American Ben Kanute put down the hammer on the difficult Chattanooga bike course with a 2:08:10 split, but the fastest split went to German Sebastian Kienle who rode 2:07:45. Kanute however finished second to Spain's Javier Gomez who rode 2:12:27 on the way to a 3:49:44 overall time. Kienle struggled during the run and ended up 5th.

Sebastian Kienle had to make up time after the swim and went work. He had been a bit under the weather earlier in the week, but did not want to miss this race.

Many eyes were on defending champion Tim Reed from Australia, but the popular Aussie struggled in Chattanooga.

Canadian Taylor Reid also seemed to have a hard time finding a rhythm, but he looked good on his bike.

Meanwhile up front American Ben Kanute was pulling away from the chasers.

Canadian Brent McMahon was another one of the favorites who found the going tough in Chattanooga.

Belgian Pieter Heermeryick was near the front all day and in the end finished 10th with a 2:11:02 bike split.

American Rodolphe Von Berg was also in the thick of the action during the bike but faded towards the end and ended up riding 2:16:23.

After a long chase Sebastian Kienle rode at the front of the chasing pack and as mentioned before rode 2:07:45.

But Ben Kanute was well out of sight.

Russian Ivan Kalashnikov rode brand and logo neutral with just a hint of Zipp and in the end ended up 25th pro and 27th male overall.

For Kevin Collington the morning started fine with some banjo music in the background. At the end of the day the American finished 16th with a bike split of 2:15:05.

A 2:15:55 bike split for American Drew Scott was solid and he ended up with a 4:08:14 finish time and 21st place pro and 22nd overall male.

At the beginning of the bike segment Javier Gomez tried to chase down Ben Kanute but was unable to do so. During the run however the Spaniard managed to run 1:10:29 and grab the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title.

Bermuda's Tyler Butterfield moved to the front of the chasing pack late in the bike segment and recorded a 2:10:40 bike split. He however fell back during the run to 7th place and a 3:56:20 overall time.

Brazilian Reinaldo Colucci was dropped from the front group and hung on to a 2:15:51 bike split and 17th place.

Maurice Clavel seems to wonder who is coming from behind. The fast German ended up with a 2:11:03 bike split and 6th place.

All images © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com