Pedersen, Wurf dominate bike legs to win Cannes
Camilla Pedersen of Denmark and Cameron Wurf of Australia posted women's and men’s best bike splits to on their way to victory at the 5th middle distance Cannes International Triathlon.
The prestigious independent race includes a 2-kilometer swim, a challenging 107-kilometer bike leg and a 16-kilometer run at the famed Mediterranean resort.
Pedersen combined a women’s 3rd-best 23:31 swim, a by-far women's-best 3:26:00 bike split and women’s 4th-best 1:04:12 run to finish in 4:56:57 with a 4:26 margin of victory over Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium and 4:47 over 3rd-place Charlotte Morel of France.
The victory adds to Pedersen’s career highlights that include European Ironman and European long distance wins in 2013, the ITU long distance World Championship in 2014, the European 70.3 Championship in 2015 and the ETU European half distance Championship in 2017.
Wurf, the Ironman World Championship Kona bike record holder with a 4:09:06 performance in 2018, combined a men’s 15th-best 22:55 swim, a 3:00:22 bike split which was 1:52 better than the next-best effort of Tim Don, and a 9th-best 58:40 run. Wurf finished in 4:24:46 which gave him a 1:59 margin of victory over Don and 4:03 over 3rd place finisher Phillip Koutny of Switzerland.
Like Pedersen, who was a member of the Danish national hockey team, Wurf has a strong multisport résumé which includes a 2004 Olympic appearance as a rower for Australia and a long stint as a member of professional cycling teams.
Women
Pedersen came out of the water 12 seconds behind Charlotte Morel of France and 5 seconds back of Emma Bilham of Switzerland. Pedersen then took control of the race with a 3L26:00 bike split which gave her a 4 minutes lead on Bilham (3:30:48 bike split) and 6 minutes on Margie Santimaria of Italy (3:32:00 bike split) and Bilham (3:30:48 bike split).
Pedersen cruised to a 4:56:57 finish with a women’s 4th-best 1:04:12 run which gave her a 4:26 margin of victory over Alexandra Tondeur (women’s–best 59:20 run split) and 4:47 over 3rd place Morel (1:03:02 run split.
Men
Frenchman Sam Laidlow led the swim in 20:34 which gave him a 1:06 lead on Tim Don, 1:31 on Clement Mignon of France, 2:03 on Phillip Koutny of Switzerland and 2:21 on Cameron Wurf.
By 25 kilometers into the bike segment, Wurf took a short atop the steep pass over Sam Laidlow and Tim Don. After the steep final descent into T2, Wurf’s 3:00:22 bike split gave him a 36 seconds lead on Don (3:02:14 bike split), 3 minutes on Laidlow (3:06:13 bike split) and 4 minutes on Koutny (3:05:09 bike split).
Wurf and Don ran together for the first 4 kilometers, but Don, still in long term recovery from his 2017 bike crash, did not have enough of his top form energy left to fight off Wurf’s surge. After a 9th-best 58:40 run split, Wurf finished in 4:24:46 with a 1:59 margin of victory over Don (1:00:16 run) and 4:03 over 3rd place Koutny (58:00 run)
Well behind after a 3:15:42 bike split, Bermudan Tyler Butterfield made up a lot of ground with a race-best 55:13 run which brought him a 7th-place finish, 12:56 behind the winner.
Cannes International Triathlon
Cannes, France
April 21, 2019
S 2k / B 107k / R 16.k
Results
Women
1. Camilla Pedersen (DNK) 4:56:57 S 23:31 T1 B 3:26:00 T2 1:36 R 1:04:12
2. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) 5:01:23 S 27:37 T1 1:55 B 3:31:03 T2 1:26 R 59:20
3. Charlotte Morel (FRA) 5:01:44 S 23:19 T1 1:32 B 3:32:14 T2 1L24 R 1:03:02
4. Margie Santimaria (ITA) 5:04:39 S 23:32 T1 1:46 B 3:32:00 T2 1:16 R 1:06:47
5. Emma Bilham (SUI) 5:06:10 S 23:26 T1 1:49 B 3:30:48 T2 1:29 R 1:08:36
6. Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) 5:07:21 S 25:34 T1 1:49 B 3:32:32 T2 1:15 R 1:06:08
7. Rachel Clausing (USA) 5:07:43 S 28:39 T1 1:49 B 3:31:44 T2 1:42 R 1:03:47
8. Johanna Daumas Carrier (FRA) S 23:31 T1 1:51 B 3:37:32 T2 1:16 R 1:04:55
9. Sara Van De Vel (BEL) 5:10:09 S 24:14 T1 1:44 B 3:35:52 T2 1:19 R 1:06:59
10. Michela Santini (ITA) 5:10:22 S 28:15 T1 1:58 B 3:33:51 T2 2:01 R 1:04:15
Men
1. Cameron Wurf (AUS) 4:24:46 S 22:55 T1 1:32 B 3:00:22 T2 1:15 R 58:40
2. Tim Don (GBR) 4:26:45 S 21:40 T1 1:10 B 3:02:14 T2 1:23 R 1:00:16
3. Phillip Koutny (SUI) 4:28:49 S 22:37 T1 1:32 B 3:05:09 T2 1:29 R 58:00
4. Sam Laidlow (FRA) 4:31:26 S 20:34 T1 1:18 B 3:06:13 T2 1:05 R 1:02:14
5. Théo Debard (FRA) 4:33:24 S 24:15 T1 1:20 B 3:08:51 T2 1:25 R 57:31
6. Thomas Navarro (FRA) 4:35:57 S 25:47 T1 1:48 B 3:08:58 T2 1:03 R 58:19
7. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 4:37:42 S 23:23 T1 1:36 B 3:15:42 T2 1:46 R 55:13
8. Charles Bouin (FRA) 4:41:06 S 27:38 T1 2:16 B 3:12:14 T2 1:10 R 57:46
9. Clement Mignon (FRA) 4:41:41 S 22:05 T1 2:00 B 3:19:54 T2 1:38 R 56:01
10. Mathieu Gallet (FRA) 4:43:36 S 22:45 T1 1:44 B 3:19:51 T2 1:24 R 57:51
