Beals, Blatchford triumph at IM Tremblant
In his rookie try at the Ironman distance, 70.3 ace Cody Beals smashed fellow Canadian Lionel Sanders to win Ironman Mont Tremblant by over two miles.
Beals overcame a 2:26 deficit after the swim with a race-best 4:24:29 bike split and a race-best 2:49:22 marathon to finish in 8:10:36. His overall time and bike split set race records. Beals topped runner-up Sanders by 13:25 and 3rd place Matt Russell of the U.S. by 14:38.
Beals thus added to a strong 2018 season which included Ironman 70.3 wins at Taiwan, Victoria and Eagleman.
After super swimmer Lauren Brandon led the women's field halfway through the swim, bike and the marathon, and Meredith Kessler took over until 7 kilometers from the finish, Australian Liz Blatchford finished off a come-from-behind victory by a 1:17 margin over Brandon.
Blatchford started her day with a women’s 3rd-best 53:56 swim which left her 3:15 behind Brandon and two seconds back of Kessler. After a women’s second-fastest 5:02:56 bike split, Blatchford and Kessler trailed Brandon by 5:21. On her way to a women's-best 3:13:32 marathon, Blatchford passed Brandon about the 33km mark, then took the lead from Kessler at the 35 km marker.
Blatchford thus added to a strong 2018 season in which she won Ironman Philippines and Busselton 70.3. Blatchford’s career highlights include 3rd place finishes at the 2013 and 2015 Ironman World Championship and three straight wins at Ironman Cairns from 2013 through 2015.
MEN
Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches of Canada led the swim in 50:10 – 31 second faster than women’s top swimmer Lauren Brandon – which gave him a 2:26 lead on fellow Canadian Cody Beals, 2:32 on Australian Joe Gambles, 2:33 on U.S. cyclist extraordinaire Andrew Yoder, 2:37 on Wouter Monchy of Belgium, 4:54 on Alan Carrillo of Mexico, 4:55 on Jesse Vondracek of the U.S., and 4:58 and 5:15 on Canadians Lionel Sanders and Jeff Symonds.
After 72 km of the bike leg, Beals, a top 70.3 competitor in his Ironman debut, took the lead by 1:03 over Yoder, 1:17 over Desroches, 1:47 over Sanders and 1:49 over Gambles. After 96km, Beals stretched his lead to 1:44 over Yoder, 2:22 over Sanders and Desroches, 2:46 over Gambles, 6:34 over Matt Russell of the U.S., and 8:26 over Carrillo.
At the 155km mark, Beals stretched his lead to 2:31 over a stubbornly resisting Sanders, 6:28 over Desroches, 9:07 over Russell, 9:58 over Yoder while Gambles fell out of contention with a 17:55 deficit.
In the final kilometers, Beals put the hammer down. After a race record Ironman Mont Tremblant 4:24:29 bike split, Beals hit T2 with a 6:57 lead on the usually bike dominant Sanders, 8:06 on Desroches, 11:17 on Russell and 16:01 on Sam Long.
Giving the current Ironman World Championship runner-up Sanders hope, Beals lost 1:06 of his advantage over Sanders in the first 4 km of the run. After 9.6 km, Sanders sliced his deficit to 4:20. After that point, Beals stanched the bleeding and held a 3:39 lead at 16.5 km.
From that point on, Sanders lacked his usual gas and slowly fell back to the finish. At the end, Beals closed with a 2:49:22 marathon that brought him to the finish in 8:10:36 with a 13:25 margin of victory over Sanders (2:55:51 run) and 14:38 over 3rd place Matt Russell of the U.S. (2:52:25 run).
WOMEN
As usual, super swimmer Lauren Brandon led the pro women’s wave with a 50:41 performance which gave her a 3:13 lead on fellow U.S. competitor Meredith Kessler, 3:15 on Australian Liz Blatchford, and 9:05 on Steph Corker of the U.S.
After 96 km of the bike leg, Brandon lengthened her lead to 4:48 and 4:50 on Blatchford and Kessler, with closest chasers Meredith Hill, Robyn Hardage, Steph Corker and Valerie Belanger 12:10 through 30 minutes arrears.
Displaying first rate bike strength to go with her otherworldly swim power, Brandon held a 5:21 advantage over the Kessler Blatchford duo and 14:44 on Meredith Hill of Australia at T2.
After a swift transition, Kessler put a minute on Blatchford and in the first 4 km of the run sliced Brandon’s lead to 4:04.
By 16.5 km, Brandon’s lead dropped to 1:22 over Kessler and 5:05 over Blatchford. By 20 km, Kessler pulled within 20 meters of Brandon and a surrender of the lead was inevitable.
By 31km, Kessler led Brandon by 1:05m but Blatchford was running fast and closed to within 1:25 of the leader. By 35km, Blatchford passed Kessler for the lead. At 37.6 km, Blatchford opened a 2:00 lead on Kessler and Brandon who were running together. Brandon, finding a last cup of energy, fought off Kessler to hold on to second place.
Ironman Mont Tremblant
Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
August 19, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Cody Beals (CAN) 8:10:36 S 52:35 T1 2:47 B 4:24:30 T2 1:23 R 2:49:22
2. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 8:24:01 S 55:07 T1 2:49 B 4:28:35 T2 1:41 R 2:55:51
3. Matt Russell (USA) 8:25:14 S 57:58 T1 2:33 B 4:30:37 T2 1:42 R 2:52:25
4. Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches (CAN) 8:28:40 S 50:10 T1 2:27 B 4:35:20 T2 1:53 R 2:58:51
5. Sam Long (USA) 8:42:50 S 58:20 T1 2:27 B 4:35:06T2 1:32 R 3:05:27
Women
1. Liz Blatchford (AUS) 9:16:45 S 53:56 T1 3:41 B 5:02:56 T2 2:41 R 3:13:32
2. Lauren Brandon (USA) 9:18:02 S 50:41 T1 2:45 B 5:01:47 T2 2:07 R 3:20:45
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) 9:23:09 S 53:53 T1 3:37 B 5:03:04 T2 1:38 R 3:20:58
4. Meredith Hill (AUS) 9:37:04 S 1:02:14 T1 4:00 B 5:03:07 T2 2:15 R 3:25:30
5. Valerie Belanger (CAN) 9:53:33 S 1:17:32 T1 5:56 B 5:00:38 T2 2:10 R 3:27:18
