Pallant, Funk take windy Lanzarote 70.3

Winds ranging from 20 to 32 mph whipped up stormy seas so Lanzarote 70.3 organizers canceled the swim and began the event with a run into T1 in an attempt to spread out the opening bike leg. After all the dueling over Lanzarote’s volcanic hills was over, strong cyclist-runners Emma Pallant of Great Britain and Frederic Funk of Germany stood stop the podiums.

Women

Super swimmer Lucy Hall of Great Britain Pallant ignored the loss of her ace in the hole swim to lead the pack into T1 with a 1:38 split that gave her a 3 seconds lead on Pallant, 4 seconds on Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium, 7 seconds on Tessa Kortekaas of Netherlands and 10 seconds on Jeanne Collonge of France

After 22 kilometers of the 90 kilometer bike leg, Hall led the way by 3 seconds over Pallant, 5 seconds on Tondeur and Collonge, while Kortekaas trailed by 1:09. After 56 km, Hall maintained a 3 seconds lead on Pallant, 3 seconds on Tondeur, 1:18 on Collonge and 2:13 41 on Kortekaas. There was very little difference as the women rode past 72 km.

After a women's–best 2:36:15 bike split. Hall led the way into T2 by 11 seconds over Pallant, 14 seconds on Tondeur, 1:17 on Kortekaas and 1:19 on Collonge.

Halfway through the 21.2 kilometer run, Pallant surged into a 2:13 lead on Tondeur, 2:17 on Hall, 3:13 on Collonge while Kortekaas faded to 5:25 arrears. By 10.8 km, Pallant cinched the race as she stretched her lead to 3:3:15 on Tondeur, who struggled to stay 2 seconds ahead of Collonge, who was surging. After a women’s-best 1:27:09 half marathon, Pallant finished in 4:08:14 with a 2:22 margin of victory over Tondeur (1:29:20 run split) and 3:09 over 3rd place Collonge (1:28:51 run).

Pallant’s win was her second in two weeks, coming after a victory at Ironman 70.3 Portugal.

Men

The pro men stormed into T1 quite close together, but only two of the top 10 competitors starting the bike leg made it into the top five at the end of the contest. For the record, Adrian Haller of Switzerland led the way at 1:25 by a few seconds over Harry Palmer of Great Britain, Kevin Maurel of France, Alessandro Degasperi of Italy while top contenders George Goodwin of Great Britain and Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium stood 9th and 10th at 13 seconds down.

Halfway through the ride, Belgians Kenneth Vandendriessche and Pieter Heemeryck took the lead by 9 seconds over Frederic Funk of Germany, 16 seconds over Kevin Maurel of France and 18 seconds over Goodwin.

After a men’s-best 2:12:46 bike split, Funk led the field into T2 by 2:03 to 2:16 over a four man pack including Heemeryck, Vandendriessche, Maurel and Goodwin. Halfway through the ruin, Funk led Heemeryck by 1:26, Vandendriessche by 3:02, Maurel by 5:37 and Adrian Haller by 6:45.

After a second-fastest 1:17:50 run split, Funk broke the tape in 3:35:00 with a 1:40 margin of victory over Heemeryck (race-best 1:17:25 run) and 6:10 over 3rd place Vandendriessche.

The pro men stormed into T1 quite close together, but only two of the top 10 competitors starting the bike leg made it into the top five at the end of the contest. For the record, Adrian of Switzerland led the way at 1:25 by a few seconds over Harry Palmer of Great Britain, Kevin Maurel of France, Alessandro Degasperi of Italy while top contenders George Goodwin of Great Britain and Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium stood 9th and 10th at 13 seconds down.

Halfway through the ride, Belgians Kenneth Vandendriessche and Pieter Heemeryck took the lead by 9 seconds over Frederic Funk of Germany, 16 seconds over Kevin Maurel of France and 18 seconds over Goodwin.

After a men’s-best 2:12:46 bike split, Funk led the field into T2 by 2:03 to 2:16 over a four man pack including Heemeryck, Vandendriessche, Maurel and Goodwin. Halfway through the ruin, Funk led Heemeryck by 1:26, Vandendriessche by 3:02, Maurel by 5:37 and Adrian Haller by 6:45.

After a second-fastest 1:17:50 run split, Funk broke the tape in 3:35:00 with a 1:40 margin of victory over Heemeryck (race-best 1:17:25 run) and 6:10 over 3rd place Vandendriessche.

Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote (swim canceled)
Lanzarote, Isla Canarias, Spain
October 5, 2019
B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:08:14 T1 1:41 B 2:36:23 T2 3:03 R 1:27:09
2. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) 4:10:36 T1 1:42 B 2:36:24 T2 3:12 R 1:29:20
3. Jeanne Collonge (FRA) 4:11:23 T1 1:48 B 2:37:23 T2 3:22 R 1:28:51
4. Lucy Hall (GBR) 4:13:50 T1 1:38 B 2:36:15 T2 3:12 R 1:32:47
5. Tessa Kortekaas (NED) 4:17:08 T1 1:45 B 2:37:25 T2 3:33 R 1:34:27

Men

1. Frederic Funk (GER) 3:35:00 T1 1:41 B 2:12:46 T2 2:45 R 1:17:50
2. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) 3:36:40 T1 1:37 B 2:14:52 T2 2:46 R 1:17:25
3. Kenneth Vandendriessche (BEL) 3:41:10 T1 1:44 B 2:14:49 T2 2:54 R 1:21:45
4. Kevin Maurel (FRA) 3:43:48 T1 1:34 B 2:15:02 T2 2:58 R 1:24:15
5. Filipe Azevedo (POR) 3:44:06 T1 1:42 B 2:20:47 T2 3:08 R 1:18:30