Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. led wire-to-wire while Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil had to battle through a sprint finish to win at Ironman 70.3 Ecuador.

Withrow followed her breakthrough victory at Victoria 70.3 with a dominating win at Manta, Ecuador by a 9:31 margin over Diana Castillo of Colombia.

Reinaldo Colucci, a 2012 Olympian from Brazil, held off a furious come-from-behind run by Carlos Javier Quinchara Forero of Colombia to take the win at Ecuador 70.3 by a 2 seconds margin. Colucci finally hit his stride in 2017 after 4th place finishes at Ironman Brazil and at Buenos Aires 70.3.

Women

Withrow set the tone for the women’s race with a 26:21 swim which gave her an 8 seconds lead on Diane Castillo of Colombia, 3 minutes on Elizabeth Bravo of Ecuador, 3:48 on Pamela Tastets of Chile, and 8:18 on Lotty Harari of Panama.

After a women's-best 2:28:2 bike split which was 6:29 faster than the next best women's effort by Lotty Harari, Withrow arrived in T2 with a 10:05 lead on Castillo, 14:14 on Tastets, 15:27 on Harari, and 21:34 on Bravo.

After a women’s 3rd-fastest run of 1:28:39, Withrow finished in 4:26:11 with a 9:31 margin of victory over Castillo (1:28:03 run) and 16:16 on Tastets (1:30:35 run). Harari (1:31:22 run) finished 4th, 18:34 behind the winner and Bravo (1:28:14 run) finished 5th, 2:37 behind Harari.

Men

Forero led the swim in 24:59, which gave him a 20 seconds lead on Colucci, 21 seconds on Paul Matthews of Australia, 23 seconds on Brazilians Igor Amorelli and Fernando Toldi, 45 seconds on Thiago Vinhal of Brazil, 47 seconds on Michael Poole of the U.S., and 2:34 and 2:43 on Cody Beals of Canada and Patrick Evoe of the U.S.

Halfway through the 90 kilometer bike leg, Forero led a pack of four men including Colucci, Toldi and Matthews bunched within 10 seconds. Beals and Evoe trailed by 4 minutes.

After a tied-for-fastest bike leg, Colucci held a 4 seconds lead on Toldi, 1:02 on Forero, 1:30 on Matthews, 4:05 on Evoe, and 4:37 on Beals.

After 10.5km of the run, Forero advanced to within 10 seconds of Colucci with Toldi 1:05 back and Matthews 3:16 arrears. At 15km, Colucci and Forero were running together and would stay close through the finish carpet.

After a finish line sprint that brought him to the line in 3:53:07 with a 2 seconds margin of victory over Forero, Colucci’s second–best 1:16:29 run proved just enough to relegate Carlos Javier Quinchara Forero and his race-best 1:15:30 run to second place.

Ironman 70.3 Ecuador
Manta, Ecuador
July 30, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Pro Women

1. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:26:11 S 26:21 B 2:28:22 R 1:28:39
2. Diana Castillo (COL) 4:35:42 S 26:29 B 2:38:29 R 1:28:03
3. Pamela Tastets (CHL) 4:42:26 S 30:08 B 2:38:48 R 1:30:35
4. Lotty Harari (PAN) 4:44:45 S 34:38 B 2:34:51 R 1:31:22
5. Elizabeth Bravo (ECU) 4:47:21 S 29:20 B 2:47:12 R 1:28:14

Pro Men

1. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 3:53:07 S 25:19 B 2:09:11 R 1:16:29
2. Carlos Javier Quinchara Forero (COL) 3:53:09 S 24:59 B 2:10:40 R 1:15:30
3. Fernando Toldi (BRA) 3:56:38 S 25:22 B 2:09:11 R 1:19:58
4. Paul Matthews (AUS) 3:58:17 S 25:20 B 2:10:43 R 1:20:13
5. Patrick Evoe (USA) 4:00:05 S 27:42 B 2:10:30 R 1:19:16
6. Cody Beals (CAN) 4:01:47 S 27:33 B 2:11:27 R 1:20:33
7. David Guete (COL) 4:05:06 S 26:34 B 2:17:42 R 1:18:15
8. Thiago Vinhal (BRA) 4:09:43 S 25:44 B 2:21:18 R 1:20:12
9. Michael Poole (USA) 4:15:33 S 25:45 B 2:21:31 R 1:26:11
10. Giovanny Marmol (ECU) 4:18:40 S 28:51 B 2:24:49 R 1:22:15