Bart Aernouts and Imogen Simmonds won with swift bike splits at Ironman 70.3 Dubai.

Aernouts overcame a 3:26 deficit after the swim with a race-best 1:52:35 bike split that gave him a slim lead at T2. Aernouts then put the hammer down with a second-best 1:10:54 half marathon to finish with a Dubai 70.3 best-ever time of 3:33:45 which gave him a 1:24 margin of victory over fellow Belgian Pieter Heemeryck and 2:46 over last year’s winner and 3rd place finisher Adam Bowden of Great Britain.

Simmonds made up for a 56 seconds deficit after her women’s third-best 25:41 swim split with a women’s-best 2:07:00 bike split that gave her a 1:28 lead at T2. Simmonds sealed her victory with a women’s 2nd-best 1:21:12 run split that brought her to the line in 3:58:37 with a 6:50 margin of victory over Danielle Dingman of the U.S., who closed with a women’s-best 1:19:22 run split. Pamella Oliveira took third place, 7:54 behind the winner.

MEN

Ilia Prasolov of Russia swam 22:36 to lead a tightly packed group of eight that finished within 12 seconds including defending champ Adam Bowden of Great Britain, Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium, Jesper Svensson of Sweden and Justin Metzler of the U.S. Other notables included 2002 ITU World champion Ivan Raña of Spain (+51s), David McNamee of Great Britain (+54s), Magnus Ditlev of Denmark (+1:10) and Matt Trautman of South Africa, January winner of South Africa 70.3.

After a race-best 1:52:36 bike split, Aernouts led Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium by 1 second, Jesper Svensson of Sweden by 3 seconds, Magnus Elbaek Ditlev of Denmark by 7 seconds, Bowden by 1:14, Azevedo by 3:04, Metzler by 4:25 and Trautman by 5:16.

With a second-fastest 1:10:54 run split, Aernouts put away his nearest rivals with a 3:33:45 finish that gave him a 1:24 margin of victory over Heemeryck (1:12:19 run) and 2:46 over 3rd place Bowden (1:12:16 run). Ditlev took 4th in 3:37:40, Trautman took 5th in 3:39:27 and Andersen posted the race-fastest run of 1:08:24 to finish 6th in 3:39:36.

Aernouts posted the fastest overall time of 3:33:45, 1:03 better than the previous record set by Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway in 2016.

WOMEN

Pamella Oliveira of Brazil led the pro women swim with a 24:45 split that was 1 second faster than 2008 ITU World Champion Helen Jenkins of Great Britain, 56 seconds better than Simmonds, 2:20 better than Laura Dennis, 3:30 better than Sara Van De Vel of Belgium, 3:37 quicker than Leanne Fanoy of Netherlands, 3:57 better than Annah Watkinson of South Africa 7:24 faster than Danielle Dingman of the U.S., who was to overcome her swim with stellar bike and run splits.

Simmonds quickly erased her 56 seconds swim deficit with a women’s-best 2:07:00 bike split that gave her a 1:28 lead at T2 on Oliveira, 4:42 on Van De Vel, 4:44 on Jenkins and 8:36 on Dingman (women’s 2nd -best 2:09:16 bike split). .

After a women’s second-fastest 1:21:12 run split, Simmonds broke the tape in 3:58:37 with a 6:50 margin of victory over Dingman, who closed fast with a women’s-best 1:19:22 half marathon. Oliveira took the final spot on the podium with a 1:27:14 run split that brought her to the finish 7:54 behind the winner.

Simmonds thus broke the previous women’s race record of 4:00:04 set by Holly Lawrence last year by 1:27.

Ironman 70.3 Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
February 7, 2020
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 3:33:45 S 26:02 T1 2:09 B 1:52:35 T2 2:06 R 1:10:54
2. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) 3:35:09 S 22:47 T1 2:00 B 1:56:01 T2 2:04 R 1:12:19
3. Adam Bowden (GBR) 3:36:31 S 22:44 T1 2:07 B 1:57:10 T2 2:17 R 1:12:16
4. Magnus Elbaek Ditlev (DEN) S 24:46 T1 2:31 B 1:53:36 T2 2:08 R 1:14:40
5. Matt Trautman (RSA) 3:39:27 S 25:01 T1 2:10 B 1:58:53 T2 1:59 R 1:11:27
6. Andres Schilling Andersen (DEN) 3:39:36 S 23:25 T1 2:08 B 2:03:33 T2 2:08 R 1:08:24
7. Justin Metzler (USA) 3:40:34 S 23:19 T1 2:10 B 1:59:43 T2 2:13 R 1:13:10

Women

1. Imogen Simmonds (SUI) 3:58:37 S 25:41 T1 2:34 B 2:07:00 T2 2:12 R 1:21:12
2. Danielle Dingman (USA) 4:05:27 S 32:10T1 2:26 B 2:09:15 T2 2:14 R 1:19:22
3. Pamella Oliveira (BRA) 4:06:32 S 24:45 T1 2:34 B 2:09:25 T2 2:36 R 1:27:14
4. Helen Jenkins (GBR) 4:08:02 S 24:46 T1 2:32 B 2:14:41 T2 2:13 R 1:25:52
5. Leanne Fanoy (NED) 4:10:23 S 28:22 T1 2:44 B 2:14:00 T2 2:43 R 1:22:36
6. Annah Watkinson (RSA) 4:12:20 S 28:43 T1 2:43 B 2:14:41 T2 2:30 R 1:23:45
7. Sara Van De Vel (BEL) 4:13:28 S 27:49 T1 2:35 B 2:09:34 T2 2:04 R 1:31:28