David McNamee of Great Britain and Laura Philipp of Germany won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca.

McNamee combined a 4th best swim, 3rd-fastest bike split and race-best run to finish with a 1:01 margin of victory over Andreas Dreitz of Germany.

McNamee opened his day 14 seconds behind swim leader Jesper Svensson of Sweden, finished the bike leg 1:26 behind the scintillating 2:13:03 bike split of Dreitz, and passed Dreitz at the 10 kilometer mark of the run. After his race-best 1:13:41 run, McNamee finished in 3:56:49 with a 1:01 margin over Dreitz (1:16:06 run) and 7:41 over Blanchart Tinto (1:13:57 run).

Philipp finished the swim 3rd with a 1:17 deficit to swim leader Lisa Norden of Sweden, and then passed all rivals with a race-best 2:29:31 bike split that gave her a 3:31 lead on Amelia Watkinson of New Zealand at T2. Philipp ran a 2nd-best 1:22:09 half marathon that brought her to the finish in 4:21:41 with a 5:10 margin of victory over Pallant (1:20:09 run) and 11:22 over 3rd-place Watkinson (1:30:03 run).

While pre-race releases advertised several high-quality entries, Alistair Brownlee, Daniela Ryf, Helle Frederiksen and Diane Riesler did not start.

Men

Jesper Svensson of Sweden led the swim in 22:44, 7 seconds ahead of Carlos Lopez-Diaz of Spain, 12 seconds head of Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium, 14 seconds ahead of McNamee, 18 seconds ahead of Jonathan Ciavatella of Italy, and 1:53 ahead of Dreitz.

About halfway through the ride, in the middle of the challenging Tramuntana Mountains, Dreitz took the lead. After his dominating 2:13:03 bike split, Dreitz had a 1:26 lead on McNamee (2:16:37 bike split) and 7:04 on Will Clarke.

By kilometer 7 of the run, McNamee cut Dreitz’s lead to 41 seconds, and by 9.5km that margin was down to 19 seconds. By halfway, McNamee passed Dreitz and by 18km, the gap was about 35 seconds. At the finish, McNamee had a minute to savor the cheers at the finish.

Women

Lisa Norden, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, led the swim in 24:38 with a 26 seconds lead on Annie Thoren of Sweden, 1:17 ahead of Philipp, 1:18 ahead of Agnieszka Jerzyk of Poland, and 1:20 ahead of Watkinson of New Zealand.

Philipp seized the lead by 15.6km, 2 seconds ahead of Watkinson, 6 seconds ahead of Thoren, 19 seconds ahead of two-time ITU Duathlon World Champion Emma Pallant of Great Britain, and 1:26 ahead of Jerzyk. While no explanation was immediately available, Norden ran into trouble early on the bike and finished the first 15km in 16th place.

After her by-far women’s best 2:29:31 bike split, Philipp began the run with a 3:31 lead on Watkinson, 7:08 on Pallant and 10:15 on Thoren.

After her second-best 1:22:09 run, Philipp finished in 4:21:41 with a 5:10 margin of victory over Pallant (1:20:09 run) and 11:22 over 3rd place Watkinson.

After her disappointing 2:46:47 bike split and 1:30:11 run, Norden finished 7th in 4:45:53.

Ironman 70.3 Mallorca
Mallorca, Spain
May 13, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. David McNamee (GBR) 3:56:49
2. Andreas Dreitz (GER) 3:57:50
3. Miquel Blanchart Tinto (ESP) 4:04:30
4. Will Clarke (GBR) 4:07:23
5. Jonathan Ciavatella (ITA) 4:10:15
DNS: Alistair Brownlee

Women

1. Laura Philipp (GER) 4:21:41
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:26:51
3. Amelia Watkinson (NZL) 4:33:03
4. Agnieszka Jerzyk (POL) 4:36:50
5. Jenny Schulz (GER) 4:41:19
7. Lisa Norden (SWE) 4:45:53
DNS: Helle Frederiksen, Diana Riesler, Daniela Ryf