Bozzone, Cave rule Miami
Terenzo Bozzone had a tough fight on his hands at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 Miami event, but in the end came away as the winner. 2012 Ironman World Champion Leanda Cave stormed to the win in the women's race.
The men
Francesco Godoy came out of the water in 22:28 with a slight advantage over a small fairly International group that contained Terenzo Bozzone. Jan Van Berkel and Matty Reed swam around 23:10 but managed to make up a few seconds in transition.
Out on the bike Van Berkel soon moved into the lead and he set the pace with his 2:04:12, but the fastest bike split belonged to Horst Reichel who rode a bit further back and recorded a 2:03:55. Massimo Cigana who only had managed a 26:44 swim, stomped the bike segment with a virtually identical 2:03:56. Bozzone was near the front all day and came off the bike in second position, about 14 seconds behind Van Berkel.
Nils Frommhold moved into the lead early on during the run after coming off the bike in third position 24 seconds adrift. Bozzone though hung with him and halfway through the run pulled away from the German. Van Berkel now moved closer to second position as Frommhold drifted back, seemingly paying for his earlier efforts. Up front though Bozzone was in charge and closed out his day with a 1:12:04 run to win 70.3 Miami in 3:42:17. Van Berkel finished second in 3:43:52 and Reichel managed to grab 3rd place. James Cunnama ran a race best 1:11:31 to finish fourth.
The women
Jodie Swallow came out of the water with an almost 30 second lead over Leanda Cave, over a minute on Carla Moreno and two minutes or more on everyone else.
Cave though flew on the bike and managed to drop Swallow with a very fast 2:15:44 bike split. The fastest split of the day belonged to Lisa Huetthaler who had made headlines in 2009 as part of the major Austrian doping saga. The Austrian rode 2:14:50 and reached transition in second place just under 2 minutes behind Cave. Margaret Shapiro and Lisa Mensink were third and fourth into T2, but they had an almost 3 minute disadvantage to the current 70.3 and Ironman World Champion.
Cave ran very steady in the lead and kept her advantage over Huetthaler. As Cave celebrated her win in the finish chute she lost a few seconds, but had ample time in the bank for a comfortable win. Huetthaler crossed the line in second place 1:21 behind the Brit, and Shapiro pulled away from Mensink to take third place.
Ironman 70.3 Miami
Miami, FL / October 28, 2012
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:42:17
2. Jan Van Berkel (SUI) 3:43:52
3. Horst Reichel (GER) 3:44:14
4. James Cunnama (RSA) 3:45:27
5. Nils Frommhold (GER) 3:46:11
Top women
1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:07:27
2. Lisa Huetthaler (AUT) 4:08:48
3. Margaret Shapiro (USA) 4:09:47
4. Lisa Mensink (CAN) 4:12:19
5. Corinne Abraham (GBR) 4:14:04
