Javier Gomez of Spain and Emma Pallant of Great Britain win the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Barcelona.
Five-time ITU Olympic distance World Champion and two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Javier Gomez combined a race-best 22:31 swim, a second-fastest 2:25:26 bike split and a second-quickest 1:10:05 half marathon to finish in 4:01:39 with a 3:07 margin of victory over David McNamee of Great Britain and 5:01 over 3rd-place finisher Bart Aernouts of Belgium.
Gomez led McNamee, the 3rd place finisher at the 2017 Ironman World Championship, by 16 seconds after the swim, by 41 seconds after the bike leg, and outran his Scottish rival by 2:24 to take the top step on the podium.
Pallant, a two-time ITU duathlon World Champion, overcame a 2:01 deficit after the swim with a women’s best 2:41:08 bike split that reduced her deficit to 1:02. Pallant closed with a women’s-fastest 1:20:50 run to finish in 4:32:54 with a 6:10 margin of victory over fellow Brit Fenella Langridge and 6:35 over 3rd place finisher Eva Wutti of Austria.
Men
Gomez led the pro men’s swim wave with a 22:31 split that was 1 second ahead of Adam Bowden of Great Britain, 16 seconds ahead of McNamee, 1:03 ahead of Elliot Sakes, 1:04 ahead of Eric Watson, 1:06 ahead of Etienne Diemunsch of France, and 1:13 ahead of Andreas Giglmayr of Austria.
After 41 kilometers of the hilly and demanding bike leg, Gomez held a 1:59 lead on McNamee and 2:02 to 2:05 margin on Aernouts, Diemunsch and Smales, with Bowden trailing by 3:21 in 6th place.
At T2, Gomez held a 38 seconds lead on Aernouts, who closed hard with a race-best 2:22:05 bike split that was 3:21 quicker than the Spaniard, 41 seconds on McNamee (2:25:43 split), and 4:18 to 4:20 on a trio that included Arnaud Giloux of France, Milan Brons of the Netherlands and Diemunsch. Back in 10th, 6:38 arrears, was the dangerously swift runner Bowden.
Never challenged, Gomez cruised to the win with a second-fastest 1:10:08 run that gave him a 3:07 margin over runner-up McNamee (1:12:32 run) and 5:01 over 3rd place Aernouts (1:14:29 run). Diemunsch took 4th with a 1:12:46 run and Bowden advanced to 5th with a race-best 1:10:05 half marathon
Women
Sweden’s Annie Thoren led the pro women's swim wave with a 25:10 split that gave her a 3 seconds lead on Fenella Langridge, 4 seconds on Camilla Pedersen of Denmark, 1:19 on Milly Supple, 2:01on Pallant and Agnieszka, and 2:04 on Eva Wutti of Austria.
By 41km, Langridge led by 26 seconds on Pallant, 32 seconds on Pedersen, 4:16 on Jerzyk, 4:44 on Thoren, and 4:49 on Wutti. At the end of the 90km bike leg, first pack swimmer Pedersen led the women into T2 after a second-best 2:41:55 bike split that gave her a 1:02 lead on Pallant (2:41:08 bike split), 1:09 on Langridge, 6:45 on Thoren,7:10 on Wutti, and 7:19 on Jerzyk.
After 1.5km of the run, Pallant rocketed into first place by 31 seconds on Pedersen and 41 seconds on Langridge. After a women’s-fastest 1:20:50 run, Pallant defended her 2017 Barcelona title with a 4:32:54 time which gave her a 6:10 margin on Langridge (1:26:35 run) and 6:35 on Wutti (1:20:51 run).
Ironman 70.3 Barcelona
Calella, Spain
May 20, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 4:01:39 S 22:31 T2 1:56 B 2:25:26 T2 1:41 R 1:10:08
2. David McNamee (GBR) 4:04:46 S 22:47 T1 2:04 B 2:25:43 T2 1:42 R 1:12:32
3. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 4:06:40 S 26:07 T1 2:18 B 2:22:05 T2 1:42 R 1:14:29
4. Etienne Diemunsch (FRA) 4:08:33 S 23:37 T1 2:02 B 2:28:32 T2 1:36 R 1:12:46
5. Adam Bowden (GBR) 4:08:53 S 22:32 T1 2:13 B 2:31:44 T2 2:22 R 1:10:05
Women
1. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:32:54 S 27:11 T1 2:04 B 2:41:08 T2 1:43 R 1:20:50
2. Fenella Langridge (GBR) 4:39:04 S 25:13 T1 2:12 B 2:43:05 T2 2:01 R 1:26:35
3. Eva Wutti (AUT) 4:39:29 S 27:14 T1 2:46 B 2:46:30 T2 2:10 R 1:20:51
4. Camilla Pedersen (DEN) 4:40:23 S 25:14 T1 2:13 B 2:41:55 T2 2:16 R 1:28:47
5. Agnieszka Jerzyk (POL) 4:48:53 S 27:11 T1 2:14 B 2:47:15 T2 2:09 R 1:30:06
