Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil and Valentina Carvallo of Chile won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Pucon today in Chile.
The men
Colucci, the 2010 Pucon champion and a 2012 London Olympian, finished in 4:04:12 and outsprinted Argentina-born Italian Daniel Fontana, the 2005 and 2011 Pucon champion, by 3 seconds. Chile’s Felipe Van de Wyngard took the final spot on the podium in a time of 4:08:43.
Colucci started the run with a 3-minute lead and his 3rd-fastest 1:21:07 split held on by a thread to Fontana’s race-best 1:17:30 charge on the 13.1-mile run. Felipe Van de Wyngard's 3rd-best 26:46 swim and 4th-fastest 2:16:03 bike split provided him enough cushion so that his 4th-fastest 1:22:00 run held off by 2:56 the 2nd-fastest 1:18:49 run of Marcel Zamora , who took 4th in 4:11:39.
The women
Carvallo, last year’s Pucon runner-up and 2012 Ironman 70.3 Brazil champion, won the elite women’s category in a time of 4:39:43. Sarah Piampiano of the United States, the 2012 Ironman 70.3 New Orleans champion, took second, with Federica Frontini of Uruguay third.
Carvallo led wire to wire with a race-best swim (30:44) bike split (2:28:49) and run (1:36:00) which brought her to the line with a 13 minute 53 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Piampiano and 46 minutes and 19 seconds over 3rd-place Frontini.
“There are no words to describe this,” Carvallo told Portal Elite Sports of Chile. “I am deeply touched and pleased. I suffered a lot, but this is what I like to do and I am proud of the work I have done with my technical staff. Earning a win at Pucón means more than a medal – it is putting the name of Chile in the headline of this global competition,” Of course, Carvallo means Chilean women triathletes – as the retired world famous Chilean male triathlete Cristian Bustos won at Pucon and many other international races in the 1990s.
Agrosuper Ironman 70.3 Pucon
Pucon, Chile
January 13, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Elite Men
1. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 4:04:12
2. Daniel Fontana (ITA) 4:04:15
3. Felipe Van de Wyngard (CHI) 4:08:43
4. Marcel Zamora (ESP) 4:11:39
5. Santiago Ascenco (BRA) 4:14:20
6. Mario de Elias (ARG) 4:14:45
7. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 4:15:30
8. Guilherme Manocchio (BRA) 4:16:24
9. Lucas Cocha (ARG) 4:17:36
10. Ben Hoffman (USA) 4:18:10
Elite Women
1. Valentina Carvallo (CHI) 4:39:43
2. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 4:53:36
3. Federica Frontini (URU) 5:26:02
4. Amanda Balding (AUS) 6:07:03
