Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle took a massive win today at Ironman 70.3 Andorra, as she raced solo from start to finish, leaving the second-place finisher 13 minutes behind. In the men’s race, the honor was for France’s Simon Viain, but he definitely had a tougher battle going on with the silver and bronze medalists.
Men’s race
First out of the water, after 23:29 minutes, was Australia’s Josh Amberger. Viain followed a minute later in second place, together with Italy’s Gregory Barnaby. The rest of the field was three minutes behind Amberger once they reached T1. Viain slowly moved to the front during the bike leg, but it was Spain’s Jordi Montraveta Moya who pulled off the best bike discipline, as he rode to first place on his own.
Montraveta Moya was first to hit the run course, while Viain followed 1:17 minute later. Once Viain was running, he found some extra energy, which saw him overtake Montraveta Moya after eight kilometers. While Viain ran to the victory, Montraveta Moya hang on for second and Barnaby crossed the line in third place.
Women’s race
The two-minute lead that Gentle had after the swim part, would increase massively during the rest of the race. On the bike, Gentle added another eight minutes to it, which means she left T2 10 minutes before the second-place woman: France’s Jeanne Collonge. While some athletes shifted positions for silver and bronze behind her, Gentle continued with her winning mood. After 4:53:42 hours, she claimed the gold. Thirteen minutes later, Amy Cymerman took second, and Italy’s Giorgia Priarone completed the podium (+22:25).
