Terenzo Bozzone made a decisive move on the bike while Ellie Salthouse was out front from start to finish at the City Bikes IRONMAN 70.3 Miami.
Michael Raelert (DEU) was first to scramble out of the calm waters of Biscayne Bay. The two-time IRONMAN 70.3 world champion had a pack of six men who were all less than 10 seconds back from him as the leader headed into transition and contained Manuel Kung (CHE), Eduardo Lass (BRA), Rodolphe Von Berg (USA), Carlos Fore (COL), Sevn Riederer (SWZ), and Terenzo Bozone (NLZ).
Bozzone stormed to the front of the race in the opening miles and had established a 1:43 lead on Ben Collins (USA) at 28 miles and between two and three minute advantages on the next seven men that included Raelert. At the conclusion of the 56 miles, Bozzone had stretched his lead out to over three minutes on Collins and over five minutes on Fernando Toldi (BRA) and Raelert.
It was evident early into the run that Bozzone had brought his "A" game to Florida as he watched the field behind him fight it out for second and third. There was plenty of shuffling of positions for much of the run but that didn't impact Bozzone as he nailed down a solid run and the win, while Rodolphe Von Berg and Franz Loeschke (DEU) finished the race in second and third overall.
Ellie Salthouse (AUS) towed Jen Spieldenner (USA) out of the water and recorded a 29:59 swim for the 1.2-mile swim. Seconds later, Camille Donat (FRA), Leanda Cave (GBR), and Sheila Trevleaven (CAN) followed the lead pair to their bike racks.
Salthouse and Cave broke away from the field and nudged their leads to over two minutes on the field in the first 28 miles of the the bike. The lead pair dismounted their bikes together with Salthouse holding an 11 second lead as they started the run.
Salthouse held a narrow advantage on Cave for much of the first half of the run then stretched her lead out on the entire field throughout the last half of the run. The Aussie's fastest run on day secure the win for her by a comfortable margins on Spieldenner and Cave finished second and third.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Bozzone, Terenzo NZL 0:27:12—1:57:33—1:15:00—3:42:10
2 Von Berg, Rodolphe USA 0:27:07—2:02:53—1:12:32—3:44:45
3 Loeschke, Franz DEU 0:27:19—2:02:32—1:12:58—3:45:29
4 Raelert, Michael DEU 0:27:02—2:02:59—1:13:56—3:46:32
5 Riederer, Sven SWZ 0:27:11—2:02:46—1:16:27—3:49:14
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Salthouse, Ellie AUS 0:29:58—2:17:35—1:22:25—4:12:44
2 Spieldenner, Jennifer USA 0:29:59—2:20:33—1:24:15—4:17:27
3 Cave, Leanda GBR 0:30:11—2:17:21—1:27:45—4:18:15
4 Stienen, Astrid DEU 0:34:43—2:14:55—1:25:52—4:18:25
5 Verstuyft, Katrien BEL 0:32:49—2:18:48—1:24:08—4:18:57