Injuries plagued both Michael Raelert and Magali Tisseyre earlier this season, but both came up strong at the City Bikes IRONMAN 70.3 Miami presented by Fit2Run.
Raelert wins on the run
David Kahn (USA) was first to emerge from the water and established 30 to 40 second leads on Michael Raelert (DEU), Yunior Rosete (USA), Matty Reed (USA), Fabio Cavalho (BRA), Andres Latorre (COL) and Richie Cunningham (AUS).
Throughout the 56-mile bike, Kahn, Raelert and Cunningham were at the front of the race and managed to build their lead to over two minutes nearing the end of the ride. As the leading trio dismounted their bikes a chase pack of seven were looking at a manageable two-minute deficit to deal with over the 13.1 mile run.
Once on the run, though, Raelert—a two-time IRONMAN 70.3 world champion—was the class of the field as he immediately surged into the lead and put time on the entire field with each passing mile. Cunningham was next to pass a fading Kahn and kept a firm grip on second overall. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) was up to his usual tricks thanks to a blazing run that threatened to put him on the podium.
At the end of the day, Raelert running talent propelled him to the win with a 3:43:38 finishing time. Cunningham followed 3:28 later, while Zyemtsev clambered past Kahn in the late stages of the run to grab the final podium spot, 4:23 after Raelert’s finish.
Strong bike and run seal it for Tisseyre
It was no surprise to see Amanda Stevens (USA), who routinely leads out of the water at the IRONMAN World Championship, lead the women out of the water. Lauren Goss (USA) was next, just three seconds back, while a group of five found themselves 39-45 seconds behind. In that group were Magali Tissyre (CAN), Leanda Cave (GBR), Jenny Leiser (USA), Carla Moreno (BRA) and Laurel Wassner.
Throughout the bike it was Tisseyre, Stevens, Goss and Cave who led the way. The lead quartet flew into T2 within 30 seconds of each other, while the other women where well off the pace.
The race for the women’s win was settled early as Tisseyre ran away from the other three women. Goss was also strong and grabbed second over Stevens, but could not match Tisseyre’s pace on the run. Tisseyre’s race-best run sealed the win by 3:40 on Goss and 7:20 on Stevens, who claimed the final podium placing.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Michael Raelert DEU 3:43:38
2 Richie Cunningham AUS 3:47:05
3 Viktor Zyemtsev UKR 3:48:11
4 David Kahn USA 3:48:18
5 Marc Duelsen DEU 3:49:07
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Magali Tisseyre CAN 4:06:38
2 Lauren Goss USA 4:10:18
3 Amanda Stevens USA 4:13:57
4 Leanda Cave GBR 4:18:12
5 Laural Wassner USA 4:20:35