Mendez, Naeth prevail at Cabo 70.3
Mauricio Mendez of Mexico followed wins at Cozumel 70.3 and XTERRA Worlds with a third October triumph at Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos. After a year out of action fighting injuries, Angela Naeth of Canada used a sizzling fast bike split to dominate the women’s field at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Men
As usual, Andy Potts led the swim with a 25:27 split that gave him a 1 second lead on home country favorite Mauricio Mendez, 8 seconds on Matt Chrabot of the U.S., 9 seconds on Drew Scott of the U.S., 13 seconds on Martin Jensen of Denmark, 15 seconds on Rodrigo Gonzalez of Mexico, 19 seconds on James Hadley of Great Britain, 1:55 on Richie Cunningham of Australia, 2:47 and 2:48 on Cody Beals of Canada and Paul Ambrose of Australia, and 3:40 on Alan Carrillo of Mexico.
Mendez quickly grabbed the lead by mile 21, by 3 seconds on Scott, 6 seconds on Potts, 9 seconds on Chrabot, and 22 seconds on Jensen. A second pack led by Beals and including Ambrose, Cunningham, Hadley and Gonzalez trailed by 2:30 to 2:46.
By the end of the bike leg and second transition, Mendez scored the day’s 7th-best 2:11:09 split and was closely shadowed by Scott and Chrabot at +2 seconds and Jensen at +6 seconds. Kennett Peterson of the U.S., Beals (race-best 2:10:10 bike split) and Cunningham were 1:40 down, while top runners Carrillo, Hadley, and Justin Metzler of the U.S. were 5:26 to 6:06 arrears.
Potts, who presumably suffered mechanical difficulties or other troubles, was 7 minutes off Mendez’s pace and started the run in 11th.
After 5 miles of the run, Mendez held a 57 seconds lead on Chrabot, 2:55 on Beals, 3:51 on Jensen, 4:10 on Scott and 4:36 on Cunningham. After 9 miles, Mendez inexorably sped away, increasing his lead to 2:54 on Chrabot, 5:34 on Beals, 7:50 on Scott, 8:25 on Jensen and 8:52 on Potts.
After a race-best 1:13:17 run, Mendez broke the tape in 3:52:17 with a 4:46 margin of victory over Chrabot (1:18:01 run), 7:47 on Beals (1:19:24 run) and 9:47 on Potts, who advanced from 11th to 4th by virtue of a 2nd-best 1:15:23 run.
Women
Erin Jones of the U.S. led the swim in 27:47 which gave her a 3 seconds lead on Charlotte Morel of France, 5 seconds on Kelsey Withrow of the U.S., 25 seconds on Maria Barrera Anduaga of Mexico, 30 to 32 seconds on Lauren Capone and Chelsea Burns of the U.S., 1:06 on Lesley Smith of the U.S., 2:19 and 2:20 on Kirsty Jahn and Angela Naeth of Canada, and 3:06 to 3:10 on Ewa Komander of Poland, Skye Moench of the U.S. and Annett Finger of Germany.
After 34km of the bike leg, Naeth increased her lead to 46 seconds on Morel, 53 seconds on Withrow, 54 seconds on Anduaga, 2:09 on Jahn, 2:53 on Smith and 2:57 on Jones.
After a by-far women’s-best 2:20:32 bike split, Naeth began the run with a 6:27 lead on Morel (2:29:36 split), 6:51 on Anduaga (2:29:20 split), 10:21 on Smith (2:31:33 split), and 11:58 on Sue Huse of Canada, who made up time lost on a 34:19 swim with a women's 2nd-best 2:28:10 bike split.
After a 1:26:10 run, Naeth crossed the line in 4:19:42 with a 7:37 margin of victory over Smith and 10:46 over Sue Huse of Canada.
Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
October 30, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Mauricio Mendez (MEX) 3:52:17
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 3:57:03
3. Cody Beals (CAN) 4:00:04
4. Andy Potts (USA) 4:02:04
5. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 4:02:45
6. Drew Scott (USA) 4:02:51
7. Alan Carrillo (MEX) 4:04:19
8. Martin Jensen (DEN) 4:05:04
9. Justin Metzler (USA) 4:06:10
10. James Hadley (GBR) 4:06:28
Women
1. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:19:42
2. Lesley Smith (USA) 4:27:19
3. Sue Huse (CAN) 4:30:28
4. Maria Barrera Anduaga (MEX) 4:36:15
5. Annett Finger (GER) 4:37:14
6. Chelsea Burns (USA) 4:38:14
7. Skye Moench (USA) 4:39:00
8. Malindi Elmore (CAN) 4:46:44
9. Charlotte Morel (FRA) 4:49:04
10. Lauren Capone (USA) 4:49:26
