Sarah Piampiano of the U.S. ran away from fellow U.S. competitor Kelsey Withrow and Domenico Passuello of Italy outpaced Dougal Allan of New Zealand by 1:39 to win the men’s and women's titles at Ironman 70.3 Qujing.

Women

After second place finishes this year at 70.3s in Santa Rosa and Peru and a 4th place at Liuzhou 70.3 – just a few miles north of Qujing – Piampiano was eager to notch her first win since New Orleans 70.3 in 2016. Coming into this race, Kelsey Withrow has had the season of her life with 70.3 wins at Ecuador and Victoria, a 2nd at Palmas and a 5th at Santa Rosa.

Withrow led the swim in 26:19 which gave her a 1:49 lead on Jenny Fletcher of Canada, 3:13 on Piampiano, 3:16 on Kate Bevilaqua of Australia, and 3:45 on Kerry Morris of Australia. Halfway through the 90 kilometer bike leg, Withrow led Piampiano by 1 minute, Morris by 7 minutes, Fletcher by 9 minutes, and Bevilaqua by 10 minutes. After 71km, Piampiano attacked and led Withrow by 40 seconds. After a late surge completing a women's-best 2:16:57 bike split, Piampiano arrived at T2 with a 6:41 advantage on Withrow, 11:40 on Morris, 14:45 on Bevilaqua, and 15:47 on Fletcher.

Halfway through the run, Piampiano maintained a 6:41 lead on Withrow. At 16km, Piampiano increased her lead on Withrow to 9 minutes.

After a women’s-fastest 1:27:20 run, Piampiano finished in 4:18:17 with a 12:43 margin of victory over Withrow (1:37:02 run), 25:14 on Bevilaqua (1:37:43 run), and 25:56 on Morris (1:41:46 run).

Piampiano thus won her first race of 2017 to go with her runner-up finish at Ironman Asia-Pacific at Cairns.

Men

Passuello overcame a 2:13 deficit after the swim with a 2nd-best 2:06:50 bike split that brought him to within 47 seconds of bike leader Dougal Allan of New Zealand. Passuello and Allan dueled elbow to elbow for 10 kilometers of the run before Passuello eased away at the 15km mark. After a men’s-best 1:18:33 run, Passuello finished in 3:54:06 with a 1:39 margin of victory over Allan (1:20:26 run) and 5:10 over 3rd place finisher Daniil Sapunov of Ukraine (1:19:24 run).

The win was Passuello’s first in two years and the third of his career. His most recent victories were back to back 70.3s in 2015 at Putrajaya and Taiwan. He also made the podiums at South Africa (2012), Lanzarote (2013 and 2016), Los Cabos (2014), Italy (2015), and at Bintan 70.3 earlier this month.

Ironman 70.3 Qujing
Qujing, China
August 27, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 4:18:17 S 29:34 B 2:16:57 R 1:27:20
2. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:31:00 S 26:21 B 2:23:37 R 1:37:02
3. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:43:31 S 29:36 B 2:31:41 R 1:37:43
4. Kerry Morris (AUS) 4:44:13 S 30:06 B 2:28:37 R 1:41:46
5. Myriam Guillot-Boisset (FRA) 4:45:13 S 33:31 B 2:35:50 R 1:31:55

Men

1. Domenico Passuello (ITA) 3:54:06 S 26:50 B 2:05:16 R 1:18:33
2. Dougal Allan (NZL) 3:55:45 S 27:36 B 2:04:30 R 1:20:26
3. Daniil Sapunov (UKR) 3:59:16 S 24:34 B 2:11:38 R 1:19:24
4. Luke Bell (AUS) 4:01:23 S 24:48 B 2:11:35 R 1:21:40
5. Justin Metzler (USA) 4:02:59 S 24:37 B 2:11:49 R 1:23:28