How much of a bike lead is enough? Two different versions play out at Ironman 70.3 Boulder
Trevor Foley and Ellie Salthouse take the wins in Colorado
Photo by:
Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for Ironman
American Trevor Foley blasted to a huge lead off the bike and held on for the first pro win of his career, while Australian Ellie Salthouse came from almost nine-minutes down to take the women’s race at Ironman 70.3 Boulder today.
Stimpson leads the way after the swim
2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Jodie Stimpson led the women out of the water, joined by more former short-course specialists – Belgium’s Valerie Barthelemy and Erika Ackerlund. Salthouse found herself 36 seconds down heading to T1. On the bike, though, it was Denmark’s super-biker Sif Bendix Madsen who pulled clear, flying through a 2:04:50 split to get her to T2 8:43 up on Barthelemy and 8:45 ahead of Salthouse, with Stimpson and Ackerlund just a few more seconds back.
On the run, though, Salthouse used the day’s fastest run split (1:23:32) to take the lead in the closing stages of the run (the Australian was still 46 seconds down with 2.5 km to go) to take the win, eventually crossing the line 34 seconds up on the Dane. Barthelemy hung on for third.
From 27th to 1st
Another short-course specialist moving up – Chase McQueen – led the men out of the water, with fellow American Greg Harper two seconds back, with South Africa’s Nicholas Quenet another two seconds behind. Foley was almost two minutes down as he headed to T1 in 27th place.
By the end of the bike, though, Foley was well out in front. His 1:51:09 bike split was enough to get him to T2 almost three minutes ahead of Australian Sam Appleton and Quenet, with American super runner Matt Hanson in fifth, 5:40 back.
Foley, a former university track and cross-country runner, is hardly a slouch on the run and put together the day’s third-fastest run split (1:12:56) to hold on to the win (3:33:36 – just seconds behind Sam Long’s course record) by over three minutes. Hanson, who’s 1:10:41 was the day’s fastest run, would get to second, with Appleton rounding out the podium.
Top Five Male Professional Results
| Place | Name (Country) | Swim | Bike | Run | Total Time | Pro Series Points | Event Prize Money |
| 1 | Trevor Foley (USA) | 26:15 | 1:51:09 | 1:12:56 | 3:33:36 | 2,500 | $7,500 |
| 2 | Matt Hanson (USA) | 24:46 | 1:58:14 | 1:10:41 | 3:36:47 | 2,309 | $5,000 |
| 3 | Sam Appleton (AUS) | 23:11 | 1:56:41 | 1:15:38 | 3:38:57 | 2,179 | $3,750 |
| 4 | Nicholas Quenet (ZAF) | 22:36 | 1:57:48 | 1:17:10 | 3:40:35 | 2,081 | $3.000 |
| 5 | Colin Szuch (USA) | 25:53 | 1:56:42 | 1:15:54 | 3:41:34 | 2,022 | $2,000 |
Top Five Female Professional Results
| Place | Name (Country) | Swim | Bike | Run | Total Time | Pro Series Points | Event Prize Money |
| 1 | Ellie Salthouse (AUS) | 26:09 | 2:13:00 | 1:23:32 | 4:06:12 | 2,500 | $7,500 |
| 2 | Sif Bendix Madsen (DNK) | 25:35 | 2:04:50 | 1:32:55 | 4:06:47 | 2,465 | $5,000 |
| 3 | Valerie Barthelemy (BEL) | 25:33 | 2:13:36 | 1:25:54 | 4:08:22 | 2,370 | $3,750 |
| 4 | Jodie Stimpson (GBR) | 25:32 | 2:13:38 | 1:27:16 | 4:09:51 | 2,281 | $3.000 |
| 5 | Erika Ackerlund (USA) | 25:34 | 2:13:48 | 1:32:33 | 4:14:57 | 1,975 | $2,000 |