Lance Armstrong blew away the field with a sizzling bike to win Ironman 70.3 Florida by a huge margin over runner-up Maxim Kriat of Ukraine.

Armstrong opened with a 4th-best 24:52 swim, unleashed a dominating, race-best 2:01:13 bike that was 10 minutes 30 seconds better than the next-best pursuer, and closed with a race-best 1:15:56 run to hit the line in 3:45:38 with an 11 minutes 18 seconds margin over Kriat and 14 minutes 7 seconds over 3rd place finisher Francesc Godoy of Spain.

"Despite feeling really good, I just tried to stay within myself [on the run]," Armstrong told the Orlando Sentinel. "I followed the GPS to make sure that I was on my pace, which was 5:45-5:50 and didn't try to go any quicker."

The win was the 40-year-old Texan's first in four attempts at the Ironman 70.3 series in the revival of his triathlon career in 2012.

His previous best finish was 2nd to Bevan Docherty in his 2012 professional triathlon debut at Ironman 70.3 Panama. Armstrong also finished 7th at the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas in April and 3rd at Ironman 70.3 St. Croix two weeks ago.

"It feels good,” Armstrong told the Orlando Sentinel. “I can't lie that I didn't want to come back to the sport and win some races.”

Amanda Stevens led the women's field out of the water with a race-fastest 25:04 split and continued to set the pace on the bike. Stevens was also first off the bike but the race was far from over.

Jennifer Tetrick snatched the lead from Stevens, but Tetrick had Jessica Jacobs breathing down her neck. Jacobs soon after took over the lead and held on for the the win in 4:24:34. The 1:21:53 run of Jacobs was just too good for Tetrick’s 1:29:54 half marathon.

Stevens' 1:32:58 run led her to the finish in 3rd place, 3:49 behind Jacobs and 2:10 behind Tetrick.

The win was Jacobs’ first Ironman 70.3 crown. The Green Bay, Wisconsin long course star previously won three Ironman titles, highlighted by a P{R 8:55:10 finished with a 2:53 marathon at Ironman Florida last year.


Ironman 70.3 Florida
May 20, 2012
Haines City, Florida
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1

Results

Men

1. Lance Armstrong (USA) 3:45:38
2. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 3:56:56
3. Francesc Godoy (ESP) 3:59:45
4. Andres Castillo (COL) 4:01:08
5. Mauro Cavanha (BRA) 4:02:04
6. David Kahn (USA) 4:06:36
7. Chris Bagg (USA) 4:07:01
8. Andrew Langfield (USA) 4:07:55
9. Andrew Hodges (USA) 4:08:53
10. Fabian Rahn (GER) 4:09:58

Women

1. Jessica Jacobs (USA) 4:24:34
2. Jennifer Tetrick (USA) 4:26:09
3. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:28:19
4. Nina Kraft (GER) 4:28:43
5. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) 4:31:14
6. terra Castro (USA) 4:39:39
7. Cassie McWilliam (USA) 4:41:20
8. Jolene Wilkinson (USA) 4:41:27
9. Paolina Allan (CAN) 4:44:19
10. Danielle Ohlson (USA) 4:44:22