Francesca Sanjana of Great Great Britain edged Anne Reischmann of Germany and Frederik Van Lierde of Belgium topped Denis Chevrot of France to take top honors at Ironman 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne.

Women

Sanjana overcame a 5 minutes 10 seconds deficit after a 31:46 swim with a women’s second-best 2:29:30 bike split that left her in third place at T2 with a 2:07 deficit to leader Anne Reischmann. On her way to a women’s-fastest 1:25:40 half marathon, Sanjana passed Reischmann at the 15 kilometer mark of the run. Sanjana then finished in 4:32:26 with a 1:51 margin of victory over Reischmann and 6:39 over 3rd place finisher Jeanne Collonge of France.

Sanjana made great a improvement over her 19th place finish at the recent Challenge the Championship in Samorin.

Men

Van Lierde overcame a 6th-place 1:19 deficit to the swim leader with a race-best 2:07:20 bike split, which was 4:45 better than the next-best effort by Arthur Horseau of France and which gave Van Lierde a 4:45 lead on Sebastien Fraysee of France at T2. With this cushion, Van Lierde could afford to cruise home with a 1:19:22 half-marathon – 4:20 slower than Denis Chevrot of France – and still finish in 3:56:46 with a 2:11 margin of victory on Chevrot and 5:58 on 3rd place finisher Horseau.

Van Lierde’s victory at age 40 prompted his namesake and coach Luc Van Lierde to post a cheerful note on Facebook: “Another win for Frederik Van Lierde today at IRONMAN France Les Sables d' Olonne! After 7 years working with Fred he can still surprise me. Happy Coach!!”

While far from one of his most prestigious victories, Frederik Van Lierde’s win at Les Sables D’Olonne adds to his already glittering triathlon résumé, which includes four Ironman Nice wins, and single wins at the 2013 Ironman World Championship, 2013 Abu Dhabi long course, 2016 Ironman Cozumel, 2018 Alpe d’Huez and 2019 Ironman Lanzarote. He also won this event in 2017.

Ironman 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne
Vendée, France
June 16, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Francesca Sanjana (GBR) 4:32:26 S 31:46 T1 3:37 B 2:29:30 T2 1:56 R 1:25:40
2. Anne Reischmann (GER) 4:34:17 S 31:41 T1 3:01 B 2:28:04 T2 1:45 R 1:29:48
3. Jeanne Collonge (FRA) 4:39:05 S 30:12 T1 3:23 B 2:32:15 T2 1:46 R 1:31:30
4. Kelly Fillnow (USA) 4:46:17 S 31:47 T1 3:20 B 2:39:04 T2 2:06 R 1:30:02
5. Léna Berthelot-Moritz (FRA) 4:49:05 S 27:02 T1 3:03 B 2:34:47 T2 1:47 R 1:42:28

Men

1. Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) 3:56:46 S 25:54 T1 2:46 B 2:07:20 T2 1:25 R 1:19:22
2. Denis Chevrot (FRA) 3:58:57 S 25:51 T1 2:42 B 2:13:59 T2 1:25 R 1:15:02
3. Arthur Horseau (FRA) 4:02:44 S 27:26 T1 2:57 B 2:12:05 T2 1:30 R 1:18:48
4. Andrey Bryukhankov (RUS) 4:04:00 S 24:35 T1 2:40 B 2:19:27 T2 1:42 R 1:15:38
5. Arnaud Chivot (FRA) 4:05:19 S 25:51 T1 2:52 B 2:18:13 T2 1:37 R 1:16:47