Haley Chura of the U.S. and Santiago Ascenco of Brazil topped the elite fields by just under a 7 minutes margin at the scenic Patagonian setting of Ironman 70.3 Bariloche.

With a slight interruption within the bike leg, Chura won wire-to-wire with a women’s-best swim split (25:32), women’s third-best bike split (2:42:35) and women's-best run split (1:23:13) to finish in 4:34:32 with a 6:55 margin of victory over home country favorite Romina Palacio of Argentina and 10:50 over 3rd place finisher Kelsey Withrow of the U.S.

Ascenco overcame a 42 seconds deficit after a 5th-best 26:28 swim with a dominating 2:14:19 bike split and a 3rd-fastest 1:18:31 half marathon to finish in 4:02:20 with a 6:54 margin of victory over Tim Rea of Australia and 8 minutes flat over 3rd place finisher Justin Metzler of the U.S.

Women

Chura opened with a 25:32 swim which gave her a 1:17 lead over Withrow, 1:19 over Palacio and Pamella Oliveira of Brazil, and 4:51 over Luiza Cravo of Brazil.

Halfway through the 90-kilometer bike leg, Brazilian veteran Oliveira charged into a 1:32 lead on Chura, 1:36 on Withrow and 1:41 on Palacio. After a women’s 3rd best 2:42:35 bike split, Chura entered T2 with a 33 seconds lead on Oliveira, 1:19 on Withrow and 2:23 on Palacio , while Caroline Coble of the U.S. made up a lot of ground after her 38:14 swim with a women's-best 2:41:18 bike split.

After 6km of the run, Chura was pulling away to a 3:24 to 4:11 lead on Withrow, Palacio and Oliveira. Unfortunately, Oliveira fell off the results nearing the end of the run.

After a women’s-best 1:23:13 half marathon, Chura hit the finish line in 4:34:32 with a 6:55 margin of victory over Palacio and 10:50 over Withrow.

Men

Justin Metzler of the U.S. led the pro men’s swim wave with a 25:47 split – 15 seconds slower than women’s leader Chura – which gave him an 18 seconds lead over Thiago Vinhal of Brazil, 38 seconds ahead of Tim Rea of Australia, 40 seconds over Andre Lopes of Brazil, 40 seconds ahead of Ascenco and 1:48 over Kennett Peterson of the U.S.

Halfway through the 90-kilometer bike leg, Ascenco assumed a commanding 1:55 lead on Peterson, 3:08 on Rea, 4:00 on Metzler and 6:12 on Lopes.

After a dominating 2:14:19 bike split, Ascenco led into T2 by 3:57 over Peterson, 6:45 over Rea, 9:38 over Metzler and 12:20 over Lopes.

Ascenco continued to pull away halfway through the run, carving out a 7:04 margin on Rea, 8:03 on Metzler and 8:51 on Peterson. After a 3rd-best 1:18:31 half marathon, Ascenco crossed the line in 4:02:20 with a 6:55 margin of victory over Rea (1:18:09 run) and 8 minutes on Metzler (race-best 1:17:00 run).

Ironman 70.3 Bariloche
Bariloche, Argentina
March 10, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Haley Chura (USA) 4:34:32 S 25:32 T1 1:16 B 2:42:35 T2 1:58 R 1:23:13
2. Romina Palacio (ARG) 4:41:27 S 26:51 T1 1:17 B 2:43:46 T2 2:13 R 1:27:22
3. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:45:22 S 26:48 T1 1:42 B 2:42:11 T2 2:03 R 1:32:40
4. Luiza Cravo (BRA) 4:47:31 S 30:22 T1 1:51 B 2:47:39 T2 2:28 R 1:25:13
5. Carolina Coble (USA) 4:56:49 S 38:14 T1 3:19 B 2:41:18 T2 2:56 R 1:31:05

Men

1. Santiago Ascenco (BRA) 4:02:20 S 26:28 T1 1:38 B 2:14:19 T2 1:26 R 1:18:31
2. Tim Rea (AUS) 4:09:14 S 26:24 T1 1:37 B 2:21:09 T2 1:57 R 1:18:09
3. Justin Metzler (USA) 4:10:20 S 25:47 T1 1:05 B 2:25:12 T2 1:19 R 1:17:00
4. Kennett Peterson (USA) 4:14:46 S 27:34 T1 1:28 B 2:17:19 T2 1:38 R 1:26:48
5. Andre Lopes (BRA) 4:17:25 S 26:26 T1 1:37 B 2:26:42 T2 1:40 R 1:21:01