Andy Potts prevailed after a crowded battle of former champions on the run and Holly Lawrence dominated with women’s-best bike and run splits at Ironman 70.3 Vineman.

Men

Potts emerged from the swim in an uncharacteristic 8th place and advanced to 5th place with a 5th-best bike split that left him 1:34 down on leader Terenzo Bozzone. Potts then fought off a challenges from three former Vineman 70.3 winners – Tim Reed, Craig Alexander and Sam Appleton - with a race-best 1:12:13 run to finish in 3:48:09 with a 37 seconds margin of victory over Tim Reed (1:12:35 run) and 1:08 over 3rd-place finisher Craig Alexander (1:13:21 run).

Sam Appleton took 4th, 56 seconds behind Alexander and Bozzone finished 5th, 1:34 behind Appleton.

Women

Holly Lawrence of Great Britain came to Vineman 70.3 on a tear in which she scored a 4th at Oceanside 70.3, a 2nd at St. George 70.3 and a win at Escape From Alcatraz. Lawrence emerged from the up current and back Russian River swim 24 seconds behind swim leader Lauren Brandon and rode with Brandon before taking the lead at Mile 28.

By the finish of the 56-mile bike leg with 2,000 feet of climbing, Lawrence posted the women's-best 2:20:07 split which gave her a 1:44 lead on Brandon (2:22:03 bike split), 6:25 lead on Caroline Steffen of Switzerland (2:24:13 bike split)and 9:01 on Canadian Rachel McBride (2:24:50 bike split).

After 7 miles of the run, Lawrence led Steffen by 7:39 and Brandon by 8:14. After her women's-best 1:21:56 run, Lawrence finished in 4:09:40 with an 8:08 margin over runner-up Steffen (1:23:30 run) and 13:17 over 3rd-place Brandon (1:33:24 run). Brandon edged 4th-place Spieldenner (1:23:56 run) by 2 seconds.

Ironman 70.3 Vineman
Windsor, California
July 10, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:48:09
2. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:48:46
3. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:49:17
4. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:50:13
5. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:51:47
6. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:53:18
7. Jake Montgomery (AUS) 3:57:36
8. Matt Lieto (USA) 4:00:21
9. Justin Park (USA) 4:00:49
10. Steve Mantell (USA) 4:01:58

Women

1. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 4:09:40
2. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:17:48
3. Lauren Brandon (USA) 4:22:57
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:22:59
5. Emily Cocks (USA) 4:26:28
6. Rachel McBride (CAN) 4:27:36
7. Robin Pomeroy (USA) 4:28:43
8. Jodie Robertson (USA) 4:29:09
9. Annah Watkinson (RSA) 4:29:52
10. Christine Hammond (USA) 4:30:53