A bit of a disappointment for athletes racing Ironman 70.3 Vichy today, because the race was turned into a bike-run alternative due to the bad water quality as a result of heavy rainfall in the region. It didn’t keep Arnaud Guilloux from having a great day out there, fortunately, because the Frenchman ended up winning the event. He managed to out run Leon Chevalier (FRA) and Dylan Magnien (FRA), who took second and third respectively.
With there being no swim part, it didn’t come as a surprise that athletes were quite near each other in the first part of the bike leg. Six athletes were within one minute from each other 30K into the race. It was Molinari leading at this point, followed by Guilloux (+0:14) and Magnien (+0:31). Later, Chevalier started to move up too, which saw him settle in third.
In the final kilometers, Chevalier lost ground, while France’s Erwan Jacobi – on the contrary – moved to the front. Once the athletes reached T2, Molinari was still in front, followed by Guilloux (+0:15), Britain’s James Scott-Farrington (+2:12) and Jacobi in fourth place (+2:20).
On the half-marathon, in no-time, Guillloux took over the lead from Molinari. Behind them, Chevalier sprinted back to the front, which saw him head into third place 5K into the run. Halfway through the run, Chevalier managed to pick up Molinari, which meant it was now Chevalier who was trying to chase down Guilloux.
Although, Chevalier managed to shrink the gap towards Guilloux, he wasn’t able to get in between Guilloux and the gold. After 3:23:43 hours, it was Guilloux who broke the tape. Chevalier followed 30 seconds later in second place, and Magnien completed the podium (+0:58).
