Laura Philipp and Michael Weiss both overcame deficits after the swim and clinched their victories on the run at Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten.

Philipp began her day 1:30 behind after the swim, took over the lead 20 kilometers into the bike leg, and closed with a women’s-best 1:18:22 half marathon to finish in 4:14:25 with a 3 minutes margin over Helle Frederiksen of Denmark and 7:34 over 3rd place finisher Anja Beranek of Germany.

Weiss started with a much larger 4:11 deficit after the swim, advanced to 9th place and 3:21 behind at T2 after a race-best 2:09:14 bike split, then took the lead from race-long leader Giulio Molinari of Italy after 10 kilometers of the run. After a dominating, race-best 1:09:28 half marathon, Weiss finished in 3:51:36 with a 1:44 margin of victory over Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and 2:27 over 3rd place Molinari.

Women

Helle Frederiksen of Denmark led the women's swim wave in Viehofner See and Ratzersdorfer See in 26:39 which gave her a 1:06 lead on Anja Beranek of Germany, 1:27 on Ewa Bugdol of Poland, 1:30 on Philipp, 2:17 on Lisa Hütthaler of Austria, 2:51 on Eva Wutti of Austria, and 3:22 on Bianca Steurer of Austria.

Philipp took the lead early in the bike leg, and by 25 kilometers had a 2 seconds lead on Frederiksen and 4 seconds on Beranek. After 64 kilometers, Philipp eked out a slightly larger margin on Frederiksen (+7 seconds) and Beranek (+15 seconds), 2:50 on Hütthaler, and much more real estate on Steurer (+8:03) and Wutti (+8:30).

After a women’s-fastest 2:23:07 bike split, Philipp could not shake her two closest pursuers as Frederiksen arrived at T2 just 4 seconds arrears and Beranek 7 seconds back. Hütthaler trailed by 3:34 and Steurer lagged by 9:22.

On the strength of a by-far fastest 1:18:22 half marathon, Philipp ran away from all potential challengers, finishing in 4:14:25 with a 3 minutes margin on Frederiksen (1:21:23 run) and 7:34 over Beranek (1:25:36 run).

Men

Lukas Wojt of Germany led the pro men's swim in 23:29 which gave him a 57 seconds lead on Florian Angert of Germany, 59 seconds on Michael Raelert of Germany, 1 minute on Martin Bader of Austria, 1:02 on Johann Ackermann of Germany, 1:04 on Giulio Molinari of Italy, and 1:06 on Ruedi Wild of Switzerland.

Molinari attacked the bike leg, earning a quick lead and by 25 kilometers held a margin of 26 to 35 seconds on a six man pack including Raelert, Ackermann, Wild, Yvan Jarrige of France, and Austrians Martin Bader and Paul Reitmayr. Germans Florian Angert and Lukasz Wojt were 41 and 58 seconds arrears.

By 64 kilometers of the bike leg, Molinari carved out a 1:18 to 1:34 lead on a pack of 7 men led in order by Wild, Angert, Raelert, Bader, Jarrige, Ackermann and Reitmayr. Just starting to get in the picture, Weiss was 4:04 down in 10th place.

After a second-fastest 2:09:20 bike split, Molinari led the field into T2 with a 2:01 to 2:30 margin on the same pack of seven riders led by Wild and including Angert, Raelert, Ackermann, Bader, Reitmayr and Jarrige. Weiss, after a slightly race-best 2:09:14 bike split, had to work on a 3:21 deficit.

On his way to a race-best 1:09:28 half marathon, it took Weiss 11 kilometers to overtake Molinari. By 16 kilometers, Weiss was in control, holding a 1:05 lead on Wild, who passed Molinari and fell to 3rd, 1:46 behind the new leader.

Weiss finished in 3:51:36 with a 1:44 margin on Wild (1:12:42 run), 2:27 on 3rd place finisher Molinari (1:15:39 run), and 2:39 on 4th place finisher Angert (1:13:39 run).

Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten
St. Pölten, Austria
May 27, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Laura Philipp (GER) 4:14:25 S 28:09 T1 2:28 B 2:23:07 T2 2:21 R 1:18:22
2. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 4:17:25 S 26:39 T1 2:25 B 2:24:43 T2 2:17 R 1:21:23
3. Anja Beranek (GER) 4:21:59 S 27:45 T1 2:24 B 2:23:42 T2 2:34 R 1:25:36
4. Lisa Hütthaler (AUT) 4:24:41 S 28:56 T1 2:23 B 2:25:59 T2 2:24 R 1:25:01
5. Bianca Steurer (AUT) 4:31:05 S 30:01 T1 2:30 B 2:30:34 T2 2:28 R 1:25:34

Men

1. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:51:36 S 27:40 T1 2:45 B 2:09:14 T2 2:32 R 1:09:28
2. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 3:53:20 S 24:35 T1 2:14 B 2:11:30 T2 2:22 R 1:12:42
3. Giulio Molinari (ITA) 3:54:03 S 24:33 T1 2:25 B 2:09:20 T2 2:07 R 1:15:39
4. Florian Angert (GER) 3:54:15 S 24:26 T1 2:24 B 2:11:34 T2 2:14 R 1:13:39
5. Thomas Steger (GER) 3:54:47 S 25:17 T1 2:31 B 2:13:27 T2 2:11 R 1:11:23