Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand and Heather Wurtele of Canada won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Campeche in Mexico.

Bozzone combined a 4th-best 23:38 swim, a 2nd-best 2:07:09 bike split and a 3rd–fastest 1:16:55 half marathon to finish in 3:49:40 with a 1 minute margin of victory over Michael Weiss of Austria and 4:41 over 3rd-place Rodolphe Von Berg of the U.S.

Bozzone thus won his third major race in three weeks coming after victories at Ironman New Zealand on March 3 and Ironman 70.3 Bariloche on March 11. His hot start in 2018 comes after a late season streak in 2017 that included wins at Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos on November 12, 2nd at the Island House Invitational on November 17, a 2nd place at Ironman 70.3 Middle East in Bahrain on November 25, and a win at Ironman Western Australia on December 3.

Heather Wurtele overcame a 3:46 deficit to Lauren Brandon after the swim with women’s-best bike and run splits to finish in 4:17:23 with a 9:25 margin of victory over Lauren Brandon of the U.S. and 10:16 over 3rd-place Angela Naeth of Canada.

Men

Rodolphe Von Berg of the U.S. led the men’s swim wave with a 23:18 split which gave him a 15 seconds lead on Kevin Collington of the U.S., 17 seconds on Michel Gonzalez of Cuba, 20 seconds on Bozzone, 26 seconds on Joaquin Pereda of Mexico, 52 seconds on Jackson Laundry of Canada, 1:33 on Taylor Reid of Canada, 1:51 on Matt Hanson of the U.S. 1:53 on Raul Tejada of Guatemala, 1:55 on Michael Weiss of Austria, 1:57 on Trevor Delsaut of France, 1:59 on Chris Bagg of the U.S., and 3:04 on Trevor Wurtele of Canada.

After 25km of the bike leg, Bozzone charged to the front, leading Von Berg by 3 seconds, Laundry by 16s, Collington by 1:29, Reid by 1:30, and Weiss by 1:31. Of the overall contenders, Hanson trailed by 2:20, Wurtele by 3:21 and Bagg by 3:31.

After 43km, Bozzone and Laundry broke away to a 32 seconds lead on Von Berg, 1:58 on Weiss, 2:11 on Reid, 3:28 on Hanson, 3:58 on Collington, 4:36 on Tim Rea of Australia, and 4:51 on Wurtele. After a 2nd-best 2:07:098 bike split, Bozzone hit T2 with a 1:48 lead on Weiss (race-best 2:06:56 bike split), 3:10 on Von Berg (2:10:41 bike split), 3:50 on Alan Carrillo of Mexico (2:08:50 bike split), 4:07 on Tejada (2:09:26 bike split), 4:25 on Laundry (2:10:00 split), and 5:21 on Taylor Reid (2:11:14 split).

After 5.27 km of the run leg, Bozzone held a 1:56 lead on Weiss, 3:43 on Von Berg, 4:21 on Tejada, and 4:22 on Carrillo. Halfway through the 21.1km run, Bozzone led Weiss by 1:47 while Von Berg and the rest of the field were losing ground.

After a 3rd-fastest 1:16:55 half marathon, Bozzone hit the line in 3:49:38 with a 1:02 margin of victory over Weiss, who closed with a 2nd-best 1:15:22 run, and 4:43 over Von Berg, who ran 1:18:27. Alan Carrillo of Mexico took 4th in 3:55:53 and Matt Hanson closed with a race-best 1:15:12 run to take 5th, 6:30 behind the winner.

Women

No surprise in the swim as Lauren Brandon of the U.S. opened with a 24:10 split that gave her a 3:46 lead on Heather Wurtele of Canada, 3:48 on Maria Barrera Anduaga of Mexico, 4:22 on Stephanie Roy of Canada, 4:59 on Anne Basso of France, 5:00 on Linsey Corbin and Laura Mathews of the U.S., and 5:02 on Angela Naeth of Canada.

After 7km of the bike leg, Brandon led the hard charging Wurtele by 3 minutes. After 25km, Wurtele shaved her deficit to 2:10 and Naeth cut her gap to 4:06. At the same point, Anduaga fell back to 4:49, Corbin to 5:40, Mathews to 5:46, Roy to 8:20, and Kyra Wiens of the U.S. to 8:59.

After 43km of the bike leg, Wurtele cut Brandon’s lead to 1:44 and Naeth maintained a 4:14 deficit. Dropping further back were Anduaga (+6:11), Corbin (+6:55), Mathews (+7:07), and Wiens (+10:47).

Just before the 80 kilometer mark of the bike leg, Wurtele passed Brandon for the lead. Between 60km and 80km, Wurtele averaged 38.58 km per hour while Brandon raced at 37.63 kph. In 3rd place, Naeth was biking at 38.14 kph.

After a women’s-best 2:22:47 bike split, Wurtele arrived at T2 with a 41 seconds lead on Brandon (2:27:01 bike split) and 4:09 on Angela Naeth (2:25:11 bike split).

Halfway through the 21.1km run, Wurtele held a 6:19 lead on Brandon, 9:08 on Naeth, and 10:35 on Corbin. After 15.8km of the run, Wurtele led Brandon by 8:21, Naeth by 10:09, and Corbin by 10:58.

After a women’s-fastest 1:24:37 run, Wurtele finished in 4:17:23 with a 9:25 margin of victory over Brandon (1:33:09 run), 10:16 over 3rd place Naeth (1:30:21 run) and 11:21 over 4th place Corbin (1:26:56 run).

Ironman 70.3 Campeche
Campeche, Mexico
March 18, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:49:38 S 23:37 T1 55s B 2:07:09 T2 1:07 R 2. 1:16:55
2. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:50:40 S 25:12 T1 1:20 B 2:06:56 T2 1:52 R 1:15:22
3. Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) 3:54:21 S 23:17 T1 51s B 2:10:41 T2 1:06 R 1:18:27
4. Alan Carrillo (MEX) 3:55:53 S 25:49 T1 52s B 2:08:50 T2 1:14 R 1:19:11
5. Matt Hanson (USA) 3:56:08 S 25:08 T1 58s B 2:13:02 T2 1:51 R 1:15:12

Women

1. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:17:23 S 27:48 T1 1:03 B 2:22:47 T2 1:11 R 1:24:37
2. Lauren Brandon (USA) 4:26:48 S 24:02 T1 1:15 B 2:27:01 T2 1:23 R 1:33:09
3. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:27:39 S 29:04 T1 1:31 B 2:25:11 T2 1:33 R 1:30:21
4. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:28:44 S 29:01 T1 1:10 B 2:30:17 T2 1:22 R 1:26:56
5. Maria Barrera Anduaga (MEX) 4:37:22 S 27:50 T1 58s B 2:34:23 T2 2:00 R 1:32:13