Frederik Croneborg of Sweden, who finished 2nd at this race in 2012 and 3rd for the next three years, finally ascended to the top of the podium by coming from behind on the run at Ironman 70.3 Bintan.
Kate Bevilaqua of Australia topped amateur Claire Davis with a women's-best run to win this Indonesian half Ironman.
Men
Australian Clayton Fettell swam 22:28 to gain a 1:01 lead on fellow Aussie David Dellow, 1:59 on countryman Matthew Fox, 2:28 on Alexander Polizzi (also of Australia), and 2:31 on Fredrik Croneborg of Sweden. Australian Matt Burton was 3:50 arrears starting the bike.
On the largely flat, one loop 90km bike course which passes through villages, dense forest and coastal views, Croneborg caught four Australians – Dellow, Fettell, Polizzi and Fox – at 22km, trailed by Australian Matt Burton (+1:15) and New Zealander Cameron Brown (+1:54). After a race-best 2:05:16 bike split, Burton led at T2 by 2:35 over Fox, 2:38 over Polizzi, 2:40 over Croneborg, and 2:43 over Dellow.
On the first of three flat run laps around man-made Mogoi Bay Lake, Burton maintained a slimming 1:20 lead on Croneborg, Dellow, Fettell, Polizzi and Fox. After 14km, Croneborg whittled Burton’s lead to 9 seconds, followed by Fox (+1:22), Polizzi (+1:37) and Dellow (+4:10), while Fettell dropped out.
After a race-best 1:22:19 run in steamy heat, Croneborg finished in 3:59:28 with a 56 seconds margin of victory over Burton (3rd-best 1:25:50 run) and 2:06 over Fox (1:24:34 run).
Women
Bevilaqua led the pro women with a 26:39 swim which gave her a 6 seconds margin over Alise Selsmark and 4:29 over Amanda Wilson. Amateur Claire Davis, who started in a later wave after the pros, led by 31 seconds on elapsed time.
After 22km of the bike leg, Bevilaqua led fellow pros Selsmark by 2 minutes and Wilson by 5:41, while amateur Davis maintained her lead by elapsed time off the swim.
After a women’s 2nd-fastest 2:32:54 bike split, Bevilaqua led Wilson by 4:31 and Selsmark by 5:12, while Davis (2:32:53 bike split) maintained a 32 seconds lead on elapsed time.
On a hot and humid Indonesian day, Bevilaqua left all contenders behind with a women’s-best 1:34:40 run split that brought her to the finish in 4:37:27, with a 6:22 margin over pro runner-up Wilson (1:36:47 run), 14:22 over 3rd-place pro Selsmark (1:43:52 run), and 3:25 over top amateur Davis, who closed with a 1:38:19 run.
Bevilaqua thus topped her previous 2016 results, which included 4th places at 70.3s in Busselton and Taiwan and 3rd at Putrajaya 70.3.
Ironman 70.3 Bintan
Bintan, Indonesia
August 28, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Frederik Croneborg (SWE) 3:59:04
2. Matt Burton (AUS) 3:59:57
3. Michael Fox (AUS) 4:01:14
4. Alexander Polizzi (AUS) 4:06:05
5. David Dellow (AUS) 4:06:31
6. Cameron Brown (NZL) 4:16:51
Women
1. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:37:26
2. Claire Davis (AUS) 4:40:52 *F25-29
3. Amanda Wilson (AUS) 4:43:48
4. Alise Selsmark (AUS) 4:51:49
5. Jennifer Zenker (AUS) 5:02:44 *F30-34
6. Jemma McWiggan (AUS) 5:28:01 *F30-34
