Leo Bergere, Katrina Matthews Conquer Lanzarote 70.3
Draft legal star Leo Bergere swept to victory with a second-best half marathon that gave him a 26 seconds margin over Kyle Smith of New Zealand at Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote. After falling 1:39 behind fellow Frenchman Clement Mignon and back in 5th place at T2, Bergere finally took the lead from Smith in the final kilometer and stretched out his winning margin to 27 seconds at the finish line.
Led by a by-far women’s-best best 2:27:56 bike split, Katrina Matthews of Great Britain scored a dominating win over defending Ironman 70.3 World Champion Anne Haug of Germany.
Matthews overcame a 3:01 deficit after the swim to charge to the lead halfway through the challenging Lanzarote hills. After forging a 3:43 lead over fellow Brit Jess Learmonth at T2 and 5:01 over Haug, Matthews cinched the win with a women’s second-fastest 1:17:55 run split that brought her to the finish in 4:17:46 with a 3:37 margin over Haug (race-best 1:16:04 run) and 5:58 over third place Jess Learmonth.
Men
Kyle Smith of New Zealand led the men’s swim with a 21:45 split that gave him a 3-seconds lead on Florian Angert of Germany and 5 seconds on Bergere. Next in line in a pack of five were Christophe de Keyser of Belgium (+34 seconds), Pamphiel Pareyn of France (+39s), Gabor Faldum of Hungary (+40s) Clement Mignon of France (+41s) and Gregory Barnaby of Italy (+42s).
The rugged hills of Lanzarote proved severely slower than the pool table flat speedrome bike course of Dubai. Mignon made quick work of his 41 seconds deficit after the swim and joined Smith at the lead at the 10k mark. Chevalier charged out of second ten and joined a top 5 lead pack. World Triathlon ace Bergere and Florian Angert of Germany also joined the leading five breakaway pack.
After a second- fastest 2:16:10 bike split, Mignon joined Smith (2:16:55) at the T2 lead, followed by Angert (+1:28), Boris Stein who made up for a 3 minute deficit after the swim with a race-best 2:15:09 bike split, Bergere (+1:39), and Chevalier (1:40).
Smith, a training partner of Jan Frodeno in Girona, led the field through the first 10k, 20 seconds ahead of Mignon. As the run progressed, Bergere, Angert and Chevalier traded the lead on the close chase pack. At the 16 kilometer mark, Smith maintained a 14 seconds lead over Bergere, who overtook Mignon, who was engaged in a battle for third with Angert.
Energized on his way to a second-best 1:10:56 run, Bergere pulled away in the final kilometer to finish in 3:55:44 with a 27 seconds margin of victory over Smith (1:12:25 run) and 1:53 over third-place finisher Angert (1:12:36 run split). .
Jonas Hoffman of Germany made up plenty of ground with his race-best 1:10:53 run to finish 6th.
Women
Jess Learmonth of Great Britain led the women’s swim wave with a 23:34 split that gave her a 2 seconds margin over fellow Brit Lucy Buckingham and roughly 3 minutes over a trio including Haug, Marjolaine Pierre of France and Elisabetta Curridori of Italy.
Learmonth edged away from Buckingham early in the bike leg, while Matthews and Haug pushed hard to make up for deficits after the swim. Matthews pulled away from Haug and joined Learmonth and Buckingham in 1-2-3 British parade at the front.
Not content to roll with her countrywomen, Matthews charged ahead to notch a 2:27:56 bike split which gave her a 3:43 lead on Learmonth, 5:43 over Haug (2:33:50 bike split) and 15:34 over fast-fading Buckingham.
As Matthews has shown she is virtually at the top of the 70.3 run game, her second-best 1:17:55 run surrendered just 1:51 to Haug’s stellar 1:16:04 mark. Haug had the fastest run of the day (1:16:04) but it was only strong enough to take second place, 3:37 back of the winner.
In her 70.3 debut, Learmonth garnered third place, finishing with a 1:20:18 run.
Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
March 19, 2022-
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men
1. Leo Bergere (FRA) S 21:50 T1 2:22 B 2:18:27 T2 2:11 R 1:10:56 TOT 3:55:44
2. Kyle Smith (NZL) S 21:45 T1 2:24 B 2:16:55 T2 2:44 R 1:12:25 TOT 3:56:11
3. Florian Angert (GER) S 21:48 T1 2:29 B 2:18:11 T2 2:35 R 1:12:36 TOT 3:57:37
4. Clement Mignon (FRA) S 22:26 R1 2:23 B 2:16:10 T2 2:42 R 1:15:17 TOT 3:58:56
5. Leon Chevalier (FRA) TOT 3:59:25
6. Jonas Hoffman (GER) S 24:11 T1 2:28 B 2:20:26 T2 2:49 R 1:10:53 4:00:55
7. Boris Stein (GER) S 24:48 T1 2:34 B 2:15:09 T2 2:48 R 1:17:04 TOT 4:02:21
8. Gabor Faldum (HUN) S 22:25 T1 2:18 B 2:23:16 T2 4:30 R 1:10:31 TOT 4:02:58
9. Christophe de Keyser (BEL) S 22:20 T1 2:12 B 2:21:16 T2 2:27 R 1:16:07 TOT 4:04:20
10. Gregory Barnaby (ITA) S 22:27 T1 2:25 B 2:21:58 T2 2:42 R 1:15:16 TOT 4:04:45
Women
1. Katrina Matthews (GBR) S 26:36 T1 2:35 B 2:27:56 T2 2:46 R 1:17:55 TOT 4:17:46
2. Anne Haug (GER) S 26:33 T1 2:27 B 2:33:50 T2 2:30 R 1:16:04 TOT 4:21:23
3. Jess Learmonth (GBR) S 23:34 T1 2:33 B 2:34:43 T2 2:38 R 1:20:18 TOT 4:23:44
4. Lucy Buckingham (GBR) S 23:36 T1 2:31 B 2:38:51 T2 3:01 R 1:25:22 TOT 4:33:20
5. Else Visser (FRA) S 29:03 T1 2:42 B 2:38:31 T2 2:52 R 1:22:12 TOT 4:35:17
6. Marjolaine Pierre (FRA) S 26:39 T1 2:49 B 2:44:39 T2 2:33 R 1:19:41 TOT 4:36:19
7. Lydia Dant (GBR) S 29:06 T1 2:50 B 2:39:08 T2 3:23 R 1:25:27 TOT 4:39:53
8. Giorgia Priarone (ITA) S 28:04 T1 2:37 B 2:46:24 T2 2:40 R 1:22:16 TOT 4:41:59
9. Diede Diederiks (FRA) S 29:08 T1 2:49 B 2:42:07 T2 2:49 R 2:38 R 1:25:48 TOT 4:42:28
10. Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) S 27:24 T1 3:02 B 2:48:44 T2 3:09 R 1:23:53 TOT 4:46:09
