Salthouse, Amorelli take Miami 70.3
Ellie Salthouse of Australia and Igor Amorelli of Brazil took top honors at Ironman 70.3 Miami.
Salthouse trailed by 19 seconds after the swim, took a 2:11 lead on Angela Naeth of Canada after a 2nd-best 2:21:27 bike split that was 59 seconds slower than Naeth's women's-best 2:20:28 split. Salthouse then held serve against Naeth with a 2nd-best 1:27:12 run to finish in 4:19:57 with a 2:39 margin of victory over Naeth and 7:07 on 3rd-place Sarah Lewis of Great Britain.
Salthouse thus defended her 2016 Miami 70.3 title. The win was the first of the year for the 24-year-old Brisbane, Australia native and comes after a 3rd at St. George 70.3, 2nd at Oceanside 70.3, 4th at Geelong 70.3, and 5th at Challenge – The Championship.
Amorelli came back strong after a disappointing 14th place at Kona 8 days ago. He started the day with a 7th-best 27:03 swim split that left him 1 minute behind the swim leader. He dominated the field with a race-best 2:08:21 bike split that have him a 3:07 lead at T2. Amorelli then finished with a 3rd-fastest 1:21:56 half marathon which brought him to the line in 3:59:43 with a 2:43 margin of victory over Franz Loeschke of Germany and 4:23 over 3rd place finisher Paulo Roberto Maciel of Brazil.
The victory was Amorelli’s second 70.3 win after his triumph at Palmas 70.3.
Women
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the women’s swim with a 28:11 split which gave her a 19 seconds lead on Ellie Salthouse of Australia, 36 seconds on Leanda Cave of Great Britain, 1:14 of Lauren Goss of the U.S., 2:55 on Sarah Lewis of the U.S., 3:18 on Alissa Doehla of the U.S., and 3:24 on strong biker-runner Angela Naeth of Canada.
Halfway through the 56-mile bike leg, Salthouse took the lead by 2:06 on Spieldenner, 2:48 on Goss, 2:51 on hard charging Naeth, and 4:15 on 4-time World Champion Cave.
After a women’s second-best 2:21:27 bike split, Salthouse arrived at T2 with a 2:11 lead on Naeth, who posted the women's-best 2:20:28 bike split. Salthouse continued to put time on the rest of the field – 6:27 on Spieldenner, 7:13 on Sarah Lewis, 10:19 on Cecilia Davis-Hayes, 14:31 on Goss, and 15:17 on Cave.
If Naeth harbored hopes of running down Salthouse, they were immediately doused as Salthouse increased her lead to 3:28 after 3 miles of the run. Falling further back were Sarah Lewis (+7:32) and Spieldenner (+8:24). Halfway through the run, Salthouse stopped pouring on her lead as Naeth held a 3:48 deficit, Lewis 7:29, Spieldenner 9:55, and Davis-Hayes at 12:44.
Men
Teylor Arboleda of Venezuela led the swim in 26:03 which gave him a 3 seconds margin on Jesper Svensson of Sweden, 5 seconds on Marcus Fernandes of Brazil, 55 seconds on Paulo Roberto Maciel of Brazil and Yunior Rosete Torres of the U.S., 1 minute on Amorelli and Franz Loeschke of Germany, 1:05 on Paul Matthews of Australia, 1:07 on Fernando Toldi of Brazil, 2:10 on Vinicius Canhedo of Brazil, and 2:24 on Tim Rea of Australia.
Halfway through the bike leg, Amorelli seized a 35 seconds lead on Matthews, 38 seconds on Svensson, 1:13 on Maciel, 1:16 on Toldi, 1:19 on Loeschke, 2:58 on Rea, and 2:59 on Canhedo.
After a race-best 2:08:21 bike split, Amorelli arrived at T2 with a 3:07 lead on Tim Rea (second-fastest 2:09:57 bike split), 5:23 on Toldi, 5:29 on Loeschke and Michel Gonzalez-Castro, 5:30 on Maciel, 5:32 on Torres, 5:34 on Matthews, and 6:57 on Canhedo.
After 2 miles of the run, Amorelli quelled any doubts that he was vulnerable by increasing his lead on Rea by 37 seconds and generally maintaining his T2 advantages on Maciel, Toldi, Gonzalez Castro, Matthews, and Loeschke.
Halfway through the run, Amorelli increased his lead on Rea to 5:09 while Maciel trailed by 5:18, Loeschke by 6:06, and Canhedo by 8:14. At 8.4 miles, Loeschke advanced to 2nd place, 5:04 behind Amorelli, while Maciel advanced to 3rd, 5:21 arrears and Rea fell to 4th, 7:55 behind the leader.
After a 3rd-best 1:21:56 run, Amorelli finished in 3:59:43 with a 2:43 margin of victory over Loeschke (race-best 1:18:42 run split) and 4:23 on 3rd-place finisher Maciel (1:20:38 run).
Ironman 70.3 Miami
Miami, Florida
October 22, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 4:19:57 S 28:29 B 2:21:27 R 1:27:12
2. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:22:36 S 31:34 B 2:20:28 R 1:27:34
3. Sarah Lewis (GBR) 4:27:04 S 31:05 B 2:25:36 R 1:26:46
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:30:28 S 28:10 B 2:28:13 R 1:31:19
5. Cecilia Davis-Hayes (USA) 4:33:46 S 36:34 B 2:23:37 R 1:30:25
Men
1. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 3:59:43 S 27:03 B 2:08:21 R 1:21:56
2. Franz Loeschke (GER) 4:02:26 S 27:03 B 2:13:55 R 1:18:42
3. Paulo Roberto Maciel (BRA) 4:04:06 S 26:58 B 2:14:04 R 1:20:38
4. Vinicius Canhedo (BRA) 4:09:02 S 28:13 B 2:14:03 R 1:23:39
5. Tim Rea (AUS) 4:10:20 S 28:27 B 2:09:57 R 1:29:02
