Jake Montgomery grabbed his first IRONMAN 70.3 win in Geelong over Cyril Viennot and Josh Amberger. Melissa Hauschildt showed the world that she is back in form with a great effort. Hauschildt had to withdraw from Kona in 2014 and 2015 because of injuries, but looked supreme in Geelong. Annabel Luxford and Radka Vodickova finished 2nd and 3rd. Defending champion Liz Blatchford did not compete, but she was helping out with the race coverage.

The men

Just a week after his runner-up spot to Jan Frodeno at IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai, Josh Amberger was first out of the water in Geelong in 21:51, and he had Peter Kerr, 2012 IRONMAN World Champion Pete Jacobs, Jake Montgomery and Casey Munro not far behind. Clayton Fettell was just about a minute behind, and defending champion Craig Alexander and Callum Millward came out of the water just about 2 minutes behind Amberger.

Early on in the bike segment the race was led by a group of five that included all fast swimmers, but it did not take long for Amberger and Montgomery to pull away from the others. Jacobs was riding in third position, but Per Bittner soon took over that spot with a hard riding effort. But up front Amberger and Montgomery extended their advantage with the top two bike splits of the day. Montgomery recorded a 2:06:18 and Amberger a 2:06:27. Crowie who had won this race 4 times in a row pulled out late in the bike segment and that meant a new champion would be crowned for sure. Cyril Viennot charged past Bittner to take over 3rd place and that is how they reached T2. Montgomery 10 seconds up on Amberger, 3:44 on Viennot and 4:10 on Bittner.

Viennot ran very well and managed to get closer to the leaders, but up front Montgomery had pulled away from Amberger and the young Aussie looked very comfortable. Viennot charged past a tiring Amberg to take over second place on the road, but was unable to catch Montgomery. Montgomery ran 1:19:57 to capture the win in 3:51:48, and Viennot crossed the line in second place 1:26 later with a very fine 1:17:36 run. Amberger held on to third place in 3:54:17 and Callum Millward ran a superb 1:17:24 to finish fourth.

“That was a huge relief, I’m so happy to get my first win. I didn’t think I had it until I came up that finish chute,” said Montgomery. “It was awesome, I wanted that win really badly. It was great the spectators were awesome I heard my name a lot out there.”

The women

Radka Vodickova led the women out of the water in 24:20. Annabel Luxford was next in 24:30 and behind her the gaps were even larger. Melissa Hauschildt with a time of 27:06 was not even among the top 10 females out of the water.

Luxford took over the lead on the bike and Vodickova dropped back, but behind them a storm was brewing. Melissa Hauschildt inched closer and closer and first caught Vodickova eventually reached the bike-run transition with a race best 2:17:47 bike split and 2 seconds up on Luxford. Lisa Marangon was next in transition, but she was almost 8 minutes down, and Vodickova had lost even more time to Hauschildt.

Hauschildt quickly pulled away from Luxford on the run and closed out her day with a solid 1:25:34 run to capture the 2016 IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong in 4:14:28. Luxford finished second in 4:20:15 and Vodickova made it interesting with a race best 1:24:15 run, but in the end had to be content with the final podium spot.

Hauschildt made it look easy, but apparently struggled with cramps.

“I wanted to quit that race so many times, but I’m glad I toughed it out. I have a training camp up in Falls Creek and I thought if I win here the training will be so much better,” said Hauschildt.

IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong
Geelong, Victoria, Australia / February 7, 2016

Top men

1. Jake Montgomery (AUS) 3:51:48
2. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 3:53:14
3. Josh Amberger (AUS) 3:54:17
4. Callum Millward (NZL) 3:56:27
5. Per Bittner (GER) 3:57:40

Top women

1. Mel Hauschildt (AUS) 4:14:28
2. Annabel Luxford (AUS) 4:20:15
3. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:21:49
4. Sarah Crowley (AUS) 4:25:11
5. Kate Pedley (AUS) 4:25:29