In brutally hot conditions that led to many DNFs, Caroline Steffen of Switzerland and Cyril Viennot of France survived to win Ironman 70.3 Vietnam.
Steffen and Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic raced virtually together through the swim (23:37 and 23:25 splits) and the bike leg (2:19:04 and 2:19:22 splits) before Steffen broke away with a women’s best 1:24:52 run to take the win. Steffen finished in 4:12:18 which gave her a 3:28 margin of victory over Vodickova and placed her 6th overall including the men.
In a fierce duel, Viennot gave up 2 minutes to Australian Tim Van Berkel in the swim, took back a 4 minute lead with a race-best 2:03:27 bike split, and then minimized the loss of 2:47 to Van Berkel’s race-best 1:19:04 run to eke out a victory. Viennot finished in 3:54:09 with a 59 seconds margin over runner-up Van Berkel and 5:09 over 3rd-place finisher Luke McKenzie od Australia.
Women
Vodickova led the swim in 23:25, followed closely by Liz Blatchford of Australia (23:29), Steffen (23:37), and then after a gap of one minute Keiko Tanaka of Japan and 2 minutes later Dimity-Lee Duke of Australia. Obviously low on energy after her win at Ironman Australia a week ago, Beth finished the swim 5:31 off the lead.
Vodickova, Steffen and Blatchford led off the front on the bike leg. Then after a women's-best 2:19:04 bike split, Steffen led at T2 by 3 seconds over Vodickova, 4 seconds on Blatchford, and 4:04 on Duke. Surrendering to the heat, Gerdes withdrew.
Halfway through the run, Steffen opened a 59 seconds lead on Vodickova, 4 minutes on Blatchford, 8:26 on Duke, and 16:38 on Tanaka. After her race-best 1:24:52 run, Steffen won her 2nd Ironman 70.3 Vietnam title by 3:28 over Vodickova (1:28:22 run) and 7:28 over Blatchford (1:32:06 run).
Men
Sam Betten of Australia led the swim in 21:58, which gave him a 7 seconds lead on Luke McKenzie and Matt Franklin, 9 seconds on Ivan Kalashnikov of Russia, 11 seconds on Eric Watson of Bahrain, 12 seconds on Van Berkel, 16 seconds on Tim Reed, and 2:02 on Viennot.
McKenzie started strong and built a 2 minutes lead on Viennot. But as McKenzie started to complain of a sore back at the 80km mark, Viennot sliced the deficit to 45 seconds. At T2, Viennot caught McKenzie and led by 4 seconds. Suffering in the heat, Betten dropped out and Tim Reed, obviously tapped after racing Ironman Australia a week ago, Tim Van Berkel and Matt Franklin trailed McKenzie by 4 minutes at transition. Kalashnikov, whose last name offered a reminder of the weapon of choice by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War, trailed the leader by 13 minutes.
Halfway through the 21km run, Viennot opened a 45 seconds lead on McKenzie while Van Berkel closed to within 2:50 in 3rd place. Reed hung tough but fell 8 minutes back, and Franklin was 1 minute further arrears.
At 17km, Van Berkel overtook McKenzie for 2nd place but Viennot maintained a 1:50 lead on Van Berkel. In the final 2km, Van Berkel made up a minute on Viennot but the Frenchman’s 2nd-fastest 1:21:51 half marathon was good enough for the win. McKenzie held for 3rd with a 1:27:03 run, and then collapsed with relief at the line.
Ironman 70.3 Vietnam
Danang, Vietnam
May 8, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:12:18
2. Radka Vodickova (CZNE) 4:15:46
3. Liz Blatchford (AUS) 4:19:46
4. Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS) 4:25:37
5. Keiko Tanaka (JPN) 4:34:43
Men
1. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 34:09
2. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) 3:55:08
3. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 3:59:18
4. Tim Reed (AUS) 4:08:46
5. Ivan Kalashnikov (RUS) 4:10:46
