For a while it seemed like the Dutch Youri Keulen would bring home the victory, but in the final stretch, Argentina’s Luciano Taccone was able to overtake and continue to race towards the win. While Keulen disappeared out of the top five, fellow Argentinean Flavio Morandini took second and America’s Marc Dubrick took third.
In the water, a lead group of four athletes took shape. Taccone and Keulen – who ended up playing a lead role in most of the race – weren’t part of this group, and both exited the water with a deficit of about 1:20 minute. It didn’t take long before both of them bridged the gap on the bike. Before T2, they ended up joining the front group, which saw five athletes simultaneously rack their bikes back in the transition area and get ready for the run.
On the run, Keulen started off attacking and taking the lead. About halfway through, the Dutchman seemed to have run out of energy, though, as Taccone suddenly took over and ended up winning the race. Taccone noted a time of 1:17:01 hour on the half-marathon and crossed the line nearly five minutes ahead of Morandini, who took second. Dubrick rounded the podium (+7:07).
