Emma Bilham of Switzerland and Patrik Nilsson of Sweden won Ironman 70.3 Barcelona.

Bilham started with a 2:55 deficit after the swim, earned a 6:43 lead after her by-far women’s best 2:40:55 bike split. Bilham then held off Emma Pallant’s women’s-best 1:20:10 run with a 2nd-fastest 1:25:39 split to finish in 4:38:42 with a 2:50 margin over Pallant and 11:16 over 3rd-place finisher Bianca Steurer of Austria.

Nilsson came back from a 1:23 deficit to Maurice Clavel after the bike leg to catch and pass the German in the final 5k of the run. Nilsson finished in 4:04:55 with a 35 seconds margin of victory over Clavel and 6:27 over 3rd-place Sylvain Sudrie of France.

Women

Heather Lendway of the U.S. led the swim in 24:40, 2 seconds ahead of Carina Brechters of Germany, 1:15 ahead of Camille Donat of France, 2:55 ahead of Emma Bilham and 4:11 ahead of Emma Pallant.

Bilham seized the lead by 41km, 2:47 ahead of Brechters, 3:04 in front of Lendway, 4:48 on Donat, 6:01 ahead of Pallant and 7:29 on Bianca Steurer of Austria. By the finish of the 90km bike leg, Bilham’s women's-best 2:40:55 bike split gave her a 6:43 lead on Steurer (2:45:27 split), 7:22 on Regula Rohrbach of Switzerland, 8:13 on Lendway, and 8:22 on Pallant.

On the run, Bilham defended her lead while Pallant surged past Lendway, Rohrbach and Steurer on her way to a race-best 1:20:10 half marathon and 2nd place.

This win adds to Bilham’s 2nd place at 2016 Challenge Half Fuerteventura, 10th at 2015 Ironman 70.3 Worlds and a win at 2015 Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya.

Men

Guillem Rojas of Spain led the swim in 25:39, one second ahead of Peter Kerr of Australia, 7 seconds ahead of Mark Threlfall of Great Britain, 9 seconds head of Sylvain Sudrie of France, 10 seconds ahead of Maurice Clavel and 15 seconds ahead of Nilsson. Other prominent names included Bertrand Billard of France (+37 seconds) and Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine (+1:04).

By 41km into the bike leg, Clavel led Nilsson by 17 seconds, Sudrie by 38 seconds, Nicholas Kastelein of Australia by 46 seconds, and a quartet including Aussie Peter Kerr, Domenico Passuello of Italy, Stuart Hayes of Great Britain and Mark Threlfall of Great Britain by 3:21 to 3:32. Long term threats Alessandro Degasperi of Italy, Ritchie Nicholls of Great Britain and Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine trailed another minute further back.

After his race-best 2:22:37 bike split, Clavel led at T2 by 1:28 over Nilsson, 3:32 on Sudrie, 4:56 on Kastelein and 6:43 on Degasperi.

At the first 6km of the run, Clavel increased his lead on Nilsson to1:58 and to 4:39 on Sudrie. In the next 5km, Nilsson charged and reversed the momentum, reducing Clavel’s lead to 1:18 at 11km while Sudrie fell back to +4:54. With 5km to go, Nilsson reduced the margin to 21 seconds. In the next few kilometers, Clavel rallied and ran side by side with Nilsson. But in the final kilometer, Nilsson surged away to his race-best 1:13:08 run which brought him to the line 35 seconds ahead of Clavel (1:15:37 run) and 6:27 ahead of 3rd-place Sudrie. Zyemtsev finished 4th 1:16 behind Sudrie and 7 seconds ahead of 5th-place finisher Degasperi.

The win adds luster to the 24-year-old Swede’s fast growing résumé which includes wins at 2014 Ironman Malaysia and 2015 Ironman Kalmar as well as runner-up finishes at 2014 Ironman 70.3 Western Australia and 2015 Ironman 70.3 Mallorca.

Ironman 70.3 Barcelona
Calella, Spain
May 21, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Emma Bilham (SUI) 4:38:42
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:41:32
3. Bianca Steurer (AUT) 4:49:58
4. Verena Walter (GER) 4:53:12
5. Nikki Bartlett (GBR) 4:53:24
6. Camille Donat (FRA) 4:55:07
7. Carina Brechters (GER) 4:57:14
8. Regula Rohrbach (SUI) 5:00:25
9. Tineke Van Den Berg (NED) 5:01:39
10. Heather Lendway (USA) 5:02:43

Men

1. Patrik Nilsson (SWE) 4:04:55
2. Maurice Clavel (GER) 4:05:30
3. Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) 4:11:22
4. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 4:12:38
5. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:12:45
6. Domenico Passuello (ITA) 4:13:56
7. Milosz Sowinski (POL) 4:14:57
8. Ritchie Nichols (GBR) 4:15:11
9. Victor Del Corral (ESP) 4:16:03
10. Paulo Roberto Maciel Jr. (BRA) 4:17:07