Jackson Laundry holds off Lionel Sanders by 11 seconds to win Ironman 70.3 Michigan
Canadian stars headline another dramatic finish
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Ironman
Jackson Laundry found himself having to hold off a fast-charging Lionel Sanders for the win at IRONMAN 70.3 Michigan today. In the end his two minute lead off the bike was whittled down to just 11 seconds, but that was enough to earn Laundry his first win since Ironman 70.3 Oceanside last year. (Ironically Sanders was second in Oceanside, winning a dramatic sprint over Rudy Von Berg.)
Laundry breaks clear on the bike
American Greg Harper led the men out of the water with Aussie Sam Appleton, Canadian Olympian Matthew Sharpe and Matt Schafer (USA) hot on his heels. The next group with Laundry was just over 1:30 back, with Sanders coming out of the water in 14th spot, 2:21 back.
Once on the bike the two Canadians steadily surged to the front, with Landry holding a one-minute lead at the 54 km point of the ride. By the end of the ride Laundry’s lead was up to two minutes over Sanders and Appleton, with American Trevor Foley hitting T2 just over three minutes down.
Through 10 km Laundry’s lead was still 1:35 over Sanders, but through 16 km the lead was down to just over a minute. With 1.4 km the gap was 26 seconds, which proved to be just enough for Laundry to hold on for the win in 3:36:48 following his 1:11:44 run split. Sanders flew across the line in 3:36:59 after posting the day’s fastest run split of 1:09:53. Foley would run his way to third (3:40:13), while Appleton held on for fourth, (3:47:11). Sharpe would round out the top five in 3:43:26.
