Most eyes may have been on Lionel Sanders, but it was Marc Dubrick who took center stage. The American athlete put on a dominant display, winning Ironman 70.3 Cozumel by a massive margin after leading wire-to-wire. Dubrick had already won IM 70.3 Cozumel in 2024.
Already out of the swim, Dubrick had built a small gap: nineteen seconds ahead of Joaquin Pereda and just over half a minute on a chase group including Flavio Morandini, Andrew Shellenberger, Rodrigo Gonzalez, Danilo Pimentel, and Eli McWard. It took significantly longer for favorite Lionel Sanders to reach his bike, as the Canadian emerged 9th out of the water, trailing by 2:58.
At the front, Dubrick stayed on the attack, stuck to his own game plan, and steadily extended his lead. Even Lionel Sanders, who moved up to second place during the bike leg, simply could not match Dubrick’s pace. By the time Sanders arrived in T2, he was 3:49 down. By then, it was clear the race for victory would be between Dubrick and Sanders, as third-place finisher Dominik Sowieja entered transition 7:36 back.
However, a dramatic duel never materialized on the run, as Dubrick dominated the closing half marathon as well. Putting time into his rivals with every kilometer, his advantage at the finish line grew to over seven minutes.
Dubrick took the victory in a time of 3:39:18. Sanders was ultimately unable to hold onto second place, losing it to Mexico’s Gonzalez, who crossed the line in 3:46:34. Sanders rounded out the podium in third with a time of 3:48:56.
The women’s race featured a smaller field of competitors. The podium was an all-Mexican sweep, led by Cecilia Perez (4:21:36), ahead of Natalia Casas Gallegos (4:33:57) and Arlette Gonzalez (4:37:40).
