Sometimes decisions are made early. At the IRONMAN 70.3 Edinburgh, a lead group of five athletes was formed right after the start, and who went on to dominate the whole race. Matt Chrabot (USA) led this group out of the water in 24:47 while Italian Alessandro Degasperi in sixth position was already dropped fort he rest of the day although he was only two minutes behind. When Chrabot led the field into T2, the gap to sixth place was more than four minutes. The tough battle at the front went on during the run, gaps remained small in the top three until Chrabot and French Yvan Jarrige started to drop British Will Clarke even a bit on the last of three laps. Through 17 kilometers, Chrabot seemed to be on his way to take it, but Jarrige eventually sprinted him down on the final kilometer.
In the women’s race, things were pretty competitive throughout the whole day, too. Brit Fenella Langridge had a brilliant swim in front of her compatriot Claire Hann and a clear lead over co-favorite Nikki Bartlett. But the strong biker Bartlett put the pedal to the metal and equalized a deficit of more than five minutes within about 60 kilometers. Langridge started the run in second place behind Bartlett, but she battled herself into first place again on the first seven kilometers to celebrate her first IRONMAN 70.3 victory with a huge smile.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Jarrige, Yvan FRA 4:07:31
2 Chrabot, Matt USA 4:07:39
3 Clarke, Will GBR 4:08:55
4 Smales, Elliot GBR 4:11:16
5 Jurkiewicz, Jeremy FRA 4:14:33
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Langridge, Fenella GBR 4:37:46
2 Bartlett, Nikki GBR 4:40:55
3 Kunz, Martina SUI 4:47:08
4 Niewoudt, Magda RSA 4:52:39
5 Richards, Suzie GBR 4:59:19