In this Weekend Box we look at Ironman Cozumel, Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest, the Men of Triathlon calendar and we can only dream about a 5-foot law - the distance required for a motorist to stay away from a cyclist.
Ironman Cozumel titles to Michael Weiss and Rachel Joyce
The swim in Cozumel was shortened due to wind conditions and the fastest male Pro Todd Skipworth from Australia cruised through the 3.1k swim in 32:49, but that also meant others were quick too. Michael Weiss came to Cozumel, Mexico with a new Trek Speed Concept through SRM and hopes to have the ghosts from the past finally disappear. Weiss who just completed a 2-year doping related timeout, swam 36:54 and then recorded the fastest bike split in Cozumel with a speedy 4:22:20 and that allowed him to reach the bike-run transition with a hefty advantage over Tyler Butterfield and Eneko Llanos. Butterfield managed to run quicker than Weiss but the time he managed to gain back was not sufficient. Weiss crossed the line first in 7:55:23 and Butterfield finished second in 8:02:42. Eneko Llanos was third in 8:05:21. Marino Vanhoenacker raced also in Cozumel but his day did not end well, a picture on Twitter showed him dejected sitting on a wall during the run segment. He came off the bike over 30 minutes behind Weiss.
Rachel Joyce initially had planned to go to Cozumel to support her boyfriend Brett who had signed up to race there, but as we all know things do change and Joyce announced to also race when we last chatted. That turned out to be a wise decision.
Amanda Stevens came out of the water right at 34:17 and she was closely followed by Celine Scharer. Stevens then took charge on the bike and managed to be back in transition first, but she now had Joyce breathing down her neck. The fastest bike split however belonged to Jessie Donavan who had recorded a 5:00:35, but she was 10 minutes slower than Stevens during the opening 1.9m swim. Once on the run Joyce flew away and cruised to a very comfortable win in 8:52:28. Donavan ran past Stevens to take second place, but Stevens held on to the final podium spot.
Ironman Cozumel
Cozumel, Mexico / December 1, 2013
1.9m swim / 112m bike / 26.2m run
Top men
1. Michael Weiss (AUT) 7:55:23
2. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 8:02:42
3. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 8:05:21
4. Jerzy Marek Jaskolka (POL) 8:13:29
5. Nils Frommhold (GER) 8:20:16
Top women
1. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 8:52:28
2. Jessie Donavan (USA) 9:01:12
3. Amanda Stevens (USA) 9:06:40
4. Celine Scarer (SUI) 9:12:40
5. Bree Wee (USA) 9:16:26
Rasmus Petreus and Melissa Hauschildt rule supreme in Laguna Phuket
Danish Pro Rasmus Petreus battled Italians Alberto Casadei and Alberto Alessandroni most of the day at the 2013 Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest, but in the end the Dane proved to be strongest. 2012 Ironman World Champion Pete Jacobs was also at the start in Phuket but after a month of promotional appearances for various sponsors he cruised in 10th position a few seconds behind women’s champ Mel Hauschildt.
Petreus had a 25:22 swim, 2:17:34 bike and a 1:20:12 run for a total time of 4:05:06.
“It’s unbelievable – I came here thinking it was the off season, but I can’t believe it! There was such a good audience and good environment to race in – I have no words, just amazing,” said Petreus.
Radka Vodickova was first out of the water in the women’s race and held on to the lead until the halfway point of the bike. At that point Melissa Hauschildt had erased the 2:32 swim deficit and took charge of the race. When it was all said and done Hauschildt crossed the line in 4:30:15, 5 minutes up in Vodickova who held on to second place.
Hauschildt swam 31:07, biked 2:29:14 and ran 1:27:35.
Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest
Phuket / December 1, 2013
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Rasmus Petreus (DEN) 4:05:06
2. Alberto Casadei (ITA) 4:07:13
3. Alberto Alessandroni (ITA) 4:07:52
4. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 4:11:11
5. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 4:19:12
Top women
1. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 4:30:15
2. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:36:16
3. Tamsin Lewis (GBR) 4:44:49
4. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:51:59
5. Ange Castle (AUS) 4:53:02
Men of Triathlon
You have until December 5th to support the Men of Triathlon in their quest to raise money and bring awareness to Movember, just go to the website menoftriathlon.com and order a few 2014 Men of Triathlon calendars. Tyler Butterfield, Ben Hoffman, Matt Lieto and Luke McKenzie are among the Pros who grew fabulous mustaches for this great cause, and while some of the guys finally shaved off these November mustaches, the pictures will live on. Along those lines we will likely not so fast forget the image of Brandon Marsh below.
1.5 meters in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Most of us would be beyond happy if the 3 foot law in many US States would actually be respected and enforced, but that is just not so in many cases. Manny Huerta recently tweeted the pic below from Sao Paulo, Brazil where law 201 requires motorists to keep a distance of 1.5 meters or just under 5 feet from a bicyclist. But the law is apparently also not enforced so cyclists have come up with their own solution for awareness.
