Bayliss, Crawford win Challenge Henley

Stephen Bayliss of Great Britain and Gina Crawford of New Zealand won the overall titles at the Ironman-distance Challenge Henley-on-Thames triathlon Sunday.

Bayliss won it on the swim as his race-best 48:39 split won him a 9:09 lead on closest challenger Joel Jameson. Jameson’s second-fastest 4:47:20 bike split won back 7:33 from Bayliss and his race-fastest 2:42:10 took back another 33 seconds. But Jameson’s come-from-behind charge ultimately fell 1:32 short of Bayliss’s winning 8:29:31 time. Tuuka Miettinen of Finland combined a 6th-best 55:57 swim, a 2nd-best 4:49:07 bike split and 3rd-best 2:44:26 run to finish 2:38 back of Jameson in 3rd place.

Unlike the close men’s contest, New Zealand pro Gina Crawford smashed the women’s field with a 9:08:05 finish time that outpaced runner-up Scottish pro Bella Bayliss by 32 minutes 18 seconds and 3rd place British finisher Yvette Grice by 48:51.

Crawford combined all three race-best splits – a 53:05 swim, 5:11:14 bike and a 2:58:34 run — for one of the most dominating Ironman-distance performances of the year. Bayliss, who is obviously well off her best form, combined a 3rd-best 56:16 swim, a 2nd-best 5:25:42 bike split and a 3rd-best 3:12:22 run to finish in 9:40:23. Grice combined a 55:53 swim, a 5:41:51 bike split and a 3:14:36 run to finish in 9:56:56.

Challenge Henley-on-Thames
Henley, United Kingdom
September 16, 2012
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 8:29:31
2. Joel Jameson (GBR) 8:31:03
3. Tuuka Miettinen (FIN) 8:33:41
4. Erik-Simon Strijk (NED) 8:37:48
5. Scott Neyedli (GBR) 8:44:37
6. Joseph Spindler (GER) 8:50:30
7. Chris Goodfellow (GBR) 8:53:50
8. Egoitz Zalakain (ESP) 8:58:09
9. Marc Pschebizin (GER) 9:01:16
10. Jens Kaiser (GER) 9:02:41

Women

1. Gina Crawford (NZL) 9:08:05
2. Bella Bayliss (GBR) 9:40:23
3. Yvette Grice (GBR) 9:56:56
4. Lindy-Lee Folscher (RSA) 10:56:32 * F30-34
5. Tamsin Neale (GBR) 11:04:55 * F40-44
6. Janet Roxbrough (GBR) 11:38:38 * F35-39
7. Sarah Calver (GBR) 11:48:57 * F40-44
8. Jo Clift (GBR) 11:56:39 * F50-54
9. Claire Vinsen (GBR) 12:04:57 * F30-34