Kona 09 – Women’s bike
There were a lot of good women cyclists in Kona trying to challenge Chrissie Wellington’s domination. But at the end of the day, the Wellington Express left the station by Mile 20 on the Queen K. Wellington built a Newby-Fraser-esque 15-minute lead by T2 after a 5th-best-ever 4:52:07 bike. What the day required was beating a sneakily irritating, albeit not-quite-mumuku strength wind that rotated to be always in the face, and a salt-sucking heat and humidity. It was a measure of Wellington’s obvious greatness that the bike splits of certifiable Hall of Famers like 6-time champion Natascha Badmann (5:19:48) and 2006 champion Michellie Jones (5:23:11) and 2008 runner-up Yvonne Van Vlerken (5:16:41) and double-digit Ironman winners Belinda Granger (5:18:05) and Bella Bayliss (5:17:23) not only were 20 or more minutes in Wellington’s wake, the effort to produce those times left every of them in the DNF column.
Still, while Wellington flew through her third Ironman bike swiftly and without a flat tire incident, it was still behind Newby-Fraser 4:48:30 and Erin Baker’s 4:50:16 bike splits in 1993, Olympic gold medalist cyclist Karin Thurig’s 4:50 splits in 2003 and 2005, and Natascha Badmann’s 4:52:00 in 2005. “Records,” said Wellington, putting her deeds to back up her mouth, “are made to be broken.”
Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson
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Crowie runs to his second win.
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Images from the Parade of Nations
Wellington drew much of the triathlon photographers away from the rest of the women with her rocket-swift bike. But what would you expect from the woman who biked 4:40 at Roth – seven minutes faster than the old world-best bike split?
While it’s not quite Natascha Badmann’s beatific, beaming smile, Wellington sports a rollicking grin of her own while tooling along the Queen K at a 23 mph clip.
In between smiles, Wellington shows her grit and ambition and focus.
Mirinda Carfrae was perfectly prepared for the jump from 70.3 to Ironman by coach Siri Lindley. Her 5:14:18 bike was 7th fastest. When she gave up 22 minutes to Wellington. she gained back 7 minutes with a record 2:56 run.
Carfrae, too, had laser focus.
Virginia Berasategui of Spain showed her wins at Lanzarote and Wildflower were no fluke with a second-best 5:01:42 bike and hit the finish just 90 seconds back of Carfrae in third.
The women’s chase group (left) were grinding up the hills toward Hawi.
Czech-born, Canadian resident Tereza Macel showed that Team TBB coach Brett Sutton’s tutelage is a moveable feast, posting a third-best 5:04:17 bike split and taking fourth place overall.
All of Rebekah Keat’s good karma derived from lending Chrissie Wellington her CO2 cartridges last year at Kona were apparently all used up at Quelle Challenge Roth. On the Queen K, Keat got one bike penalty too many and her apparent 5th place finish was wiped out.
Rachel Joyce of Great Britain stayed out of trouble, posted a 5:10:03 bike split, and took 6th overall. That is surely how you want to finish your first start in Kona.
Dede Griesbauer, carrying the Massachusetts flag in honor of her good friend Karen Smyers, biked 5:10:22 and took 9th overall.
Catriona Morrison came into Kona highly touted after her 3rd place debut Ironman-distance finish at Roth. But hit by a flu bug, her 5:17:51 bike split was the highlight of her 16th place day.
Leanda Cave biked 5:19:02, but stomach issues left her 20th after the run.
Lucie Zelenkova of the Czech Republic won Ironman South Africa, was first woman out of the water in Kona, posted a 5:24 bike, and then drifted off the back on the run.
Zelenkova was near the front for the first miles of the bike.
Michellie Jones came back from 2008 injuries, but faded from contention with a 5:23 bike and a DNF on the run.
Belinda Granger recovered bravely from a February surgery to repair her iliac artery surgery, and from a collision with a car at Roth. But after a 5:18:05 bike, Belinda surrendered on the run.
Natascha Badmann raised high hopes for a comeback from severe injuries suffered in a 2007 bike crash at Kona with her win at the New Orleans Ironman 70.3 this year. But at Kona, the six-time champion struggled to a 5:19:48 bike and dropped out on the run.
Gina Kehr had dreams of matching her 4th place finish in 2006. But after a 5:25:26 bike, she, too, surrendered on the run.
Charlotte Kolters would have won the best dressed award for her color coordinated white and gold race outfit and Cervelo P4. But after an excellent 5:14:25 bike, she joined the unhappy ranks of the DNFs.
