Kaisa Sali of Finland and Antony Costes of France won the overall titles at Ironman 70.3 Monterrey.

Sali and Mirinda Carfrae of Australia swam and biked and ran half the 13.1 miles of the final leg in a fierce duel before the Finn ran away to victory.

Sali combined a women’s second-best 28:30 swim that left her 21 seconds behind Jeanni Seymour of South Africa, a second-fastest women’s 2:12:58 bike split that put her 5 seconds back of Carfrae, and a women’s supreme 1:22:06 half marathon to finish in 4:06:33 with a 1:52 margin of victory over Carfrae and 5:06 over 3rd place finisher Seymour.

The win marks Sali’s highlight of 2018, coming after a 2017 season in which she scored a 4th at ITU long distance Worlds, a 5th at the Ironman World Championship and an 8:51:40 win at Ironman Arizona.

Carfrae scored her second straight runner-up of 2018 following a second place at Ironman 70.3 Texas - after taking a year off for the birth of her first child.

Costes overcame a 6th-best 24:19 swim that left him 41 seconds behind swim leader Tim O’Donnell of the U.S. and 6 and 7 seconds behind U.S. stars Kevin Collington and Matt Chrabot. A second-fastest 1:57:46 bike split – 3:41 longer than bike leader Andrew Starykowicz – left Costes in third place, 3:46 behind Starky and 1 second back of O’Donnell.

After chasing for 17 kilometers of the run, Costes passed Starky for the lead. Costes completed the race with a 2nd-best 1:16:12 run, finishing in 3:40:49 with a 1:09 margin of victory over Starykowicz (1:20:58 run) and 1:46 over 3rd place finisher Kevin Collington, who finished with a race-best 1:15:49 half marathon to edge O’Donnell by 3 seconds.

Ironman 70.3 Monterrey
Monterrey, Mexico
May 13, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Kaisa Sali (FIN) 4:06:33 S 28:30 T1 1:31 B 2:12:58 T2 1:31 R 1:22:06
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:08:25 S 28:31 T1 1:26 B 2:12:57 T2 1:23 R 1:24:10
3. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:11:39 S 28:09 T1 1:34 B 2:15:49 T2 1:14 R 1:24:55
4. Lesley Smith (USA) 4:15:49 S 28:31 T1 1:34 B 2:20:08 T2 1:23 R 1:24:14
5. Laura Matthews (USA. ) 4:32:40 S 29:48 T1 1:52 B 2:21:51 T2 1:24 R 1:37:47

Men

1. Antony Costes (FRA) 3:40:49 S 24:19 T1 1:25 B 1:57:46 T2 1:09 R 1:16:12
2. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 3:41:58 S 24:13 T1 1:27 B 1:54:05 T2 1:17 R 1:20:58
3. Kevin Collington (USA) 3:42:35 S 24:14 T1 1:18 B 2:00:12 T2 1:03 R 1:15:49
4. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 3:42:38 S 23:38 T1 1:44 B 1:58:08 T2 1:14 R 1:17:56
5. Matt Chrabot (USA) 3:42:55 S 24:15 T1 1:34 B 1:59:39 T2 1:14 R 1:16:15