Bergsten and Moody Take Comfortable Victories at 70.3 New Zealand
Anna Bergsten and Jack Moody came away with their first long-distance triathlon victories in comfortable style, winning Ironman 70.3 New Zealand on December 10.
Bergsten of Sweeden took the lead on the 13.1 mile run and won the women's race by more than two minutes. Moody took the lead of the men's race on the bike and extended the gap to second-place on the run to win his home race.
Women’s Race
New Zealand’s Recebba Clarke and Australia’s Chloe Harnett led the women out of the water in 24:51. Bergsten was three minutes behind the leaders.
On the bike, Harnett and Clarke battled on the rough Kiwi roads, sharing the lead. Bergsten halved the deficit to the leaders on the bike, and by mile 5 took the lead. The Swede finished strong, eventually winning by 2:17. Berry was second in 4:23:27 and Clarke was third in 4:24:37.
Men’s Race
Benjamin Zorgnotti of Tahiti led the men out of the water in a fast 23:33, followed closely by New Zealand’s Sam Osborne. But the bike would see a decisive move by New Zealand’s Jack Moody around mile 25 that would define the race.
Moody had the fastest bike split of the day by a large margin and built a 3:40 lead over Mike Phillips. Moody continued his domination on the run and extended his lead to 7:49. Phillips held on for second in 3:57:08, and Simon Cochrane finished third in 3:57:58.
Women’s Results
Anna Bergsten (SWE) – 4:21:09
Hannah Berry (NZL) – 4:23:27
Rebecca Clarke (NZL) – 4:24:37
Chloe Hartnett (AUS) – 4:26:02
Rebecca Kingsford (NZL) – 4:39:54
Laura Armstrong (NZL) – 4:44:24
Men’s Results
Jack Moody (NZL) – 3:49:18
Mike Phillips (NZL) – 3:57:08
Simon Cochrane (NZL) – 3:57:58
Benjamin Zorgnotti (PYF) – 4:00:24
Sam Osborne (NZL) – 4:03:02
Scott Harpham (NZL) – 4:09:25
Yoann Colin (AUS) – 4:13:37
Lucas Duross (NZL) – 4:15:12
