The big favorite for the win at Ironman 70.3 Bahrain was Holly Lawrence, but it was not the British who came away with the victory. It was the very strong racing Marjolaine Pierré who eventually crossed the finish line first.
After the swim, Natalie van Coevoerden and Holly Lawrence initially led: they came out of the water in a time of 26:02 and then had a lead of 1:47 minute over Lottie Lucas and 3:07 minute over Pierré. On the bike, Lawrence immediately rode so hard that no one could stay or come close.
After just under sixty kilometers, Lawrence’s lead had grown to over 4 minutes on Van Coevoerden, while the other ladies were more than five minutes behind. For reasons still unclear, Lawrence then suddenly lost a lot of time – probably due to a crash or equipment failure – and positions. Once in T2, it was the Dutch Diede Diederiks who had ridden from fifth position to the front and returned first, followed nineteen seconds by Pierré, 1:08 minute by Lucas and 1:46 minute by Lawrence.
During the run, Pierré passed Diederiks after five kilometers and then she did not give away her lead position no more. Van Coevorden also passed Diederiks, about halfway through. Lawrence did not manage to make up her deficit and was no longer a threat to the three fastest ladies.
Pierré won the race in 4:05:54. Van Coevorden finished second in 4:07:11 and Diederiks was third in 4:07:43.
