In triathlon, it is very often the fastest legs that win. Andreas Dreitz experienced this once again at the Ironman 70.3 Florida in Haines City. The Upper Franconian led the race well into the half marathon before being beaten by Belgian Bart Aernouts, who won the race over 1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running in 3:47:42 hours, and Matt Hanson was intercepted by the US. The women’s race was less exciting, with the British Emma Pallant winning by a large margin.
Swimming in Lake Eva was dominated by the internationally unknown Russian Alexander Khalamanov, who stormed into the first transition zone after 26:29 min, followed by Canadian Jackson Laundry (+22 sec) and Brazilian veteran Igor Amorelli (+46 sec). Andi Dreitz was sixth, only 58 seconds behind the leader.
Bike express with Dreitz and Ditlev
Already on the first 20 kilometers of the bike course the field sorted itself out. Dreitz drove to the front and only the Dane Magnus Ditlev was able to match the pace of the German. Behind the leading duo, Laundry was the first pursuer at this point, already a good minute behind. The German-Danish Radexpress was now really putting on the pressure and was getting more and more behind on the pursuers. By the time they reached the bike finish, Dreitz and Ditlev had gained a lead of just over three minutes on their closest pursuers. It was Bart Aernouts who parked his bike in third place, followed a few seconds later by Brit Joe Skipper. Laundry was already four and a half minutes behind in fifth place and the US running machine Matt Hanson was even more than six minutes behind the leader in ninth place at the start of the half marathon.
The last section then started as expected. Magnus Ditlev quickly lost contact with Dreitz and even the strong pursuers, led by Aernouts, were not able to make up too much time on Upper Franconia in the first half of the half marathon. Behind Ditlev (+ 54 sec) followed Aernouts (+1:54 min) in front of Laundry (+3:41 min) and Hanson (+4:04 min) had only slowly gotten his nimble running legs going.
The difference: Aernouts runs 1:13:02, Hanson 1:10:38 – Dreitz only 1:17:28
When the last six kilometers were rung in, the 36-year-old Belgian had stalked Dreitz with his long stride to within 30 seconds and Hanson was only two minutes behind. The Belgian and the American, buoyed by the dwindling deficit, were given second breath, while Dreitz’s legs grew heavier and heavier. With three kilometers to go, his dream of victory was over and Bart Aernouts took the lead. The 2018 Hawaii runner-up triumphed in 3:47:42 ahead of Matt Hanson (3:48:20), who also ran a 1:10:38 half marathon past Dreitz, who finished in 3:49:04 safely to the finish at Lake Eva in third place. Jackson Laundry finished fourth, ahead of South Africa’s Bradley Weiss and Portugal’s Filipe Azevedo. Marcus Herbst from Leipzig, who finished sixth at the Ironman 70.3 Texas last week, had to cancel his start at short notice due to illness.
Emma Pallant dominates the women’s competition
When swimming, the American Sonja Catana presented the best swimming time of 27:30 minutes. It took a good minute before Emma Pallant, who was second, switched to her bike. The Brit then showed that she was rightly considered the top favorite after Skye Mönch (USA) and Jeanni Metzler (RSA) did not compete. Pallant soon took the lead and after 45 kilometers the American Heather Jackson (+1:30 min) was her first pursuer. Lisa Becharas (USA/+2:42 min) led the next athletes there.
Pallant was able to extend the lead over Jackson on the bike to 1:43 min, the other pursuers, including the fast-running American Lesley Smith, only laced up their running shoes more than six minutes behind. Emma Pallant now ran in 4:18:03 hours towards an unchallenged victory. The battle for second place was a little more exciting, with Lesley Smith (4:23:05) in favor of Heather Jackson (4:27:42) who was still able to beat third place.