Joe Skipper, Lucy Gossage take IM UK
Joe Skipper took the lead 23 km into the run and ran to a 7:20 margin of victory, while Lucy Gossage led wire-to-wire to take her 5th Ironman UK title by a more than 3 miles at Bolton.
The Ironman UK bike course, famed for the grinding challenge of its unrelenting hills, was shortened to 95 miles because of what officials declared was fire risks heightened by blazing hot weather. Shortened by 15 percent of the standard 112 miles, the course adjustment cut the top men’s bike times by 45 minutes and the top women’s bike splits by roughly 52 minutes.
Skipper combined a 7th-best 56:35 swim, a second-best 4:08:30 split for the 17 mile shortened bike leg, and a by-far race-best 2:45:56 marathon to finish in 7:55:34 with a 7:20 margin of victory over Marc Duelsen of Germany and 22:49 over 3rd-place finisher Fabian Rahn of Germany.
Skipper’s victory comes just two weeks after his 4th place finish at the Iron-distance Challenge Roth, finally arriving at the top spot at the Bolton podium after a 2nd in 2014 and a 3rd in 2015.
After finishing with her 5th Ironman UK triumph, Lucy Gossage declared “My last Bolton!” Her rivals might breathe a sigh of relief as Gossage finished with a whopping 32 minutes and 58 seconds margin of victory over Camilla Lindholm Borg of Sweden.
Gossage combined a women’s-best 1:02:56 swim (times longer than usual due to a non-wetsuit swim), a women’s-best 4:28:40 bike split and a women’s second-best 3:14:26 marathon to finish in 8:51:18 with a 32:58 margin of victory over Camilla Lindholm Borg of Sweden and 42:31 over 3rd-place Angela Naeth of Canada. .
MEN
Balasz Csoke of Hungary led the swim in 50:57 which gave him a 2:12 lead in Simon Cochrane of New Zealand, 2:39 on Will Clarke of Great Britain, 3:03 on Arnaud Guilloux of France, 4:16 over the seemingly ageless 50-year-old Andreas Niedrig of Germany, 5:02 on Fraser Cartmell of Great Britain and 5:38 on pre-race favorite Joe Skipper of Great Britain.
Csoke charged into the lead but at the 20km mark, he stopped to fix a stuck chain and lost roughly half an hour before remounting and rejoining the race. Also experiencing was Will Clarke, who dropped 10 minutes at the 30km mark.
As the competitors hit the hills, Arnaud Guilloux took the lead, followed by Simon Cochrane, Marc Duelsen, and Fraser Cartmell with Skipper moving up to 6th place.
By 56km, Duelsen took the lead with a 52 seconds lead on Cartmell with Skipper 3rd 4 minutes down, Simon Cochrane 4th at 4:58 back and new pro Henry Irvine 5th, 5:19 arrears.
At 95km, Duelsen maintained a 4:28 lead on Skipper and Cartmell and 5:02 on Henry Irvine. At 120km, Duelsen maintained a 4 minute lead on Skipper, 5:07 on Irvine, 8:39 on Cartmell, 13 minutes on Cochrane and 13:38 on Erik-Simon Strijk. Making up no ground, Clarke trailed by 17 minutes in 6th place.
After a race-best 4:06:21 bike split, Duelsen led into T2 with a 3:22 lead on Skipper, 5:13 on Irvine, 12:30 on Cartmell. 14:46 on Strijk, and 18:13 on Cochrane.
By 10km into the run, Duelsen held on to a 2:48 lead on Skipper and 6 minutes on Irvine. After 16km, Skipper cut Duelsen’s lead to 2 minute while Irvine lagged 8 minutes back. At 21.5 km, Skipper sliced Duelsen’s lead to 58 seconds while the rest of the field fell more than 10 minutes out of contention. About the 23km mark, Skipper took the lead never to be challenged again.
After a race-best 2:45:56 run, Skipper finished in 7:55:34 with a 7:20 margin of victory over Duelsen, who closed with a 3rd-fastest 2:56:19 marathon. Fabian Rahn of Germany closed with a second-best 2:53:17 run split to take 3rd place, 22:49 behind the winner.
WOMEN
While the leading women could explain their tardy swims due to the non-wetsuit ruling because of warmer than regulation water temps, Gossage’s 1:02:56 leading split revealed that there were no swimmers of the first or second rank in the field. Leaving the water, Gossage had a 2:26 lead on Angela Naeth of Canada and a whopping 26:48 advantage on Camilla Lindholm Borg of Sweden – a far greater deficit than even her usually slow swims.
Gossage took no pity on her rivals on the bike, as her 4:28:40 bike split – the equivalent of a 5:20 mark on a full course – was 8 minutes faster than Naeth and 10 minutes better than Lindholm Borg and gave her a 10:25 lead on Naeth and 37:02 on Borg.
Gossage then cruised to a women’s second-best 3:14:26 marathon to finish in 8:51:18 with a 32:58 margin of victory over Borg (women’s-best 3:10:45 run). Naeth. obviously worn down by the heat, closed with a 3:46:34 run to finish 3rd, 42:31 behind the winner.
Ironman UK
Bolton, England
July 15, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 95 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Joe Skipper (GBR) 7:55:34 S 56:35 T1 2:57 B 4:08:30 T2 1:38 R 2:45:56
2. Marc Duelsen (GER) 8:02:54 S 56:00 T1 2:18 B 4:06:21 .T2 1:58 R 2:56:19
3. Fabian Rahn (GER) 8:18:23 S 1:05:30 T1 2:45 B 4:15:17 T2 1:37 R 2:53:17
4. Henry Irvine (GBR) 8:19:51 S 58:19 T1 2:59 B 4:08:35 T2 1:39 R 3:08:20
5. Simon Cochrane (NZL) 8:21:17 S 53:09 T1 2:32 B 4:27:11 T2 1:49 R 2:56:37
Women
1. Lucy Gossage (GBR) 8:51:18 S 1:02:56 T1 3:16 B 4:28:40 T2 2:31 R 3:14:26
2. Camilla Lindholm Borg (SWE) 9:24:16 S 1:29:15 T1 3:23 B 4:38:47 T2 2:08 R 3:10:45
3. Angela Naeth (CAN) 9:33:49 S 1:04:53 T1 3:54 B 4:36:01 T2 2:29 R 3:46:34
