Piampiano, Potts pulverize the pros at IM Brazil
Sarah Piampiano and Andy Potts led the U.S. to a double victory at Ironman Brazil.
Piampiano made for an 8-minute 19-seconds deficit after the swim with a red-hot 4:43:48 bike split that gave her a 4:51 lead after the bike and a 2:53:18 marathon – 17:42 better than the next-best effort by her competitors. That propelled Piampiano to the finish in 8:40:49 with a 22:58 margin of victory over Pamella Oliveira of Brazil and 36:07 over 3rd place Bruna Mahn of Brazil.
This victory was her most impressive Ironman and comes after a 2nd place finish at Ironman 70.3 Monterrey earlier this year. Previous top finishes in 2018 include a win at Peru 70.3, 2nd at Ironman Brazil, 3rd at Ironman Lake Placid and 4th at Ironman 70.3 South Africa.
Potts started his day with a 6th-best 45:53 swim that was 11 second behind swim leader Luiz Ferreira and one second behind his closest rival on the day, Will Clarke of Great Britain.
After 60 kilometers of the bike leg, Potts and Clarke and Igor Amorelli of Brazil surged to a 7 minute lead on the first chase pack. After a race-best 4:19:14 bike split, Potts led Clarke and Amorelli by 4:15 with the rest of the field out of touch.
After 20 kilometers, Potts built a 5 minute lead on Clarke, then relaxed his pace slightly as he sailed to a 5th-best 2:53:40 marathon that brought him to the line in 8:02:58 with a 3:33 margin of victory over Clarke (2:52:40 run) and 7:22 over 3rd place Frank Silvestrin of Brazil (race-best 2:47:15 marathon split).
Potts adds another highlight to his 2019 record after a 2nd at Pucon 70.3 and a win at the half Ironman distance Challenge Cancun.
WOMEN
Pamella Oliveira of Brazil rushed the swim with a 49:54 split that gave her a 5 minutes lead on Gisele Bertucci and Bruna Mahn of Brazil and 8:19 on Sarah Piampiano of the U.S.
Halfway through the 180 kilometer bike ride, sliced her deficit to Oliveira to 2:21, followed by Mahn (+10:30), Bertucci (++29:01) and Julia Kruger Romariz (+43:15). By 120lk, Piampiano passed Oliveira and took a 40 seconds lead. No time to relax, Piampiano kept her foot on the gas and extended her lead to 1:45 on Oliveira and 15:37 over a fast-fading Mahn.
After a sizzling 4:43:48 bike split – 13:43 better than Oliveira – Piampiano arrived at T2 with a 4:51 lead on Oliveira and 18:43 on Mahn.
With no inclination to rest or relax, Piampiano pushed herself to the limit all the way to the end, closing with a 2:53:18 marathon to finish in 8:40:49 with a 22:58 margin of victory over Oliveira (3:11:04 run split) and 36:07 over 3rd place Mahn (3:10:40 run)
MEN
Ten men came out of the swim in a tight pack within two seconds. Luiz Francisco Paiva Ferreira led the mob in 45:42, followed immediately by Igor Amorelli, Eduardo Lass, Paulo Maciel da Silva, then came overall contenders William Clarke of Great Britain and Andy Potts of the U.S. Thiago Vinhal of Brazil and Cyril Viennot of France.
After 65 kilometers, Clarke led a tight pack that included Amorelli and Potts with a chase group including Viennot, Da Silva, Justin Metzler, Bruno Matheus and many more 7 and a half minutes arrears. At 140 km Potts., Amorelli and Clarke broke out to an 8 and a half minutes advantage over Viennot, Frank Silvestrin, Metzler and more.
After a race -best 4:19:14 bike split., Potts led into T2 by 4:15 over Amorelli, 4:17 ahead of Clarke, 12:17 over Gustavo Iglesias and 13:34 and 13:35 over Vinicius Canhedo and Silvestrin.
By 15km into the run, Potts held a 2:45 marathon pace that gave him a 5 minutes lead on Clarke and far more on the rest with Vinhal flying on the run, advancing from 12th at 140km of the bike to 5th at 18km of the run. Also on the move was Silvestrin, who passed Amorelli for third place halfway through the run.
After a 5th-fastest 2:53:40 marathon, Potts finished in 8:02:58 with a 3:33 margin of victory over Clarke, who ran 2:52:40. Frank Silvestrin, who ran a race-best 2:47:15, took 3rd place, 7:22 behind the winner.
Ironman Brazil
Florianopolis, Brazil
May 26, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Women
1. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 8:40:49 S 58:13 T1 3:36 B 4:43:48 T2 1:55 R 2:53:18
2. Pamella Oliveira (BRA) 9:03:47 S 49:54 T1 3:03 B 4:57:31 T2 2:17 R 3:11:04
3. Bruna Mahn (BRA) 9:16:56 S 54:48 T1 2:48 B 5:06:43 T2 1:57 R 3:10:40
4. Julia Kruger Romariz (BRA) 10:16:19 S 1:02:56 T1 3:43 B 5:32:10 T2 4:03 R 3:33:28
5. Gisele Bertucci (BRA) 10:33:30 S 54:46 T1 3:13 B 5:30:42 T2 5:56 R 3:58:54
Men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 8:02:58 S 45:54 T1 2:29 B 4:19:14 T2 1:42 R 2:53:40
2. Will Clarke (GBR) 8:06:31 S 45:53 T1 2:24 B 4:23:38 T2 1:59 R 2:52:40
3. Frank Silvestrin (BRA) 8:10:20 S 46:45 T1 2:30 B 4:31:57 T2 1:55 R 2:47:15
4. Gustavo Rodriguez Iglesias (ESP) 8:12:16 S 50:00 T1 3:17 B 4:26:37 T2 2:11 R 2:50:13
5. Thiago Vinhal (BRA) 8:17:07 S 46:07 T1 2:38 B 4:37:22 T2 1:42 R 2:49:20
