Lionel Sanders and Barbara Riveros win Pucon 70.3

Ironman.com photo

Lionel Sanders of Canada and Barbara Riveros of Chile captured the Ironman 70.3 titles at Pucon, Chile.

Sanders quickly overcame a 10th place, 3:10 deficit after the swim with a dominating 2:01:16 bike split and sealed the win with a second-fastest 1:16:25 half marathon. Sanders finished in 3:48:44 with an 8:07 margin of victory over Mauricio Mendez of Mexico and 10:15 over 3rd place finisher Felipe Barraza of Chile.

Sanders thus set a new race record of 3:48:44, which broke Reinaldo Colucci's 2010 standard of 3:52:38 by 3:54.

Sanders also surpassed his 2017 winning time of 4:00:08 by 12 minutes. That mark was achieved on a brutally hot day on which women's winner Riveros was 14 minutes slower than her 2018 winning time. The Canadian who comes off a 2nd place finish at Kona and a sub-8 hour finish at Ironman Arizona, blasted the bike leg with a split that was 9:59 better than the second-best effort by Santiago Ascenco of Brazil.

Home country favorite Riveros secured her 4th straight Pucon 70.3 women’s victory with a second-best 28:00 swim in Lake Villarrica that left her 3 seconds back of Ellie Salthouse of Australia, a race-best 2:25:10 bike split that tied her with Salthouse at T2, and a by-far women's-best 1:21:58 run that left Salthouse far behind at the line. Riveros finished in 4:18:59 with a 9:10 margin of victory over Salthouse and 22:45 over 3rd-place finisher Valentina Carvallo of Chile.

Ironman 70.3 Pucon
Pucon, Chile
14 January 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Pro Men

1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 3:48:44 S 26:51 T1 2:14 B 2:01:16 T2 2:00 R 1:16:25
2. Mauricio Mendez (MEX) 3:56:50 S 25:11 T1 2:12 B 2:12:58 T2 1:52 R 1:14:40
3. Felipe Barraza (CHL) 3:58:58 S 25:07 T1 2:11 B 2:12:55 T2 1:44 R 1:17:02
4. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 3:59:56 S 25:37 T1 2:18 B 2:12:28 T2 1:36 R 1:17:59
5. Santiago Ascenco (BRA) 4:00:18 S 26:51 T1 2:13 B 2:11:15 T2 1:37 R 1:18:24
6. Felipe Van De Wyngard (CHL) 4:02:05 S 25:13 T1 2:27 B 2:12:17 T2 2:04 R 1:20:07
7. Marcus Fernandes (BRA) 4:09:01 S 25:12 T1 2:17 B 2:12:58 T2 1:49 R 1:26:48
8. Martin Ulloa (CHL) 4:10:03 S 25:08 T1 2:18 B 2:12:56 T2 2:00 R 1:27:43
9. Vicente Trewhela (CHL) 4:13:19 S 23:41 T1 2:12 B 2:14:31 T2 1:47 R 1:31:10
10. Gaspar Riveros (CHL) 4:16:45 S 25:10 T1 2:22 B 2:18:16 T2 2:12 R 1:28:47

Pro Women

1. Barbara Riveros (CHL) 4:18:59 S 28:00 T1 2:18 B 2:25:10 T2 1:35 R 1:21:58
2. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 4:28:09 S 27:57 T1 2:18 B 2:25:13 T2 1:56 R 1:30:47
3. Valentina Carvallo (CHL) 4:41:44 S 29:55 T1 2:28 B 2:36:54 T2 1:57 R 1:30:31
4. Mahn Bruna (BRA) 4:46:05 S 30:54 T1 2:46 2:38:36 T2 2:04 R 1:31:47
5. Jessie Donavan (USA) 4:51:06 S 36:02 T1 2:47 B 2:33:29 T2 2:05 R 1:36:45