This week’s tri and du encounters included Aussie and Czech winners at a 70.3, Spanish and British World Champion duathletes, Czech Republic and Spanish first place finishers at a Challenge half, and Ukrainian and Portuguese victors at a World Cup.

Tim Reed, Radka Vodickova win Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie

Australian Tim Reed ran away from the men’s field with the fastest run split, and Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic fought off a charge by Australian Andrea Forrest to defend her 2014 crown, at Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie.

Men

Two-time defending champion Josh Amberger of Australia exited the swim with compatriots Clayton Fettell and Jake Montgomery in 20:01, earning a 45-seconds lead on Aussie Todd Skipworth and 48 seconds on pre-race favorite Tim Reed of Australia and Graham O’Grady of New Zealand. Amberger then played his trump card, a sizzling 2:10:29 bike split that gave him a 3-minute lead on Reed and Mike Phillips of New Zealand. By 3km of the run, Reed shaved Amberger's lead by a minute and by 8km he took the lead.

“I know Josh had a few injuries this year,” said Reed. “And I thought I’d run hard and he came back to me within 8km and I thought, ‘You beauty.’”

Reed posted a race-best 1:14:31 run to finish in 3:50:34 with a 4:27 margin of victory over Kiwi Mike Phillips and 4:29 over 3rd-place finisher O’Grady. Skipworth took 4th, Montgomery 5th, and Amberger faded late in the run to take 6th.

Women

Coming off a 3rd-place finish at Sunshine Coast, Vodickova led the swim in 22:44. This gave her a 57-seconds lead on Australian Andrea Forrest, 2 minutes on fellow Aussie Kym Coogan, and 2 and a half minutes on a pack that included Anna Russell and Michelle Bremer of New Zealand and Jessica Fleming of Australia.

Vodickova increased her lead early on the bike leg, but Forrest made a late counterattack that gave her a 17-seconds lead at T2. Vodickova then worked hard and caught Forrest late in the run. Vodickova’s women's–best 1:25:29 brought her to the finish in 4:26:39, with a 1:16 margin on Forrest (1:27:09 run) and 8:23 on 3rd-place finisher Anna Russell.

Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie, Australia
October 18, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:50:34
2. Mike Phillips (NZL) 3:55:01
3. Graham O’Grady (NZL) 3:55:03
4. Todd Skipworth (AUS) 3:55:33
5. Jake Montgomery (AUS) 3:56:36

Women

1. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:26:39
2. Andrea Forrest (AUS) 4:27:55
3. Anna Russell (NZL) 4:35:41
4. Michelle Bremer (NZL) 4:38:05
5. Jessica Fleming (AUS) 4:38:26

Emelio Martin and Emma Pallant win ITU Duathlon Worlds

Emelio Martin of Spain and Emma Pallant of Great Britain won the elite titles at the ITU Duathlon World Championship in Adelaide, while Matthew McElroy of the U.S. won the Under 23 men’s gold with a strong opening 10k run that put him in the lead pack of elite men.

Elite Men

Benoit Nicolas of France led the opening 10km run leg in 31:02, followed closely by 2012 ITU Duathlon World Champion Martin, Mark Buckingham of Great Britain, and Under 23 contender Matthew McElroy of the U.S. - all in 31:03.

Martin then seized the lead with a 2nd-best 59:00 bike split that gave him a 45 seconds lead on former champion Rob Woestenborghs of Belgium (race-best 58:45 bike split), 1 minute on Buckingham, and 1:12 on Nicolas. Martin defended his lead with a 6th-best 16:30 5k run that brought him to the line in 1:47:11. This gave him an 8-seconds margin on Nicolas, who closed fast with a by-far race-best 15:28 run, 58 seconds on Buckingham (16:18 run), and 1:24 on former champion Woestenborghs, who declared he was retiring.

“It is very important to win here because three years ago I won and last year I came 3rd,” said Martin. “This year I took a chance and I won. I am very happy to win this championship for Spain.”

Matthew McElroy took 6th against the elite men. His finish time of 1:49:39 won the Under 23 gold – 49 seconds ahead of runner-up Dylan Evans of Australia and 1:10 ahead of 3rd-place finisher Adam Rudgley of Australia.

McElroy is the next highly promising top U.S. high school and college runner to enter the triathlon and duathlon ranks. He ran 8:56 for 3200 meters in high school, and this year ran 13:51 for 5,000 meters and 28:36 for 10,000 meters on the track for Northern Arizona. In 2014, he ran just 4 seconds behind Alistair Brownlee’s 28:32 at a special meet at Stanford.

Elite Women

Former track star Emma Pallant of Great Britain led the opening 10k run in 34:49, which gave her a one second lead on Ai Ueda of Japan and Sandra Levenez of France. The trio stayed close together and out front on the 40km bike leg, as Pallant led into transition with a women's 2nd–best 1:05:51 split with Ueda and Levenez just one second slower. Hard-riding Gillian Backhouse of Australia erased her 1:24 deficit after the first run with a race-best 1:04:28 bike leg, making the leading trio a quartet.

Pallant then erased all doubts on the final 5k run leg. Her women's-best 16:69 run split brought her to the finish in 1:58:21 with a 30 seconds margin on Ueda, 1:03 on 3rd-place finisher Levenez, and 1:46 on 4th-place Backhouse. Chelsea Burns of the U.S. took 5th, 2:59 back of the winner.

Anneliese Jefferies of Australia took the women's Under 23 gold in 2:05:50, 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Giorgia Priarone of Italy and 11:32 ahead of 3rd-place Yukino Ando of Japan.

ITU Duathlon World Championship
Adelaide, Australia
October 17, 2015
R 10k / B 40k / R 5k

Elite Men

1. Emelio Martin (ESP) 1:47:11
2. Benoit Nicolas (FRA) 1:47:10
3. Mark Buckingham (GBR) 1:48:09
4. Rob Woestenborghs (BEL) 1:48:35
5. Yohan Le Berre (FRA) 1:48:47
6. Matthew McElroy (USA) 1:49:39 * 1st Under 23

Elite Women

1. Emma Pallant (GBR) 1:58:21
2. Ai Ueda (JPN) 1:58:51
3. Sandra Levenez (FRA) 1:59:24
4. Gillian Backhouse (AUS) 2:00:07
5. Chelsea Burns (USA) 2:01:20

Under 23 Men

1. Matthew McElroy (USA) 1:49:39
2. Dylan Evans (AUS) 1:50:28
3. Adam Rudgley (AUS) 1:50:49
4. David Nuñez (MEX) 1:51:41
5. Yuto Nemoto (JPN) 1:53:18

Under 23 Women

1. Annaliese Jefferies (AUS) 2:05:50
2. Giorgia Priarone (ITA) 2:06:20
3. Yukino Ando (JPN) 2:17:22

Filip Ospaly and Sara Loehr Muñoz win Challenge Paguera Mallorca

Filip Ospaly of the Czech Republic outran Miguel Fidalgo of Spain for the men’s win, and Sara Loehr Muñoz of Spain’s swim and bike trumped Danish competitor Maja Nielsen’s women's–best run to take the women's title, at the half distance Challenge Paguera Mallorca.

Men

Pre-race speculation regarding 2015 ITU World Triathlon Series runner-up Mario Mola’s middle distance debut turned into excitement as Mola led the swim in 24:03, followed closely by Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium (24:06), Ospaly (24:14), and Giulio Molinari of Italy (24:16). Molinari and Mola led the bike, riding together until Mola’s tire suffered a puncture and the short course champion withdrew. After a race-best 2:13:10 bike split, Molinari arrived at T2 with a 4-minute lead over Ospaly, Fidalgo, Marcel Zamora Perez of Spain, and Heemeryck.

Molinari led the first few kilometers of the run, but his sizzling bike split left him out of energy and he surrendered the lead to Ospaly at the 8km mark. Ospaly surged ahead with a 2nd-best 1:16:32 run split that brought him to the finish in 4:03:26 with an 18 seconds margin on Mallorca’s home town favorite Fidalgo (1:16:58 run) and 1:03 on 3rd-place finisher Zamora Perez (1:17:46 run).

Women

Catherine Jameson of Great Britain led the swim in 25:08 and added to her lead on the bike, entering T2 with a 5 minutes lead on Verena Walter of Germany, Loehr Muñoz.

Jameson led the first 7km of the run, whereupon she was overtaken by Spanish middle distance triathlon champion Loehr Muñoz. Muñoz closed with a women’s 2nd-best 1:25:26 run which brought her to the finish in 4:37:00. Maja Nielsen of Denmark closed with a women's-best 1:24:41 run split which brought her home 2nd, 2:05 behind the winner. Walter took 3rd, 1:11 behind Nielsen.

Challenge Paguera Mallorca
Mallorca, Spain
October 17, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 4:03:26
2. Miguel Angel Fidalgo (ESP) 4:03:44
3. Marcel Zamora Perez (ESP) 4:04:29
4. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) 4:04:55
5. Kenneth Vandendriessche (BEL) 4:07:37

Women

1. Sara Loehr Muñoz (ESP) 4:37:00
2. Maja Nielsen (DEN) 4:39:05
3. Verena Walter (GER) 4:40:16
4. Marleen Honkoop (NED) 4:42:10
5. Anna Noguera (ESP) 4:43:00

Yuliya Yelistratova and Joao Pereira win Alanya World Cup

Yuliya Yelistratova of Ukraine out-biked and outran Summer Cook of the U.S. on Saturday for the women’s title, and Joao Pereira of Portugal outran Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway on Sunday for the men’s gold, at the Alanya ITU World Cup in Turkey.

Women

Yelistratova claimed her second World Cup victory with a 1:59:32 finish, which gave her a 20-seconds margin over Cook and 33 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Maria Casillas Garcia of Spain.

“I’m really excited, my second (World Cup) gold and I’m very happy,” said Yelistratova, who won her first World Cup in 2010.

Cook led the swim in 19:51, followed closely by Carolina Routier of Spain, Lizeth Rueda Santos of Mexico, and Anastasia Abrosimova of Russia – earning a 15 seconds gap starting the bike. That lead was quickly erased by a large pack of women contenders. Most impressive was Casillas, who erased a minute deficit after the swim with a race-best 1:01:49 bike split. Yelistratova, who biked a tied-for-5th-best 1:01:54 split, took immediate charge on the run and closed with a women's-best 35:41 run split which brought her to the line in 1:59:32. This gave her a 30 seconds margin over Cook, who closed with a women's second-fastest 35:43 run. Casillas Garcia ran a women's 3rd-best 35:58 to take 3rd overall, 33 seconds behind Yelistratova, joining Cook as a first-time World Cup podium finisher.

Men

ITU World Triathlon Series veteran star Joao Pereira of Portugal broke away from a duel with Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway with a race-best run to win the men’s title on Sunday at the ITU World Cup in Alanya, Turkey.

Brothers Dmitry and Igor Polyanskiy of Russia opened up a 45 seconds lead on the swim, then gave up their advantage to a large chase pack on the bike including Pereira, Blummenfelt, Kyle Jones of Canada, Nan Oliveras of Spain, Gonzalo Tellechea of Argentina, Matthew Sharp of Great Britain, and Simon Viain of France.

Pereira, one of the fastest runners on the WTS circuit, took charge on the run and closed with a race-best 31:36 10k run split which brought him to the line in 1:45:10 with an 11 seconds margin on Blummenfelt (3rd-best 31:45 run) and 17 seconds on 3rd-place finisher Kyle Jones of Canada (2nd-best 31:42 run).

“I’m very happy I finished in the first position,” said Pereira. “I didn't do well in the swimming, but I don't know why. In the bike I pushed to get back in the front. That second group really worked together to get up on the first group, which was really important for me. On the running, I went easy for two laps and the last one at full speed.”

Alanya ITU World Cup
Alanya, Turkey
October 17-18, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Elite Women

1. Yuliya Yelistratova (UKR) 1:59:32
2. Summer Cook (USA) 1:59:52
3. Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP) 2:00:05
4. Alexandra Razarenova (RUS) 2:00:20
5. Audrey Merle (FRA) 2:00:30
18. Erin Dolan (USA) 2:01:50

Elite men

1. Joao Pereira (POR) 1:45:10
2. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 1:45:21
3. Kyle Jones (CAN) 1:45:27
4. Nan Oliveras (ESP) 1:45:31
5. Gonzalo Tellechea (ARG) 1:45:41
40. Kevin McDowell (USA) 1:49:01