Lovato and Benz win Ironman Cozumel

Out of the water in 13^th position (48:27), American Michael Lovato biked a top split of 4:19:17, and finished with a 3:01:41 marathon to win in a comfortable time of 8:23:52. Patrick Evoe (USA) finished second in 8:30:36, and Spain’s Alejandro Santamaria completed the top three (8:32:50).

Like Lovato, in the women’s race Simone Benz of Switzerland also rode the top bike split (4:45:20), and with an enormous lead she just had to run 3:25:10 to take the win in 9:14:08. Germany’s Sonja Tajsich chased hard with a top run of 3:02:54 but came up short for second (9:23:15), and Belgium’s Sophie De Groote finished third (9:26:07).

After finishing eighth at Ironman Arizona last weekend, Victoria’s Sara Gross crossed the line in sixth (9:56:29). Defending women’s champion Yvonne Van Vlerken dropped out of the race during the early part of the run.

Canadian Age group results will follow when the race and results are finalized.

Men

1. LOVATO, MICHAEL 8:23:52

2. EVOE, PATRICK 8:30:36

3. SANTAMARIA, ALEJANDRO 8:32:50

4. RUBLE, ZACH 8:34:51

5. LYATSKIY, ANDREY 8:43:05

6. DELSAUT, TREVOR 8:44:03

7. MARSH, BRANDON 8:45:43

8. CLERBOUT, BRUNO 8:47:07

9. THOMSCHKE, MARKUS 8:51:23

10. ZEEBROEK, AXEL 8:54:06

19. COTTER, BEN CAN 9:08:05

Women

1. BENZ, SIMONE 9:14:08

2. TAJSICH, SONJA 9:23:15

3. DE GROOTE, SOPHIE  9:26:07

4. CASTRO, TERRA 9:39:35

5. ANDREWS, KRISTIN 9:42:14

6. GROSS, SARA CAN 9:56:29

7. PIAMPIANO, SARAH 9:57:58

8. KENNEY, CHRISTINE 9:57:59 W30-34

9. WIECK, SONJA 10:00:33 W30-34

10. TIBALDI, FRANCESCA 10:01:39