We Noticed: Lisa Perterer and Arthur Horseau Dominate in Cozumel, GTB Sizzles in Laguna Phuket and More

Lisa Perterer finishes fifth at the IRONMAN World Championship. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Lisa Perterer didn’t quite go wire to wire to take the win at IRONMAN Cozumel, but it was close enough. The Austrian took her first full-distance title on the same island she claimed her first 70.3 win last year. Perterer followed that win at IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel with a runner-up finish to Anne Reischmann last year, but made sure things weren’t ever close this time around. She was just a second behind Colombia’s Diana Castillo Franco out of the water, then had the day’s fastest bike split (4:29:20) to pull well clear of the field to start the run. She crossed the line in 8:29:29, well ahead of Sweden’s Sara Svensk (8:50:44) and Poland’s Marta Lagownik, who had the day’s fastest marathon (3:01:19) and finished in 8:53:12.

The only time Perterer hasn’t finished on the podium at a full-distance race was in Kona last month – she made her debut with that runner-up finish in Cozumel last year, took third at Texas in April then took second in Lake Placid in July.

After coming out of the water eight-minutes behind the leaders, France’s Arthur Horseau managed to bike and run his way to his second IRONMAN title on the weekend in Cozumel. Switzerland’s Sven Thalmann led the way out of the water and managed to stay in front for roughly the first half of the flat and fast bike course, but Horseau was able to gradually claw his way up to the front of the field by T2, leading the way onto the run course alongside Brazil’s Fernando Toldi. Horseau’s countryman Damien Le Mesnager managed to overcome his 1:20 deficit off the bike to move to the front of the race, but Horseau would retake the lead and steadily pull away to take the win in 7:48:18. Israel’s Almog Elazary would use the day’s fastest run (2:46:24) to run his way to second (7:52:38) in an exciting sprint to the line that saw him beat Sweden’s Sebastian Norberg (7:52:52) by just 14 seconds.

The race marks a big comeback for Horseau, the IRONMAN Lanzarote champion from 2023 who had to pull out of Kona last year due to injury. He struggled with that injury and other issues throughout the year.

“A few months ago, I wrote that I didn’t know when I’d be racing again,” he posted on Instagram. “I had just gone through a tough time – injury, loss of support, doubts … and that feeling that everything was falling apart, little by little.”

Horseau managed to overcome all those challenges with a huge win and a chance to get back to Kona again next year.

Full results are available here.

Thailand’s Bucket-List Destination Race

It all began in 1994 when International Management Group (IMG) was asked to come up with an event to showcase the Laguna Phuket Resort to the world. Murphy Reinschreiber, who, at the time, managed many of the biggest names in triathlon (including Paula Newby-Fraser and Greg Welch) was hired to help create the race that quickly became dubbed the “Race of Legends.” The made-for-television Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) is the longest-running triathlon in Asia. It includes a 1.8 km swim that starts in the Adaman Sea, then features a run across a beach before another short swim across a lagoon, a challenging 50 km bike that includes a couple of 18%-grade climbs, and then a 12 km run through the resort. It’s Thailand, which means the temperatures are always high, as is the humidity.

Diving into the lagoon for the second part of the swim during the 25th anniversary of the race.

For a long time the LPT would be the final race of the season, a chance for athletes to enjoy the spectacular destination and a huge party after the race. Over the years the list of champions has been impressive: the aforementioned Newby-Fraser, Michellie Jones, Mike Pigg, Karen Smyers, Simon Lessing, Craig Alexander, Jan Frodeno, Melissa Hauschildt, Michael Raelert and, more recently Hayden Wilde, Imogen Simmonds and Kate Waugh.

The race takes place at the spectacular Laguna Phuket Resort, which features a number of high-end hotels and an incredible beach, making it a wonderful destination whether there is a triathlon there or not.

This year’s race, the 31st edition of the race, was won by Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and New Zealand’s Tayler Reid. Taylor-Brown’s “down year” has seen some impressive racing, including a fourth-place finish at the 70.3 worlds, and the Tokyo silver medalist had an impressive day at the LPT, finishing seventh overall in a time of 2:27:57. New Zealand’s Nicole van der Kaay took second in 2:35:26, with France’s Justine Guerard rounding out the podium in 2:38:45.

Reid (2:12:39) got the line just 14 seconds ahead of Aussie Josh Ferris (2:12:53). Those two were well-ahed of the third-place finisher, Azerbaijan’s Rostislav Pevtsov (2:19:07).

You can see the full results here.

A Couple More Retirements

Chris Leiferman on the bike at the IRONMAN World Championship Nice. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

American Chris Leifermann announced his retirement from pro racing a few days ago. We caught up with the father of two before he raced in Nice this year, but weren’t aware that would be his final pro race.. Fourth at the IRONMAN World Championship in St. George in 2022, Leiferman crashed at the 2023 world champs in Nice, then took 36th there this year. Over his long career Leiferman took five IRONMAN titles (Mont Tremblant in 2016, Boulder and Louisville in 2018, Florida in 2020 and Couer d’Alene in 2023).

Bart Aernouts on the bike in Nice. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

I also wanted to acknowledge that Belgian Bart Aernouts finished up his pro career after his races at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, finishing 35th at both races. The runner-up in Kona in 2018 got his start in multisport as a duathlete – he was the 2010 duathlon world champion. During his long and successful career he won Challenge Roth (2017) and took IRONMAN titles in Nice (2014), Lanzarote (2017), Hamburg (2018) and Cozumel (2024).

Both Leiferman and Aernouts raced for many years on the BMC squad, and both were class acts who were always great to interview no matter how they had finished. We’ll look forward to following them in whatever endeavours they have lined up for the future.

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