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Canada takes multiple top five finishes in ITU and Ironman races

Lepage wins silver at CAMTRI event in Columbia. Lori wins gold at ASTC event in Jordan and Kilshaw comes fifth at Ironman 70.3 Waco.

CAMTRI
Alexis Lepage racing at the Salinas CAMTRI American Cup on October 21st, 2018. Photo: ITU Media

Puerto Lopez CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup

On October 28th, five elite Canadian triathletes raced at the CAMTRI American Cup event in Puerto Lopez, Columbia.

In the men’s race, only five seconds that separated first and fifth. Alexis Lepage (CAN) and Taylor Forbes (CAN) found themselves right in the middle of the action for much of the day. At the end of the day, Lepage jumped onto his third podium finish of the season with a silver medal, and Forbes earned a hard-fought fourth. John Rasmussen (CAN) and Patrick Smith (CAN) finished 17th and 22nd.

For Lepage, it hasn’t been the season he hoped for, but he is really proud of his last three races. “It’s been an exciting end to the season for me, with two top 15 finishes in the World Cup and a silver yesterday,” says Lepage. Lepage and the rest of team Canada will be racing next weekend in Santiago, Chile at the CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup. Lepage’s last race of the season will be the USports National Cross-country Championships. “With Tokyo right around the corner, I’m really excited about my past few races and next season.”

Men’s results

  1. Valentin Wernz (BEL) 53:10
  2. Alexis Lepage (CAN) 53:12
  3. Austin Hindman (USA) 53:13

In the women’s race, Elisabeth Boutin was the lone Canadian competing. Boutin finished fifth, the second top-five performance of her season. The first came at her hometown race in Montreal, at the CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup.

Related: Boutin and Sobey are the top Canadians at CAMTRI Montreal

Women’s results

  1. Lisa Perterer (AUT) 59:15
  2. Elizabeth Bravo (ECU) 59:15
  3. Romina Biagioli (ARG) 59:46

Ironman 70.3 Waco

On October 28th, the Ironman 70.3 event in Waco, Texas, was shortened to a bike-run race after heavy rains in the area put the athletes’ safety in jeopardy with higher than usual currents in the Brazos River.

For the professionals, it was staggered time trial start. Canada’s Stephen Kilshaw was one of the few athletes to post a 2:05-90K bike split, putting himself in position to contend for the podium. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) set the fastest bike split with a 1:58 clocking. Starky kept it together in the half marathon and finished with the win, 11 seconds ahead of Tj Tollakson (USA). The battle for third was just as close, with four men finishing within three minutes of each other. In the end, it would be Australia’s Joe Gambles who came third. He was followed by Matt Hanson (USA), Kilshaw, and Lukas Kramer (GER).

Antoine Francoeur (CAN) made his professional triathlon debut at Ironman 70.3 Waco and finished 15th. James Cook (CAN) shortly followed in 17th.

In the women’s race, it would end up being an all-American field. Haley Chura ended up taking the win, nearly five minutes ahead of Alicia Kaye. The podium was rounded out by Chelsea Sodaro.

Aqaba ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup

On October 27th, in Aqaba, Jordan, Michael Lori of Canada won his third ASTC event of the year.