Bozzone, Roy prevail at Cozumel 70.3
Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand and Stephanie Roy of Canada won Ironman 70.3 Cozumel on a hot and humid day on an island off the Yucatan Peninsula.
Bozzone overcame a 13 seconds deficit in the swim with a race-best bike split that brought him within 4 seconds of the leader and a third-fastest run to finish in 3:50:36 with a 1:08 margin of victory over Matt Chrabot of the U.S. and 2:12 over home country favorite Mauricio Mendez of Mexico.
Roy made up for a 2:06 deficit after the swim and a 3:29 deficit after the bike with a women's-fastest run to finish in 4:18:47 with a 2:58 margin of victory over Leanda Cave of Great Britain and 6:13 over 3rd place finisher Svenja Thoes of Germany.
Men
Chrabot led the swim with a 21:56 split that gave him a 3 seconds lead on Mauricio Mendez of Mexico, 5 seconds on Paul Matthews of Australia, 8 second son Joaquin Pereda, 13 seconds on Bozzone, 15 seconds on James Hadley of Great Britain, 1:13 on Cody Beals of Canada, and 2:06 on Raul Tejada of Colombia.
Halfway through the 56-mile bike leg, Chrabot held a 2 through 5 seconds lead on Mendes and Matthews, 2:08 on Hadley, 2:44 on Yvan Jarrige, 2:44 on Mendez, 4:22 on Beals, and 4:47 on Tejada. After race-best 2:05:21 bike split, Bozzone led Chrabot by 18 seconds, Mendez by 3:22, Beals by 7:09, and Michael Weiss of Austria by 8:12.
After the race, Chrabot wrote on Facebook that the heat and his strategy played a part in losing the lead: "After leading the swim and riding well, I got greedy in the opening 5km of the run and ran a bit harder than I should've. The heat in this place is unreal. While I began hemorrhaging time to the competition after the first 10km @terenzo1 was able to close the 1 minute deficit, I managed to hang on to the bridesmaids slot without letting @maumendezc catch me."
After a 3rd best 1:19:41 half marathon, Bozzone finished in 3:50:36 with a 1:08 margin of victory over Chrabot (1:20:41 run) and 2:12 over 3rd place Mendez (race-best 1:15:19 run).
Women
Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. led the swim in 23:34 which gave her a 4 seconds lead on Cave, 1:37 on Sarah Cameto, 2:01 on Christen Brown, 2:06 on Roy, 2:15 on Anne Basso, 2:33 on Ewa Komander, and 5:29 on Svenja Thoes.
Leanda Cave took over the lead with a women’s 2nd-fastest 2:23:16 bike split which gave her a 3:19 lead on Brown, 3:23 on Roy, 3:28 on Cameto, 4:28 on Thoes, and 4:29 on Komander.
Halfway through the half marathon, Cave held a shrinking 1:04 lead on Roy and 3:25 on Thoes.
At 15km, Roy passed Cave and held it to the finish. After a women's-fastest 1:24:59 run split Roy crossed the line in 4:18:47 with a 2:58 margin of victory over Cave (1:30:40 run) and 6:13 over 3rd-place Thoes (1:29:56 run).
Met Life Ironman 70.3 Cozumel
Cozumel, Mexico
September 24, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:50:36 S 22:08 B 2:05:21 R 1:19:41
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 3:51:44 S 21:56 B 2:05:40 R 1:20:41
3. Mauricio Mendez Cruz (MEX) 3:52:48 S 21:58 B 2:11:34 R 1:15:19
4. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:57:15 S 23:08 B 2:10:18 R 1:20:47
5. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:57:32 S 25:41 B 2:10:24 R 1:17:37
Women
1. Stephanie Roy (CAN) 4:18:47 S 25:40 B 2:24:42 R 1:24:59
2. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:21:45 S 23:37 B 2:23:16 R 1:30:40
3. Svenja Thoes (GER) 4:25:00 S 29:02 B 2:21:58 R 1:29:56
4. Christen Brown (USA) 4:33:57 S 25:34 B 2:24:32 R 1:40:13
5. Anne Basso (USA) 4:35:19 S 25:48 B 2:28:43 R 1:37:01
