Michelle Vesterby wins Ironman Copenhagen
Michelle Vesterby of Denmark won her second Ironman Copenhagen title by a 7:47 margin over Corinne Abraham of Great Britain today in Denmark.
The victory was her 4th Ironman title after wins at Lanzarote (2012), Copenhagen (2015) and Cozumel (2016), and her notable best finish at the Ironman World Championship – 4th in 2015. The win comes after a 3rd at Ironman Austria this year and a win at Ironman Cozumel and a 6th at Kona in 2016.
Vesterby started with a bang – a women’s-best 55:14 swim in the lagoon at Amager Beach Park – which gave her a 7:15 lead on Sofie Goos of Belgium, 7:43 on Corinne Abraham of Great Britain, 8:26 on Jeanne Collonge of France, 8:45 on Pia Nielsen-Englyst of Denmark, 8:57 on Alyssa Godesky of the U.S., and 15 minutes on Camilla Lindholm Borg of Sweden.
After 93km of the bike leg, Vesterby opened a 12:11 lead on Abraham and Goos, who was putting down a notable performance 16 months after surviving a stabbing by a 26-year-old mentally disturbed man while on a training run in Antwerp. Further back were Lindholm-Borg (+25:05), Godesky (+24:36), Collonge (+24:50), and Nielsen-Englyst (+25:30). At 159km, on the final climb to Geels in the rain, Vesterby held a 13:25 lead on Abraham.
After a women’s-best 4:48:03 bike split, Vesterby held a 13:02 lead on Abraham, 19:54 on Goos, 25:05 on Lindholm-Borg, 31:56 on Godesky, 33:30 on Nielsen-Englyst, and 34:51 on an obviously off-form Collonge.
Halfway through the marathon, Vesterby was running a 4:33 per kilometer pace and led Abraham (4:25 per kilometer pace) by 10:06, Goos by 16:12, Lindholm-Borg by 21:50, Nielsen-Englyst by 31:29, and Godesky by 33:52.
After a 6th-best 3:15:05 marathon, Vesterby finished in 9:00:19 with a 7:47 margin of victory on Abraham and 16:47 on 3rd place female overall and first age grouper Christina Svejstrup of Denmark. After a 3:11:14 run, Goos took 4th overall and 3rd place pro, 16:58 behind the winner.
Ironman Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
August 20, 2017
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Women
1. Michelle Vesterby (DNK) 9:00:19 S 53:02 B 4:48:03 R 3:15:05
2. Corinne Abraham (GBR) 9:08:06 S 1:00:21 B 4:53:21 R 3:09:51
3. Christina Svejstrup (DNK) *F30-34 9:17:06 S 1:04:56 B 4:51:02 R 3:14:58
4. Sofie Goos (BEL) 9:17:17 S 1:00:15 B 5:00:41 R 3:11:14
5. Camilla Lindholm Borg (SWE) 9:22:46 S 1:07:02 B 4:58:06 R 3:11:37
6. Alyssa Godesky (USA) 9:33:20 S 1:01:13 B 5:11:00 R 3:14:48
