After high winds forced cancellation of the swim at Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, Trevor Wurtele of Canada and Sarah Piampiano of Cumberland Maine and New York City scored upset wins against excellent fields in the hastily reconfigured duathlon.
The Men
Mitchell Robins of Australia led the men into T1 at the conclusion of the opening 2-mile run, with nine more men within 20 seconds. TJ Tollakson blasted the bike to a 2 minute lead on a pack that included Tom Lowe, Patrick Evoe, Chris McDonald, Richie Cunningham, and Canadian Trevor Wurtele. Wurtele surged to the lead and held it to the finish in 3:23:521, 14 seconds ahead of Cunningham, who nipped Lowe by one second at the line for the runner-up slot
The Women
Nine women finished the 2-mile run in a dense pack that included including Magali Tisseyre, Heather Wurtele and Annie Gervais of Canada, Australian Mirinda Carfrae, and Americans Caitlin Snow, Amanda Lovato, Sarah Piampiano, Kristin Andrews, and Amber Ferreira.
Piampiano’s race-best bike split earned her a one minute lead into T2, with Wurtele and Amy March following. The rest of the field lagged 5 minutes back.
Piampiano ran through to the finish unchallenged and arrived at the line in 3:43:58 with a 1:55 margin on Heather Wurtele and 3:30 on third place Mirinda Carfrae, who started the run with a 7-minute deficit and passed Marsh near the finish for the final spot on the podium.
Both Wurtele’s and Piampiano’s wins have to be classified as big upsets.
Trevor Wurtele, whose wife Heather finished 2nd today, began his pro career in 2008. His notable previous results include a 3rd place at the 2010 Vancouver International half Ironman, a 6th place at the 2009 Ironman Coeur d’Alene, and 5th place at the 2011 Ironman 70.3 Calgary.
Piampiano, 31, began triathlon in 2009 and turned pro last November. She had a notable amateur career, scoring 1st overall amateur last year at Galveston 70.3 and Ironman Coeur d’Alene, 5th overall amateur and 23rd overall female at the Ironman World Championship in Kona with a time of 9:521:17. As a pro, Piampiano was 7th at the 2011 Ironman Cozumel and 6th at Galveston 70.3 last year.
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Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
April 22, 2012
R 2 mi. / B 52 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 3:23:51
2. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:24:04
3. Tom Lowe (GBR) 3:24:05
4. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:24:51
5. Patrick Evoe (USA) 3:25:43
6. Chris Kemp (AUS) 3:25:57
7. Igor Amorelli (BRA)3:27:02
8. Michael Lovato (USA) 3:27:36
9. Chris McDonald (AUS) 3:28:10
10. Zach Ruble (USA) 3:32:26
Women
1. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 3:43:58
2. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 3:45:53
3. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 3:47:28
4. Amy Marsh (USA) 3:47:48
5. Caitlin Snow (USA) 3:48:59
6. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 3:50:52
7. Jennie Hansen () 3:52:45
8. Kristin Andrews (USA) 3:55:26
9. Amber Ferreira (USA) 3:57:19
10. Annie Gervais (CAN) 3:58:36