Thunderstorms threatened in Chattanooga Sunday, but the weather held to allow the athletes to hit the course unencumbered. Newbie Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches (CAN) took the race to his competitors early with a big swim gap and turned it into a huge lead off of the bike with a solo effort off the front. It was all for naught though as Matt Russell was able to pull that gap back in dramatic fashion with just two miles to go. Adam Otstot crossed second and Antoine held on for third.
In the women's race, we had no surprise as our defending champion Heather Jackson (USA) got to the front early, just 10 miles in, erasing a two-minute deficit to take the lead. She continued to hammer away on the bike with Sarah True (USA), Kristen Merchant (CAN) and Jackie Hering (USA) the only women to keep within striking distance. In the end, Jackson's strength was too much for the chasers as she held even pace throughout and crossed the line with two and three minutes' margin of victory over True and Hering to defend her Chattanooga title. It marks a good track for Jackson building towards IRONMAN Boulder in just a few weeks' time.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Russell, Matthew USA 0:25:32…2:11:00…1:16:56…3:57:35
2 Otstot, Adam USA 0:25:35…2:12:59…1:16:11…3:58:43
3 Jolicoeur Desroches, Antoine CAN 0:22:27…2:07:39…1:25:28…3:59:16
4 Roche, Kieran AUS 0:23:44…2:12:59…1:20:52…4:01:31
5 Zawaski, Steven USA 0:24:44…2:13:44…1:18:58…4:01:45
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Jackson, Heather USA 0:25:56…2:21:47…1:23:39…4:15:20
2 True, Sarah USA 0:23:35…2:28:10…1:21:25…4:17:25
3 Hering, Jackie USA 0:25:24…2:28:00…1:20:35…4:18:18
4 Marchant, Kristen CAN 0:25:51…2:25:42…1:25:40…4:22:06
5 Riveros, Barbara CHL 0:26:09…2:30:24…1:22:46…4:23:29