Zyemtsev, Lidbury take Augusta
Viktor Zyemtsev ran past Maxim Kriat to take the ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta and Aussie Tim Berkel prevented a Ukrainian podium sweep. Brit Emma-Kate Lidbury snagged the women's title.
No one was surprised when Kyle Leto emerged from the water in first place, and he had a nice lead over James Duff (who would eventually drop out) and Stanislav Krylov.
Leto then hammered the bike and recorded a 2:06:40 bike split, a time that would prove to be fastest on the day. Maxim Kriat, Tim Berkel, Richard Allen and Viktor Zyemtsev reached the bike-run transition together, but they were about 5 minutes behind the lone leader.
Zyemtsev then took charge on the run and dropped everybody around him. His 1:13:20 run was best fastest on the day and gave the speedy Ukrainian another title. Fellow Ukrainian Maxim Kriat charged into second place and Aussie Tim Berkel took third place. Leto's 1:27:21 run dropped him all the way back to 5th place, one spot behind Krylov.
UK 70.3 Champion Emma-Kate Lidbury followed swim leader Svetlana Blazevic out of the water, and the two of them had managed to drop the rest of the field by 2 minutes.
Lidbury got rid of Blazevic in no time and held the lead until very late into the bike segment with one of the faster female splits. But the quickest time of the day belonged to Heather Jackson, and her time of 2:22:58 allowed the American to reach the bike-run transition first.
Lidbury though ended her day with the fastest run split among the females, 10 minutes faster than Jackson and gave the Brit another 70.3 title. Amanda Lovato had a solid day throughout and managed to also move past Jackson to claim the runner-up spot, but Jackson held on to third place.
ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta
Augusta, GA / September 25, 2011
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 3:47:15
2. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 3:49:43
3. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:51:54
4. Stanislov Krylov (RUS) 3:55:28
5. Kyle Leto (USA) 3:56:17
6. Nick Waninger (USA) 3:58:05
7. Jose Jeuland (FRA) 4:02:05
8. Grant Burwalsh (CAN) 4:02:41
9. Kenneth Svendsen (USA) 4:06:11 *AG M35-39
10. Shanon Stallard (NZL) 4:07:15
Top women
1. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:19:31
2. Amanda Lovato (USA) 4:25:41
3. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:28:30
4. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) 4:29:57
5. Amy Kloner (USA) 4:30:12
6. Caroline Smith (USA) 4:35:13
7. Hallie Blunck (USA) 4:37:37 *AG W25-29
8. Svetlana Blazevic (YUG) 4:40:22
9. Laura Jorgensen (USA) 4:45:21 *AG W25-29
10. Kathryn Honderd (USA) 4:46:38 *AG W25-29
