Celebrations were already well underway in the Wilde-De Vet household after Hayden Wilde won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice last weekend and followed up with a victory at the T100 French Riviera yesterday. Now, Hanne de Vet got to break the tape herself after winning Ironman 70.3 Emilia-Romagna. In a span of just eight days, the couple has combined for an impressive three victories.
De Vet kicked off her race with a strong swim time of 25:47, staying right alongside Lena Meissner – who would later drop out – and athletes such as Denise Cavallini, Jasmine Holmes, Brooke Gillies, and Francesca Crestani. While most of these athletes dropped off the pace on the bike, only Meissner and De Vet remained at the front. The duo rode together through to T2, building a lead of more than five minutes over their nearest pursuers.
Meissner didn’t make it far on the run, pulling out within the first few kilometers of the half marathon, but De Vet pushed relentlessly onward. Although the chasers gradually closed the gap, De Vet held on to cross the finish line 1:21 ahead of Switzerland’s Loanne Duvoisin. De Vet took the win in 4:08:16, with Duvoisin finishing second in 4:09:38 and Italy’s Crestani rounding out the podium in third (4:18:04).
In the men’s race, Britain’s Deri McCluskey claimed victory in 3:44:23, followed by Italy’s Marco Lorenzon in second (3:46:54) and Germany’s Janne Böttel in third (3:47:47).
