Laundry debuts with 8:26 at Ironman Mallorca

After a great season that included a fifth-place finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St. George and a match win at the Collins Cup, Canada’s Jackson Laundry (pictured above in St. George) made his debut over the full-distance today at Ironman Mallorca, taking 13th in a competitive field thanks to an 8:26:01 finishing time.

France’s Leon Chevalier won the race, hanging on for a close win over Germany’s Florian Angert – Chevalier was fading so badly he actually stopped at an aid station two km from the finish before getting to the line just 55 seconds ahead of the German. Australian super-cyclist Cameron Wurf, who led off the bike with Chevalier right on his heels, rounded out the podium.

Angert led the men out of the water in 46:03, with Laundry (48:54) part of a big chase group that were just under three-minutes behind the German that included Wurf. Wurf would eventually ride his way to the front of the race, while Laundry would ride 4:35:28 to come off the bike alongside Belgium’s Bart Aernouts, the 2018 Kona runner-up and former Challenge Roth champion. Aernouts would run a 2:43 marathon (second-fastest of the day) to run his way to seventh place. Laundry completed his full-distance debut with a 2:56:44 marathon to take 13th.

“It was an okay day,” Laundry said of his debut. “I’m happy with the effort for sure, a bit disappointed I could only muster up what I did, but it’s what I should have expected with less than ideal prep at the end of a long season. More than anything, I’m excited for the off season, I need a big break!”

Laundry will certainly deserve that break after a big year that also included a win at Ironman 70.3 Ecuador, a runner-up finish at Rev3 Williamsburg and a third-place finish at Ironman 70.3 Des Moines.

Astle takes first Ironman win

Great Britain’s Ruth Astle, the top age-group finisher at the 2019 Ironman World Championship, turned pro in 2020 and continued her storied triathlon career with the women’s win. Before turning pro Astle used to log 60-hour work weeks at a bank in London on top of her Ironman training, but since turning pro has dropped her work schedule to two days a week at Lloyds Banking Group in order to focus on her training and racing. The move paid off (OK, probably not financially, but at least in terms of results) with the win in Mallorca.

Great Britain’s Fenella Langridge led out of the water with Sweden’s 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Lisa Norden, hot on her heels. Norden would lead off the bike with a four-minute lead on Astle, who posted the day’s fastest bike. Norden would hang on to the lead through the first 25 km of the run, but would eventually fade as Astle moved to the lead. Behind those two, though, France’s Justine Mathieux and Germany’s Kristin Liepold were blasting through the field, running themselves into contention. Astle was able to hang on for the win thanks to her 3:07:25 marathon and 8:59:15 finish. Mathieux managed to move herself to second thanks to a 3:03:13 marathon, crossing the line just 55 seconds behind the winner. Liepold (3:00:05 marathon split and 9:02:53 finish) managed to catch Norden (3:15:02/ 9:02:57) right at the end of the race, outsprinting the Swede in the finishing chute to round out the podium.

Canada’s Melanie McQuaid, fresh off a third-place finish at Ironman Chattanooga, was ninth out of the water and had the 15th-fastest bike split, but would eventually pull out of the race on the run.

You can find full results from today’s race here.