Alessandro Degasperi, Lucy Gossage win second Lanzarote titles
Alessandro Degasperi of Italy and Lucy Gossage of Great Britain won the overall titles at Ironman Lanzarote Saturday. Both competitors won for the second time on this challenging, hilly and windy venue off the coast of Africa. Degasperi previously won in 2015 and took 2nd last year and Gossage won in 2014 and took 3rd last year.
Degasperi began his day with a 5th-fastest 49:20 swim that left him 13 seconds off the lead, then took over the lead 20 kilometers into the bike leg on his way to a race-best 5:03:32 bike split that gave him a 4:13 lead on Ivan Raña of Spain at T2. Degasperi then cruised to a 4th-quickest 2:54:23 marathon that brought him to the finish in 8:52:16 with a 6:21 margin over Raña and 8:48 over 3rd place Cyril Viennot of France.
Gossage began her day with a women’s 5th-best 58:43 swim that left her 6:56 behind Camille Donat of France and passed Michelle Vesterby for the lead on the climb up to Mirador del Rio. Gossage finished the ride with the women’s-fastest 5:29:06 split that gave her a 4:11 lead on Vesterby. Gossage then cruised in with a women’s 3rd-best 3:15:39 marathon which brought her to the line in 9:49:27 with a 4:36 margin on the surprise dark horse – women’s 30-34 age group amateur Simone Mitchell of Great Britain.
Mitchell had a stellar amateur record – 2nd in female 25-29 at the 2014 Ironman World Championship and 1st overall age group woman – by 5 minutes – at the 2017 Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga.
Mitchell closed with a women’s 2nd-fastest 3:08:00 marathon to pass runner-up professional Michelle Vesterby in the final kilometers, who fell 3:08 behind the amateur and 4:37 ahead of 3rd professional and 4th overall woman Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain. Saleta Castro of Spain closed with a women’s-fastest 3:03:45 marathon to finish 4th pro and 5th overall woman, 2:38 behind Bartlett.
After returning to work full time as a cancer doctor in January 2017, Gossage has amassed remarkable results – a 3rd at 2017 Lanzarote and wins at Ironman UK, Ironman Wales and Ironman Emilia Romagna and now her 4th Ironman victory in a row at the famously challenging Lanzarote venue. Gossage’s Lanzarote win is also her 9th career victory at the Ironman distance.
Gossage's 9:49:27 finish time was 13:47 slower than the winning time of Lucy Charles last year.
Men
Peru Alfaro of Spain led the swim in 49:07, which gave him a 5 seconds lead on Martijn Dekker of Netherlands, 7 seconds on Romain Guillaume of France, 9 seconds on Francisco Fernandes Cortes, 13 seconds on Degasperi, 17 seconds on Ivan Raña of Spain, 2:28 on Cyril Viennot of France, 2:33 on Miquel Blanchart Tinto of Spain and 2:37 on Jens Petersen-Bach of Denmark.
Age grouper in the 30-34 category Victor Manuel Gomez of Spain had the fastest swim – 49:05.
Guillaume broke into an early lead on the bike but after 49 minutes, Degasperi took the lead. By 39 kilometers, Degasperi and Guillaume were riding together, 1:37 in front of Martijn Dekker 3:15 ahead of Peru Alfaro and Raña, and 6:10 ahead of Mikolaj Luft, Cyril Viennot and Miquel Blanchart Tinto of Spain.
Atop the climb to Mirador del Rio, 588 meters high at 102 kilometers into the bike leg, Degasperi had a lead of 5:12 on Raña, 6:21 on Dekker, and 6:31 Guillaume, who was fading. Further back were Viennot (+9:19) and Andrej Vistica (+9:25).
By kilometer 145, Degasperi held a lead of 5:00 on Raña, 7:48 on Dekker, 10:53 on Vistica, 10:57 on Viennot, 12:03 on Brian Fogarty, and 13:41 on Mikolaj Luft.
After a 5:03:32 bike split – stark proof of the challenge presented by the 2700 meters of climbing at Lanzarote – Degasperi held a 4:13 lead on Raña, 10:11 on Dekker, 10:22 on Fogarty, 10:22 on Pedro Andujar and 11:03 on Vistica.
On the first 10km of the run, Guillaume withdrew.
Halfway through the 42.2 kilometer run, Degasperi increased his lead to 7:34 over Raña. Viennot passed Vistica and held 3rd place, and Cyril Viennot advanced to 4th.
After 14 kilometers, Degasperi was on pace for a 2:48 marathon and increased his lead to 6:30 on Raña.
By 25km, Degasperi led Raña by 7:24, Viennot by 11:06, Vistica by 13:21 and fast charging Jens Petersen-Bach by 15:06.
At 30km, Degasperi led Raña by 7:53, Viennot by 10:48, Vistica by 13:39, Petersen-Bach by 14:343 and Pedro Andujar by 17:30.
After a 4th-best 2:54:43 run, Degasperi finished in 8:52:16 with a 6:21 margin on Raña and 7:13 on 3rd place finisher Cyril Viennot of France. Jens Petersen-Bach finished 4th in 9:04:04 and Andrej Vistica of Herzegovina finished 5th in 9:06:08. Miquel Blanchart Tinto of Spain posted the day’s fastest run in 2:45:35, which advanced him to 7th place.
Women
Camille Donat of France led the swim in 51:47 which gave her a 2:23 lead on Michelle Vesterby of Denmark, 3:46 on Katja Konschak of Germany, 4:15 on Saleta Castro of Spain, 6:56 on oncologist Lucy Gossage of Great Britain, 7:04 on Yvonne Van Vlerken of Netherlands, 7:09 on Marta Bernardi of Italy and 8:17 on Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain.
After 59 kilometers of the bike leg, Vesterby opened a 3:33 lead on Gossage, 3:38 on Van Vlerken, 5:17 on Bartlett, 8:22 on Martine Kunz of Switzerland, 10:44 on 30-34 age grouper Simone Mitchell of Great Britain, 11:00 on Bernardi and 12:59 on Donat.
On the climb to the 608 meters altitude at Mirador del Rio, Gossage passed Vesterby and held a 30 seconds lead. Next up were Bartlett (+3:53), Van Vlerken (+5:51), Martina Kunz (+9:25), Mitchell (10:10:03), Marta Bernardi (+12:45), Saleta Castro (+18:36) and Annah Watkinson (+19:01).
After a by-far women’s-fastest 5:29:06 bike split, Gossage made up for her 5 minutes deficit after the swim and held a 4:11 lead on Vesterby, 9:46 on Bartlett, 12:43 on Mitchell, 16:47 on Kunz, 20:12 on Bernardi and 26:25 on local heroine Saleta Castro.
After a women’s 3rd-best 3:15:39 marathon, Gossage finished in 9:49:27 with a 4:36 advantage on Mitchell (3:08:00 marathon) and 7:44 on 3rd place overall finisher and runner-up pro Michelle Vesterby (3:19:19 run).
Club La Santa Ironman Lanzarote
Lanzarote, Isla Canarias, Spain
May 26. 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi
Results
Men
1. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 8:52:16 S 49:20 T1 2:21 B 5:03:32 T2 2:42 Run 2:54:23
2. Ivan Raña (ESP) 8:58:37 S 49:24 T1 2:23 B 5:07:38 T2 2:36 R 2:56:38
3. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 9:01:36 S 51:34 T1 2:28 B 5:13:31 T2 3:05 R 2:51:00
4, Jens Petersen-Bach (DEN) 9:04:04 S 51:43 T1 2:32 B 5:14:26 T2 2:54 R 2:52:31
5. Andrej Vistica (HRV) 9:06:08 S 55:24 T1 2:54 B 5:06:57 T2 2:50 R 2:57:05
6. Pedro Jose Andujar (ESP) 9:07:33 S 55:43 T1 3:03 B 5:06:51 T2 2:47 R 2:59:11
7. Miquel Blanchart Tinto (ESP) 9:08:34 S 51:39 T1 2:19 B 5:26:09 T2 2:53 R 2:45:35
Women
1. Lucy Gossage (GBR) 9:49:27 S 58:43 T1 2:46 B 5:29:06 T2 3:14 R 3:15:39
2. Simone Mitchell (GBR) 9:54:03 S 1:00:53 T1 N/A B 5:38:06 T2 N/A R 3:08:00 * F30-34
3. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) 9:57:11 S 54:10 T1 2:28 B 5:38:08 T2 3:09 R 3:19:19
4. Nikki Bartlett (GBR) 10:01:48 S 1:00:04 T1 3:26 B 5:56:51 T2 4:44 R 3:16:43
5. Saleta Castro (ESP) 10:04:26 S 56:02 T1 2:55 B 5:58:02 T2 3:43 R 3:03:45
6. Marta Bernardi (ITA) 10:11:57 S 58:56 T1 3:04 B 5:48:46 T2 3:13 R 3:17:59
