A perfect morning presented swimmers with a millpond 3.8km
swim. Late entry Dylan McNeice (NZL) was first out the water and started the
bike with an 80 second lead from Ben Sanson (FRA). McNeice took off opening up
a sizable gap while Sanson dropped back and was joined by Nilsson and Bell
(AUS), who rode together with Brown (NZL) and Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) a further
five minutes back. After mechanical issues at 105 km Sanson eventually had to
withdraw.
At 80 km Nilsson made a break from his group and came into
the bike turn at 90 km just 10 sec back from Nilsson. Feeling good and ready to
push, Nilsson’s plan was soon halted when, on the first climb of lap two, his
chain stuck and he had to get off the bike and seek help from the mechanics.
Back on the go again, he caught up and started to work his
way back to the group. Meanwhile, Tim Beardall (AUS) came from nowhere and was
suddenly at the front of the race. His tactic posted the quickest bike split,
but it was to no avail as he faulted on the run. Taking the conservative
approach were Croneborg and Karol Dzalaj (SVK), who gradually gained time and
places.
When the lead men
came into T2, Nilsson had regained his position and moved to the front with a
clear lead. It seemed everyone behind Nilsson was suffering in the heat with
the exception of Croneborg and Dzalaj, who moved through the field and took
home second and third respectively.
"That was a
really tough day especially last 10k. The first two laps I kept reminding
myself to stay cool and knew I had the lead and the guys would have to run
really good to catch me. But those two laps. Those were really really
hard," said Nilsson.
Dzliaj was ecstatic over his finish to round the men’s
podium.
The ladies winner was more cut and dry. In fact the whole
day was just about one contender. Out the swim in third, Diana Riesler (DEU)
caught and overtook Japanese athletes Maki Nishicuci and Keiko Tanaka by 30 km
to move into the lead. There was then no looking back—only forward—for the
German who went on to take her first IRONMAN win and come home fifth overall in
extremely trying conditions.
The battle for second and third was a less straightforward.
For 70 km Nishicuci and Tanaka exchanged places. That was until Rebecca Preston
(AUS) hunted them down and moved took over second and held it all the way to
transition. Tanaka regrouped and hit the run strong and moving back to second
as Preston slipped back. Quietly working hard and flying under the radar
Australia’s Dimity Lee Duke was moving through the ranks until 16.4km she moved
into third. Catching Tanaka but never quite knowing where she was, Dimity ran
across to take third after an exhausted Tanaka, who kept the Aussie at bay.
Malaysia’s first
athlete across the line was Mohd Amran Ghani. Running in his first ever IRONMAN
the fire fighter had a flawless race and ranked 20 overall. In a time of 10:14:54
Top 5 Professional
Men
1. Patrik Nilsson
(SWE) 00:49:49 04:40:31 03:05:37 08:41:53
2. Fredrik
Croneborg (SWE) 00:53:34 04:49:56 03:10:00 08:58:45
3. Karol Dzalaj
(SVK) 00:56:05 04:47:03 09:15:00
4. Dylan McNeice
(NZL) 00:46:19 04:53:19 03:41:05 09:26:28
5. Kaito Tohara
(JPN) 00:56:12 05:19:57 03:11:33 09:33:27
Top 5 Professional Women
1. Diana
Riesler (DEU) 00:59:11 04:48:44 03:23:11
09:26:38
2. Keiko Tanaka
(JPN) 00:56:51 05:28:43 03:29:23 10:00:13
3. Dimity
Lee-Duke (AUS) 01:04:11 05:25:17 03:26:33 10:02:03
4. Li Shiao Yu
(TWN) 01:09:19 05:24:07 03:31:11 10:10:37
5. Beth Gerdes
(TWN) 01:09:19 05:24:07 03:31:11 10:10:37
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