Frederik van Lierde paced himself to his fourth victory at this weekend's IRONMAN France. One year after he ranked sixth in Nice only six weeks after breaking his shoulder in a bad crash, he came back to the Promenade des Anglais to shine once again.
The Belgian 2013 IRONMAN world champion focused on his strengths and combined a strong bike and run to dominate the men’s race. He came out of the water close behind leader Denis Chevrot and moved immediately to the front on the bike. Although Australian Cameron Wurf became a fast shadow on the bike course, van Lierde didn’t push too hard. Wurf almost touched the bike course record and almost caught up with van Lierde, but suffered early on the run and dropped out. After winning here from 2011 to 2013, the 38-year-old mastered the pro field including storming runner Alessandro Degasperi on the flat run. Italy’s strong marathoner moved from sixth into second position during the run, while French Denis Chevrot battled down Eneko Llanos for third.
Australia’s breakaway on the bike was more successful in women’s race than in the men’s. Annabel Luxford was the first Aussie to lead te women’s race thanks to the fastest swim time. Starting the tough bike ride with a disadvantage of 3:13 minutes, her compatriot Carrie Lester then made her move on the second half of the challenging course. Coming off the bike with a lead of almost 2:30, Lester eventually had the win in her hands. Throughout the first half of the marathon, the gap between those two remained more or less the same before Luxford slowed down. Due to pretty warm temperatures at the Cote d’Azur, she had to let Lester go and grab the fourth IRONMAN victory of her career.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Frederik van Lierde BEL 8:31:31
2 Alessandro Degasperi ITA 8:36:18
3 Denis Chevrot FRA 8:39:42
4 Eneko Llanos ESP 8:40:54
5 Victor del Corral ESP 8:53:37
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Carrie Lester AUS 9:27:53
2 Annabel Luxford AUS 9:38:31
3 Nicole Valentine USA 10:21:53
4 Camille Donat FRA 10:29:22
5 Sarah Jarvis DEU 10:37:56