Beals finishes a close third in Ironman VR Pro Challenge
Jesper Svensson topped a close race in this weekend's third pro virtual challenge as only 48 seconds separated Kyle Buckingham, Cody Beals and Igor Amorelli.
While over 33,000 athletes from around the world were taking part in their own Ironman virtual sprint race, Sweden’s Jesper Svennson topped a close men’s race in the weekend’s Ironman VR3 Pro Challenge.
Sweden went two for two this weekend as Jesper Svensson took the men’s Ironman VR Pro Challenge event the day after countrywoman Lisa Norden took the women’s event. While thousands of athletes from 139 countries were taking part in the Ironman VR3 event – a 1.5 km run, 20 km bike and a 5 km run – Svensson was taking on Canada’s Cody Beals, Brazil’s Igor Amorelli and South Africa’s Kyle Buckingham.
Related: Cody Beals recaps his first Ironman VR race
As the women did yesterday, the men completed two 20 km efforts. Svensson was the fastest in both, while Buckingham and Beals traded runner-up finishes. When it came to combining times, Svensson was well clear by almost two minutes, but just 36 seconds separated Buckingham and Beals, with Amerelli only 12 seconds behind Beals in fourth.
The full broadcast of the men’s IRONMAN VR3 Pro Challenge can be viewed, HERE.
| LAP 1 | LAP 2 | TOTAL BIKE TIME | ||
| 1. Jesper Svensson | SWE | 00:26:34 | 00:26:55 | 0:53:29 |
| 2. Kyle Buckingham | RSA | 00:27:23 | 00:27:55 | 0:55:18 |
| 3. Cody Beals | CAN | 00:28:01 | 00:27:53 | 0:55:54 |
| 4. Igor Amorelli | BRA | 00:27:31 | 00:28:35 | 0:56:06 |
Next week’s Ironman virtual race will be another half-distance simulation (as was the first event) – a 5 km run, 90 km bike and a 21 km run.