Grand Junction Colorado’s Ben Hoffman won it with a race-best 2:05:34 bike split and Canadian Magali Tisseyre’s well-balanced 3rd-best swim, 2nd best bike and race-best run gave her the top podium spot in a 1-2-3 Canadian women’s sweep at Ironman 70.3 Boise Saturday afternoon.
Hoffman’s 25:23 swim emerged from the water 4th behind Kyle Leto’s sizzling 22:40, Paul Ambrose’s 25:10, and Guy Crawford’s 25:21. Then Hoffman seized the race by the throat with a smoking hot 2:05:34 bike split that was 3:30 better than Trevor Wurtele, 4:08 better than Matt Lieto, 4:35 better than Nicholas Thompson, and 5:29 better than Paul Ambrose and Guy Crawford.
Nursing a 5 minute lead starting the run, Hoffman’s 6th-best 1:18:33 run was enough to hit the line in 3:52:41 with a 2:07 margin of victory over Nicholas Thompson (race-best 1:13:46 run), and 2:45 up on 3rd place Jeff Symonds (second-best 1:14:12 run).
The victory took some of the sting from Hoffman’s 10-seconds loss to winner Craig Alexander last year – in an overall time that was 10 minutes faster than the two-time Kona champion's 2010 winning effort.
"It's been a long process for me to get the win here in Boise, with close finishes every year. This time around I decided that it would be best to try and put it out of reach on the bike, so I exploited the challenging course and windy sections. I stayed in a good position for the chilly swim, and then immediately went to the front on the bike. Boise was the perfect course for the Shiv, with plenty of head/cross winds, and small climbs. It always feels good to be the first bike in T2, and I am trying my best to train the Shiv to put me there each time," said Hoffman to slowtwitch. "I could tell from the outset that I had the legs, so I pushed hard and got a big gap. Onto the run it was all about maintenance, and I had plenty of time to soak in the awesome crowds down the finishing stretch. Feels good to finally win one of my favorite races, and I am already looking forward to a title defense in 2012."
Contrary to the shape of the winning men’s splits, Canadian Magali Tisseyre’s well balanced swim, bike and run led her to a 4:18:28 finish and a 2 minutes 13 seconds margin of victory over fellow Canadian Heather Wurtele and a 3:46 margin over yet another Canadian, Rachel McBride.
Tisseyre’s 3rd-best 27:36 swim trailed Annie Warner by 1:29 and Heather Wurtele by 6 seconds. On the bike, Tisseyre’s third-best 2:23:06 bike surrendered just 2 seconds to McBride and put 1:55 on Wurtele.
Tisseyre secured the title with a race-best 1:24:25 run that out-hoofed Wurtele by 9 seconds and McBride by 2:38. At the wire, Tisseyre’s 4:18:28 finish was 2:13 better than Wurtele and 3:36 better than McBride.
On an apparently fast day, Tisseyre’s 4:18:28 finish topped 2010 Boise winner Julie Dibens’ finish time by 6 minutes 46 seconds. However, Tisseyre went 6 minutes faster winning this race in 2009.
Ironman 70.3 Boise
Boise, Idaho
June 11, 2011
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:52:41
2. Nicholas Thompson (USA) 3:54:48
3. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 3:55:26
4. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:57:50
5. Jesse Thomas (USA) 3:59:06
6. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 4:01:02
7. Matt Lieto (USA) 4:01:27
8. Guy Crawford (AUS) 4:02:34
9. Matt Shryock (USA) 4:05:08
10. Karl Bordine (USA) 4:06:39
Women
1. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 4:18:28
2. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:20:41
3. Rachel McBride (CAN) 4:22:14
4. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:26:06
5. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:26:54
6. Uli Bromme (GER) 4:28:40
7. Haley Scott-Cooper (USA) 4:31:51
8. Charisa Wernick (USA) 4:32:24
9. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:35:18
10. Annie Warner (USA) 4:37:07
