The outstanding Annabel Luxford again proved sublime but it took a teak-tough effort for Frenchman Denis Chevrot to prevail at IRONMAN 70.3 Ballarat—a country city and former gold rush settlement of Ballarat, in Victoria. The victories, gained in such differing circumstances, brought down the curtain on 2016.
Frenchman shows plenty of fight
Despite a hard-fought fifth placing at IRONMAN Western Australia the previous weekend, Chevrot found enough fuel in the tank to claim the victory. He emerged from the water with the lead group behind Australians Sam Betten and Clayton Fettell and was in an eight-strong bunch who emerged in the lead on the bike. That whittled down to four off the bike – Chevrot, Tim van Berkel, Betten, and Luke Bell.
Betten pushed clear from the Frenchman at 11kms on the run, but Chevrot fought back and by the 14km mark made a counter move to open a slight advantage. While Betten fell away it was Olympic distance convert and IRONMAN 70.3 Taiwan winner Peter Kerr who was gaining ground seemingly at will. With 3kms remaining, the gap was just 120m and the race seemed to be the Australian’s for the taking.
But Chevrot dug deep and in the end Kerr’s valiant charge faded, with the Frenchman winning in 3:49:33. Kerr was second, 28 seconds back with Betten third 1:05 behind.
"It was a big week, I have never done this before, so I was not sure how it would work out, but it worked much better than I thought. Maybe an IRONMAN the week before is a good way to go," Chevrot said.
The win built on Chevrot’s success in Australia that began with fifth at IRONMAN Australia in 2014, followed by victory at IRONMAN Western Australia later that year. Last year he was runner-up at Busselton and won IRONMAN 70.3 Mandurah. This year has continued that success.
Luxford pure class
If the men’s race was a close affair, the women proved another master class from the outstanding Luxford. As she did at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney two weeks ago, she pushed for go from the gun. She led out of the 1.9km swim in 25:09 by a minute, extending the advantage to over five minutes at the halfway mark of the 90km bike and took a 7:55 buffer on to the run.
Luxford afforded herself the luxury of a 1:25 run to complete the victory in 4:14:21 with Kirralee Seidel kicking clear of a three-way battle for the podium to grab second place, 7:19 behind off the day’s best run (1:24). Andrea Forrest was a further 27 seconds back in third.
"It’s a fantastic race and the support from the volunteers and spectators is great. It was a bit windier and colder than last year, so it took me a bit longer to get going, but I’m super happy with the win. I’m looking forward to a break now over Christmas," says Luxford.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Denis CHEVOT FRA 0:23:23—2:09:12—1:14:45—3:49:34
2 Peter KERR AUS 0:23:21—2:11:37—1:13:00—3:50:02
3 Sam BETTEN AUS 0:23:17—2:09:11—1:15:58—3:50:39
4 Tim VAN BERKEL AUS 0:24:40—2:07:32—1:21:09—3:55:50
5 Leon GRIFFIN AUS 0:23:36—2:10:47—1:20:16—3:56:41
Top 5 Pro Female
1 Annabel LUXFORD AUS 0:25:10–-2:21:13—1:25:34—4:14:21
2 Kirralee SEIDEL AUS 0:27:28—2:26:50—1:24:44—4:21:39
3 Andrea FORREST AUS 0:27:28—2:26:40—1:25:14—4:22:07
4 Jacqueline HENRICKS AUS 0:27:30—2:26:40—1:26:30—4:23:13
5 Jessica MITCHELL AUS 0:31:24—2:25:58—1:27:11—4:28:06