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Weekend recap: Sanders and Tisseyre victorious in Texas and Palmas

April 10, 2016
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Canadian pros continued their dominance on the Ironman 70.3 circuit as Lionel Sanders ran away with his third straight victory of the year at Ironman 70.3 Texas and Magali Tissyere claimed her first of the year at the South American Championship in Palmas, Brazil. Cody Beals also delivered a strong early season result, finishing in third in Palmas.

Ironman 70.3 Texas

Lionel Sanders came hot off his victory in Oceanside last weekend for a third win of the year in a blazing fast 3:40:30. He overcame a three minute and 30 second deficit after the swim, which he came out of in 37th place. His 1:58:09 bike split was the fastest of the day and put him into second place heading into T2. As he did last weekend, Sanders found himself battling his way on the run, slowly making up ground on the leader (Andrew Starykowicz). He crossed the finish like with three minutes and 16 second over the runner up.

Canada’s Adam O’Meara and Antoine Jolicoeurs Desroches both finished in the top 20 of the men’s field.

Canada had two female pros at Ironman 70.3 Texas finish in the top 20 as well. Karen Thibodeau finished 13th in 4:27:21. Isabelle Rouleau placed 20th in 4:38:05.

Before the race, Rouleau told TMC she was excited to leave wintry Quebec for sunny Texas.

“I’m anxious to race this weekend, because it will really show me where I am at currently relative to the other pros. During my winter training, I was in school and working part time. There are 38 female pros on the start line in Texas and I’m aware that many are committed to training full-time.”

The female field was indeed a strong one. American Sarah Haskins took the win in 4:12:46, followed by Jeanni Seymour and Jodie Robertson.

Top 5 Pro Men

1) 3:40:30 Lionel Sanders

2) 3:43:46 Andreas Dreitz

3) 3:45:32 Michael Weiss

4) 3:46:06 Andrew Starykowicz

5) 3:47:49 Mauricio Mendez Cruz

Top 5 Pro Women

1) 4:12:46 Sarah Haskins

2 )4:13:54 Jeanni Seymour

3) 4:14:36 Jodie Robertson

4) 4:15:30 Laura Philipp

5 )4:17:27 Liz Lyles

Ironman 70.3 South American Championship 

Magali Tisseyre started her season off with a bang, taking the title at the Ironman 70.3 South American Championship in Palmas Brazil in a time of 4:21:17. The Quebec native currently trains year round in California and her hard work over the winter paid off as she finished almost four minutes faster than the runner up.

Tisseye, who has been working hard on her swimming over the past few years, exited the water in the lead and held it for the duration of the race. Her top splits across the board solidified she’s as strong a force as ever in the women’s pro field.

Kirsty Jahn followed up her fourth place finish at the Ironman 70.3 Pan American Pro Championships with a solid fifth place in Palmas.

Jahn got off to a rocky start with a less than ideal swim, heading off course and losing valuable time.

https://twitter.com/KirstyJahnTri/status/719180460048388096

On the men’s side, Cody Beals earned himself a place on the podium in third behind strong athletes Tim Don and Leon Griffin. Beals wasn’t in the top three entering T2 but ran well to take the final podium spot.