Lionel Sanders and Holly Lawrence knock out dominant performances at Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant.
Sander claims fifth win of the season
Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches (CAN) was first to exit the waters of Lake Tremblant in 22:56 with Barrett Brandon (USA), Jarrod Shoemaker (USA), and Paul Mathews (AUS) just seconds back to the leader. All eyes were on the race favorite Lionel Sanders (CAN) and how large his deficit would be at the end of the swim. It would be close to three and half minutes before Sanders would emerge from the swim in 13th place, but well positioned considering his run and bike prowess.
In the early going on the bike course, Sanders started the process picking off competitors in front of him while Desroches remained the leader. Chris Leiferman (USA), Trevor Wurtele (CAN), Mathews, Taylor Reid (CAN), and Shoemaker were biking within three minutes of the front of the race and waiting for the Sanders train to arrive.
As expected, Sanders made his way to the lead at 40 km's and then put the hammer down big time and managed to out bike the field by close to five minutes. The Canadian dismounted his bike with a +3:32 on Leiferman, +4:41 on Desroches, and +4:44 on Wurtele.
Only the heat of the day would cause Sanders to squander his lead on the run and scenario failed to materialize. Laying down the race best run on the day netted Sander his fourth IRONMAN 70.3 win of the season in a winning time 3:47:24. Wurtele continued to display he has upped his game in 2016 with a impressive second place showing on the strength of his solid swim and bike and and backed those up with blistering run in the heat.
Lawrence puts on brilliant performance
Lauren Brandon (USA) had 30 second leads on Holly Lawrence (GBR), and Merdith Kessler (USA) at the completion of the single loop swim. Contenders Magali Tisseyre (CAN) and Heather Wurtele (CAN) were facing manageable two minute deficits as they scurried into transition to gather their bike.
It was the "Holly Lawrence Show" on the bike as she put on an unmatched performance on two wheels. Lawrence out-biked here closest rival by close to six minutes that netted her a leads of +7:35 and +10:27 on Kessler who are no slouches on the bike.
Showing no signs of letting up, Lawrence continued her torrent pace on the run and left the field to fight it out for second and third. With the race best run thrown down by Lawrence she handily won the race by over eight minutes over Wurtele who hung on for second. Lauren Barnett (USA) strong run garnered her a third place finish.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Sanders, Lionel CAN 3:47:31
2 Wurtele, Trevor CAN 3:52:24
3 Leiferman, Chris USA 3:53:25
4 Beals, Cody CAN 3:57:33
5 Reid, Taylor CAN 4:00:07
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Lawrence, Holly GBR 4:08:53
2 Wurtele, Heather CAN 4:17:08
3 Barnett, Lauren USA 4:22:46
4 Kessler, Meredith USA 4:28:15
5 Brandon, Lauren USA 4:32:24