A victory out of the books; today, Natalie van Coevorden led from start to finish at Ironman 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz, securing a more than impressive win.
Van Coevorden took the lead right from the start and built up a solid advantage in the water. When the Australian winner climbed out of the water after 28:16 minutes, France’s Justine Guerard followed in second place 47 seconds later. Behind them, the gap was already considerably larger, as Nina Derron and Laura Addie faced a 3:04-minute deficit and already had their work cut out for them.
While Van Coevorden had to do everything on her own at the front, it was Derron who proved to be the stronger biker; slowly but surely she closed in, though she couldn’t quite bridge the gap to the front completely. Once back in T2, the gap between Van Coevorden and Derron was just 32 seconds, while Guerard had dropped back and was riding together with Addie, though they were 2:27 minutes behind Van Coevorden.
Although Derron had closed in quickly during the bike leg, the dynamic of the race shifted once again during the run; that is where Van Coevorden began pulling ahead once more. Initially, it started with a few seconds per kilometer, but as the half marathon progressed, the gap grew wider and wider.
Van Coevorden won Ironman 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz in a time of 4:11:18, while Derron secured a second place in 4:13:44. Jeanne Collonge finished third in 4:15:26.
