Weiss, Crowley prevail at Taiwan 70.3
Bradley Weiss combined a second-best swim, race-fastest bike split and second-quickest run to finish in 3:58:29 with a 1:33 margin of victory over Cyril Viennot and 2:29 over 3rd-place finisher Luke McKenzie of Australia.
Sarah Crowley started 4 seconds behind after a women’s second-best the swim, charged to the front with a women's-fastest 2:22:38 bike split and closed the deal with a women's-fastest 1:21:19 run split to finish in 4:21:04 with a 8:06 margin of victory over Grace Thek of Australia and 9:35 over 3rd-place finisher Els Visser of Netherlands.
Men
Two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert of Germany led the swim in 23:50 which gave him a 1:30 lead on Weiss, who led a close 7-man chase pack including Shen-Yen Hsieh of Taiwan, Lucas Amirault of France, Filipe Azevedo of Portugal, Etienne Diemunsch of France, Guy Crawford of New Zealand, Viennot and McKenzie.
After 36km of the 90km bike leg, Raelert led by 56 seconds over Weiss, who was followed closely by McKenzie, Viennot and Crawford, while Azevedo, defending champ Cody Beals and Lucas Amirault rode in a second chase pack 1:26 arrears.
At 77km, Weiss took over the lead with a one minute lead on Viennot, Raelert and McKenzie. After a race-best 2:09:36 bike split, Weiss arrived at T2 with a lead of one minute on a trio including Viennot (2:09:47), McKenzie (2:09:43) and Raelert (2:11:20).
After 3km of the run, Weiss’s lead dropped to 24 seconds on Raelert and Viennot with McKenzie 1:02 back, while Filipe Azevedo was running at a faster pace 5:48 behind the leader. Weiss withstood the charge of the chasers and restocked his lead to 1 minute over Viennot and 2:01 on McKenzie, with Raelert fading to 4th. After 13.5km of the run, Weiss increased his lead to 1:32 over Viennot and 2:22 on McKenzie.
After a second-fastest 1:14:49 half marathon, Weiss crossed the line in 3:58:29 with a 1:33 margin of victory on Viennot (1:15:35 run), 2:29 on McKenzie (1:16:21 run) and 4:56 on 4th place Azevedo who closed with a race-best 1:13:31 run split.
Women
Amelia Watkinson of New Zealand led the pro women's swim wave with a 26:41 split that gave her a 4 seconds lead on Crowley, 33 seconds on Thek, 2:19 on Else Visser of Netherlands, 2:30 on Kate Bevilaqua of Australia and 2:32 on Beth McKenzie of the U.S.
After 36km, Crowley took a 47 seconds lead on Watkinson, 3:42 on Visser and 4:10 on Grace Thek. After a women’s best 2:22:36 bike split, Crowley led at T2 by 4 minutes on Watkinson, 5:35 on Visser and 8:27 on Thek.
After 7.5km of the run, Crowley increased her lead to 6 minutes on Watkinson and 9 minutes on Thek. After a women’s-best 1:21:19 run split, Crowley finished in 4:21:04 with an 8:06 margin of victory over Thek (1:21:29 run) and 9:35 on 3rd-place Visser (1:25:50 run). Watkinson took 4th, 14 seconds behind Visser and 5:24 ahead if 5th place McKenzie, who closed well with a women’s 2nd-fastest 1:21:20 run split.
Ironman 70.3 Taiwan
Taitung, Taiwan
March 24, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 3:58:29 S 25:21 T1 5:34 B 2:08:36 T2 4:02 R 1:14:49
2. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 4:00:02 S 25:25 T1 5:32 B 2:09:47 T2 3:44 R 1:15:35
3. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 4:00:58 S 25:27 T1 5:39 B 2:09:43 T2 3:49 R 1:16:21
4. Filipe Azevedo (PRT) 4:03:35 S 25:24 T1 5:30 B 2:15:05 T2 4:07 R 1:13:31
5. Arthur Horseau (FRA) 4:06:33 S 26:54 T1 5:29 B 2:13:26 T2 3:38 R 1:17:07
6. Michael Raelert (GER) 4:10:46 S 23:51 T1 5:33 B 2:11:20 T2 3:44 R 1:26:21
Women
1. Sarah Crowley (AUS) 4:21:04 S 26:47 T1 6:00 B 2:22:36 T2 4:25 R 1:21:19
2. Grace Thek (AUS) 4:29:10 S 27:16 T1 5:59 B 2:30:35 T2 3:54 R 1:21:29
3. Els Visser (NED) 4:30:39 S 29:01 T1 5:51 B 2:26:05 T2 3:53 R 1:25:50
4. Amelia Watkinson (NZL) 4:30:53 S 26:42 T1 5:52 B 2:27:00 T2 4:23 R 1:26:58
5. Beth McKenzie (USA) 4:36:17 S 29:14 T1 5:59 B 2:35:18 T2 4:28 R 1:21:20
