George Goodwin and India Lee earned won home country victories thanks to strong bike splits at Ironman 70.3 Weymouth in Dorset, UK.

Men

Goodwin started with a 5th-best 12:29 split for the 750 meters, half usual swim distance that left him 12 seconds behind swim leader Thomas Davis and 32 seconds ahead of strong cyclist Marcus Herbst of Germany. While Herbst charged to the front of the field with a race-best 2:10:41 bike split, Goodwin latched on to the flying German with a 2nd-fastest 2:11:06 split that brought him into T2 two seconds behind. After their charge to the fr0nt, Herbst and Goodwin held a 4:35 to 4:45 lead on a four man chase group that included Brits David Bishop, Adam Bowden, Elliot Smales and Thomas Davis.

While Herbst quickly fell off the pace, Goodwin surged ahead on his way to a second-fastest 1:14:50 split for the half marathon which brought him to the finish in 3:44:04 with a 3:43 margin of victory over Adam Bowden, who closed with a race-best 1:14:06 run, and 5:04 over 3rd place Elliot Smales.

Goodwin’s performance was his second 70.3 win of the season after taking the honors at Staffordshire 70.3. His other season marks include 3rd at Barcelona 70;3, 6th at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship at Elsinore and 12th at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice.

Women

India Lee led a 1-2-3 podium finish for British women with a wire-to-wire triumph she earned with women’s-best swim and bike splits and a second-best run that brought her to the line in 4:15:56 with a 1:36 margin of victory over Claire Hann and 6:43 ahead of 3rd place woman Katrina Rye.

Lee led the shortened swim with a 13:35 split that gave her a 17 seconds lead on Claire Hann, 1:32 on Katrina Rye, a 2:48 margin on Anne Reischmann of Germany and 2:57 on Chloe Lane of Great Britain. Halfway through the ride, Lee increased her lead to 47 seconds on Hann. By the 63 kilometer mark, jetted away to a 2 minutes lead on Hann. By T2 Lee increased her margin to 2:19 on Hann, 4:55 on Reischmann, 5:30 on Rye and 19:11 on Chloe Lane.

Halfway through the 21 km run, Hann virtually matched Lee’s pace, staying 2:30 behind while the other chasers fell further back. After a 2nd-best 1:24:44 run, Lee finished in 4:15:56 with a 1:36 margin of victory over Hann, who chopped her T2 deficit by 43 seconds with a women’s-best 1:23:48 run split. Rye took 3rd, 6:43 behind the winner after a 1:26:04 run.

Lee’s victory was her second of the year, coming after a win at Finland 70.3 where she beat top competitors Kaisa Sali and Lucy Hall. Lee also took 3rd at Ironman 70.3 France.

Ironman 70.3 Weymouth
Dorset, United Kingdom
September 22, 2019
S 750m / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. George Goodwin (GBR) 3:44:04 S 12:29 T1 3:19 B 2:11:06 T2 2:22 R 1:14:50
2. Adam Bowden (GBR) 3:47:47 S 12:19 T1 3:20 B 2:15:51 T2 2:14 R 1:14:06
3. Elliot Smales (GBR) 3:49:08 S 12:22 T1 3:03 B 2:16:06 T2 2:07 R 1:15:32
4. Marcus Herbst (GER) 3:49:38 S 12:22 T1 3:03 B 2:10:41 T2 3:03 R 1:20:24
5. Thomas Davis (GBR) 3:51:44 S 12:16 T1 3:09 B 2:16:13 T2 1:57 R 1:18:12

Women

1. India Lee (GBR) 4:15:56 S 13:35 T1 3:29 B 2:31:44 T2 2:27 R 1:24:44
2. Claire Hann (GBR) 4:17:32 S 13:45 T1 3:54 B 2:33:28 T2 2:39 R 1:23:48
3. Katrina Rye (GBR) 4:22:39 S 14:49 T1 3:48 B 2:35:42 T2 2:18 R 1:26:04
4. Anne Reischmann (GER) 4:25:34 S 16:10 T1 3:43 B 2:33:51 T2 2:20 R 1:29:32
5. Chloe Lane (AUS) 4:48:33 S 15:18 T1 4:44 B 2:47:57 T2 3:41 R 1:36:55