It was a wonderful battle, yet Lionel Sanders had hoped for something more during Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells. It was the race in which he competed against Vincent Luis and Jelle Geens, among others – the eventual runner-up and bronze medallist – but in the end the race had a somewhat skewed outcome. “I have a strange feeling after this one,” Sanders said.
Perhaps Sanders is doing himself a little short with that, because it was clear that the Canadian was once again in a perfect shape, including a bike time of 2:00 and a run time of 1:09, but the fact is that Luis was hit by a car while biking and crossed the finish line visibly battered. Geens in turn received a five-minute penalty for drafting, something that also distorted the race picture, all the more so because the Belgian recorded the fastest running time of the day – 1:08.
“I came in looking for a battle but my competitors unfortunately had a lot of adversity. Vincent got hit by a car but is tough as nails and got back up and persevered onwards. Jelle had his own adversity but went on to have the days fastest run. I’m happy with my performance but look forward to the rematch against these guys. But now it’s actually time for an off season.”
