Viktor Zyemtsev win Ironman 70.3 Princeton in a sprint finish over Jesse Thomas. Heather Jackson was first into T2 and pulled away from there to take the women's title.
Drew Scott rode very well on the bike and reached T2 with a 3:45 advantage over Jesse Thomas, Viktor Zyemtsev and Jordan Rapp - and then there was a bit of daylight.
Zyemtsev and Thomas looked strong and pulled away from Rapp in pursuit of the lone leader. They quickly made up time and by the 5-mile marker the 2 chasers hat Scott in their sight. Thomas and Zyemtsev moved past him shortly after then ran side-by-side all the way to the finish line straight. The desperate sprint for the tape was then won by the experienced Zyemtsev with a razor thin margin over Thomas. Rapp also caught and went past Scott to take the final podium spot.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose to a fast Ukrainian by .43 seconds," posted Jesse Thomas on Facebook. "Obviously never fun to be on the opposite end of a sprint finish, but I gave it my all today. Viktor raced well and had just enough to hold me off. "
Alice Henriques was first out of the water in the women's race with a 4 second lead over Lauren Goss and 1:49 minutes ahead of Darbi Roberts. Heather Jackson who along with Goss was considerate a race favorite, was fourth out of the water 3:03 later, but quick transition by Goss and Jackson meant Goss on the bike first with Jackson now 2:37 behind her, and Henriques and Roberts in between.
Jackson moved past Roberts and Henriques and steadily gained on Goss. At the 32-mile mark the lead of Goss was down to 1:05, and Roberts and Henriques were now around 5 minutes back. Jackson took the lead not much later and pulled away for good.
Jackson started the run with a 2:23 advantage and then maintained that edge in the first half of the run. Towards the end however Jackson had more left and started to gain more time on Goss. Jackson grabbed the win in 4:20:55 and Goss was second 3:22 later. Roberts held on to her third place position all the way to the finish.
Ironman 70.3 Princeton
Princeton, NJ / September 20, 2014
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 3:54:37
2. Jesse Thomas (USA) 3:54:37
3. Jordan Rapp (USA) 3:56:10
4. Drew Scott (USA) 4:00:26
5. Callum Millward (NZL) 4:00:39
Top women
1. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:20:55
2. Lauren Goss (USA) 4:24:16
3. Darbi Roberts (USA) 4:37:19
4. Jessica Chong (USA) 4:40:05
5. Alice Henriques (USA) 4:45:02
