on and how much she is looking forward to racing the world championship here in September.

American Andrew Yoder won the men’s race in Syracuse in a time of 3:53:53, but two young Canadian pros Lionel Sanders and Cody Beals made the top five. Sanders was second for his second 70.3 race in a row (he grabbed silver in Raleigh a few weeks ago). Today Sanders ran a 1:09 half marathon that  got him close to first in a finishing time of 3:55:43.  Ben Collins was third in 3:56 and James Seear was fourth in 3:58. Ontario pro Cody Beals was just behind Seear  in fifth, in a time of 3:59.  B.C’s Elliot Holtham was ninth in 4:09.

On the women’s side American Lauren Goss was first in 4:22 followed by Darbi Roberts in 4:33 for second and  Beth Shutt in third in a time of  4:34. Toronto’s Miranda Tomenson was fifth in 4:40 and Jenny Fletcher was eigth.