Bell, Stewart take Lake Stevens
Luke Bell pulled away from Paul Ambrose to take the 2011 Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens title. Tyler Stewart had a monster bike split and then cruised home on a fast 1:22:29 run to take the win.
Kiwi Graham OGrady was first out of the water just ahead of Gavin Anderson. Paul Ambrose, Tom Evans and Luke Bell were next about 30 seconds later.
Racine 70.3 winner Paul Ambrose pushed the pace on the bike but wasn't able to drop Bell. Both Aussies recorded a 2:15 bike split, allowing them to reach T2 just about 2 minutes ahead of Canadian Jeff Symonds.
Bell and Ambrose ran shoulder to shoulder for most of the run but in the end the more experienced Bell managed to pull away and take his third title at 70.3 Lake Stevens.
"I love that course undulating honest bike and a rolling fast run. What can you say, 3 wins and a 3rd place out for 4 races…. I love the course and I think the course likes me," said Bell to slowtwitch. "It has been a great and enjoyable season, 2nd St Croix 70.3, 3rd IM Texas, 1st Honu70.3, 3rd Kansas 70.3 and now 1st Lake Stevens 70.3. I have not gone out there thinking about winning, just trying to put myself in the best position during the race to perform well, give %100 and then all else has followed."
Jennifer Luebke and defending champion Melanie McQuaid led the small Pro women's field out of the water, with Jennifer Fletcher, Mackenzie Madison and Rachel McBride next. Tyler Stewart left the water just about 2 minutes later.
It didn't take Stewart very long though to reel in the few Pros who exited the water ahead of her and before too long Luebke and McQuaid were caught too. Stewart's race best 2:31:05 bike split was almost 9 minutes faster than the time of the next fastest female Pro.
Stewart also had the best run split and took a very comfortable win, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up McQuaid. Haley Cooper Scott rounded out the podium another 5 minutes later.
Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens
Lake Stevens, WA / August 14 / 2011
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:56:50
2. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:57:23
3. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 3:58:29
4. Graham O'Grady (NZL) 4:00:33
5. Stephen Kilshaw (CAN) 4:02:29
6. James Duff (USA) 4:10:14
7. Gavin Anderson (USA) 4:10:24
8. Nicholas Thompson (USA) 4:12:08
9. Jason Shortis (AUS) 4:13:32
10. Chris Ganter (USA) 4:17:48
Top women
1. Tyler Stewart (USA) 4:27:31
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:37:58
3. Haley Cooper-Scott (USA) 4:42:42
4. Mackenzie Madison (USA) 4:43:24
5. Christine Fletcher (CAN) 4:44:10
6. Jennifer Luebke (USA) 4:51:25
7. Rachel Beckmann (USA) 4:55:29 * AG W25-29
8. Kaytee Petross (USA) 4:58:11 * AG W30-34
9. Susan Fox (USA) 5:00:27 * AG W40-44
10. Tracy Orcutt (USA) 5:01:09 * AG W45-49
