Yvan Jarrige of France and Fenella Langridge of Great Britain won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh Sunday.

MEN

Jarrige combined a 4th-best 25:16 swim, a 5th-fastest 2:22:27 bike split, and a race-best 1:15:23 half marathon to finish in 4:07:31 with an 8 seconds margin of victory over Matt Chrabot of the U.S. and 1:24 over 3rd-place Will Clarke of Great Britain.

By 36 kilometers into the 90 kilometer bike leg, Chrabot led a breakaway pack of five men including Jeremy Jurkiewicz of France, Will Clarke of Great Britain, Elliot Smales of Great Britain, and Jarrige. At 52km, Clarke took to the front of the leading quintet, which had a 4:54 lead on Samuel Huerzeler of Switzerland and Alessandro Degasperi of Italy.

After race-best 2:21:48 and 2:21:56 bike splits, Chrabot and Clarke led the pack into T2 with a 3 seconds margin on Smales, 7 seconds on Jurkiewicz, and 11 seconds on Jarrige. The quintet also held a 6:08 lead on Degasperi, 6:30 on Huerzeler, and 9:49 on Stuart Marais of South Africa.

By 7km of the run, the pack had little sign of substantially breaking up as Jarrige led Will Clarke and Chrabot by 16 seconds, Smales by 35 seconds, and Jurkiewicz by 1:59. By 14km, Chrabot took the lead by 7 seconds on Jarrige, 36 seconds on Clarke, and 2:08 on Smales.

By 17km, Chrabot took a 16 seconds lead on Jarrige, but quickly lost momentum and Jarrige found an extra squib of energy and retook a small but substantial sliver of control.

In a subtle but decisive move, Jarrige surged ahead to the end with a race-best 1:16:23 half marathon to finish in 4:07:31 with an 8 seconds margin of victory over Chrabot, who clocked a 1:18:36 run.

Jarrige’s win is a career breakthrough, improving upon a recent 7th at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship, a 3rd at last year’s Edinburgh 70.3, a 7th at the 2017 Pays d’Aix 70.3, and a 6th at the 2015 Luxembourg 70.3.

WOMEN

Fenella Langridge led the swim with a 27:05 split which gave her a 5 seconds lead on fellow Brit Claire Hann and left a wide gulf to the rest of the field – 4:04 on Hannah Nieuwoudt of South Africa, 5:27 on Suzie Richards of Great Britain, 5:29 on Anne Basso of France, 5:35 on Martina Kunz of Switzerland, and 5:36 on Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain.

By 36km of the bike leg, Langridge put her stamp on the face, accelerating to a 3:01 lead on Bartlett, 4:06 on Niewoudt, 5:29 on Kunz, and 7:01 on Hann. Nearing the end of the bike leg, Bartlett moved to the front, gaining a 25 seconds lead on Langridge, 4:25 on Kunz, and 5:20 on Niewoudt.

Once the pro women started the run, Langridge seized absolute control, taking a 1:22 lead on Bartlett at 7 kilometers. Ten kilometers later, her lead was 2:59. After a women’s-fastest 1:27:42 run, Langridge finished in 4:37:46 with a 3:09 margin of victory over Bartlett (1:31:01 run) and 9:22 over 3rd place finisher Martina Kunz (1:31:59 run).

Langridge’s victory is the culmination of a recent hot streak which included a 3rd at Staffordshire 70.3, 2nd at Barcelona 70.3, and 3rd at Pays d’Aix 70.3.

Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland
July 1, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Yvan Jarrige (FRA) 4:07:31 S 25:16 T1 2:08 B 2:22:27 T2 1:18 R 1:16:23
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 4:07:39 S 25:10 T1 2:14 B 2:21:48 T2 N/A R 1:18:36
3. Will Clarke (GBR) 4:08:55 S 25:43 T1 2:02 B 2:21:56 T2 1:28 R 1:17:48
4. Elliot Smales (GBR) 4:11:16 S 25:15 T1 2:12 B 2:22:18 T2 1:34 R 1:20:00
5. Jeremy Jurkiewicz (FRA) 4:14:33 S 25:14 T1 2:12 B 2:22:22 T2 1:33 R 1:23:14

Women

1. Fenella Langridge (GBR) 4:37:46 S 27:05 T1 2:11 B 2:39:24 T2 1:27 R 1:27:42
2. Nikki Bartlett (GBR) 4:40:55 S 34:21 T1 3:03 B 2:32:31 T2 1:41 R 1:31: 01
3. Martina Kunz (SUI) 4:47:08 S 32:40 T1 2:54 B 2:37:07 T2 2:31 R 1:31:59
4. Magda Nieuwoudt (RSA) 4:52:39 S 31:09 T1 2:37 B 2:39:49 T2 1:57 R 1:37:09
5. Suzie Richards (GBR) 4:49:19 S 32:32 T1 3:16 B 2:45:42 T2 2:08 R 1:35:43