Weekend round-up: Leeds, Alcatraz, Eagleman, Kraichgau, Boulder
Pro result round-up from the weekend of racing.
Our round-up of pro racing over the weekend — WTS Leeds, Escape from Alcatraz, Ironman 70.3 Eagleman, Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau and Ironman Boulder.
Brownlees go 1-2 on home turf at WTS Leeds
After bouncing back from a disappointing race at Challenge Family’s The Championship last weekend, Alistair Brownlee was in fine form at his first WTS race of the season and took the win in his hometown of Leeds. His brother, Jonathan, stuck close on his heels for the majority of the race until about 6K in the run, and hung on for second while Spain’s Fernando Alarza earned third.
World champion Flora Duffy continued her winning streak to take the win, while USA’s Taylor Spivey earned her first WTS podium in second and Italian Alice Betto took third.
No Canadians started the race.
Kanute and Goss take Escape from Alcatraz
With the swim cancelled due to heavy wind conditions, the iconic Escape from Alcatraz turned into a bike-run event on Sunday. USA’s Ben Kanute and Lauren Goss claimed the wins in deep pro fields, clocking 1:30:09 and 1:42:06 respectively.
In her first non-drafting race, Canada’s Paula Findlay took fifth.
Beals takes second at Eagleman
Going for the threepeat at Ironman 70.3 Eagleman this year, Cody Beals make up tons of time on leader Sam Appleton on the weekend but it was not enough to hold off the Australian powerhouse. After a strong run split, Beals ended up coming in second in 3:54:49 in the incredibly warm conditions. Canadians Jordan Monnink, Scott Cooper, Daniel Clarke, and Alex Vanderlinden came in 6th, 8th, 11th and 14th respectively. Miranda Tomenson and Sheila Treleaven took 10th and 11th respectively.
Kienle wins big in Kraichgau
After lots of podium finishes this year, Kienle beat out a strong field of Europeans to take the win at Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau. While many had hoped for an exciting showdown between the 2014 Ironman world champion and Kona newcomer and third place finisher Patrick Lange, it will have to wait as Lange sat the race out due to a foot injury.
As the European season picks up, several big races are on the docket for the next few months including Ironman Austria in just a few weeks where Jan Frodeno will attempt to break the Ironman-brand world record.
O’Donnell take IM Boulder in front of home crowd
Ironman Boulder always draws a strong field of athletes, and this year was no exception. Hometown favourite Tim O’Donnell took the win on the men’s side with a more than 15 minute margin of victory. In her first full distance race in over a year, Great Britain’s Rachel Joyce won the women’s race, beating out a strong Heather Jackson in the women’s field.
