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Tim O’Donnell and Tine Deckers start their season with strong wins at the IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Rico.
by Shawn Skene, Photos: Paul Phillips/Competitive Image
O’Donnell too hot to handle
Tim O’Donnell (USA) and Cameron Dye (USA) emerged from the waters of Condado Lagoon together. Seconds behind was Frederik Van Lierde (BEL), followed by Andrew Starykowicz (USA), Romain Guillaume (FRA), and Leon Griffin (AUS).
Predictably, Starykowicz forced his way to the front of the race early but Dye, O’Donnell, Griffin, and Gullaume marked his move for much of the first 40 miles on the bike. Playing to his strong suit, Starykowicz put the hammer down and managed to out bike almost everyone by more than three minutes, which resulted in the American carrying an advantage ranging from +2:35 to 2:39 on Dye, Guillaume, and O’Donnell.
Once on the run, Starykowicz faltered almost immediately. Simultaneously, O’Donnell was running like he was shot out of a rocket from his first stride on the run and placed his sights clearly on the leader up front. It wasn’t much of a duo, as O’Donnell gained he was able to eliminate his deficit by two miles and built up over a minute advantage on Starykowicz and Guillaume at 3.5 miles.
For the remainder of the run, O’Donnell just had to hold his pace and let Dye and Griffin duke it out for the last two steps on the podium over the final miles. O’Donnell opened his 2016 season with the victory in San Juan, his second win in San Juan, by a winning margin of 3:30 on Griffin and 4:18 on Dye.
Deckers makes move on the bike
Something was off with Haskins on the bike, the four-time IRONMAN 70.3 winner started handing back time to Deckers in the early going on the bike. At 35 miles, Deckers grasped the lead and started to put time into Haskins and the entire field. Deckers race best bike split on the day by over four minutes rewarded the leader a 3:40 advantage over Haskins as she dismounted her bike and headed into T2. Corbin forged her way into third at the conclusion of the bike but was 5:09 down to Deckers.
Deckers had a solid run, however, Haskins was finding her stride and started to nibble away at the lead Deckers had established at the start of the run. It quickly became apparent that Haskins would have to pick up the pace if she had any chance of catching Deckers as she managed to only whittle down the lead to 1:45.
In the last three miles, Corbin would rally her way to a third-place showing and a gratifying finish after fighting the injury and illness bug for much of last year. Haskins made a last ditch effort to charge forward, but it wasn’t enough. Deckers took the win by a margin of 1:52 over Haskins.
Top 5 Pro Men
| 1 | O’Donnell, Tim | USA | 0:24:15 | 2:04:24 | 1:17:47 | 3:50:51 |
| 2 | Griffin, Leon | AUS | 0:24:38 | 2:07:16 | 1:18:11 | 3:54:22 |
| 3 | Dye, Cameron | USA | 0:24:17 | 2:04:18 | 1:21:59 | 3:55:10 |
| 4 | Guillaume, Romain | FRA | 0:24:26 | 2:03:50 | 1:23:00 | 3:56:28 |
| 5 | Silvestrin Souza, Frank | BRA | 0:24:46 | 2:09:08 | 1:18:56 | 3:57:36 |
Top 5 Pro Women
| 1 | Deckers, Tine | BEL | 0:28:19 | 2:15:59 | 1:30:31 | 4:20:22 |
| 2 | Haskins, Sarah | USA | 0:25:17 | 2:22:32 | 1:28:59 | 4:22:14 |
| 3 | Corbin, Linsey | USA | 0:28:17 | 2:20:57 | 1:28:29 | 4:23:32 |
| 4 | Robertson, Jodie | USA | 0:31:58 | 2:20:17 | 1:26:09 | 4:24:38 |
| 5 | Jastrebsky, Rachel | USA | 0:28:25 | 2:27:57 | 1:34:00 | 4:36:05 |
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Don and Wurtele Victorious in Mexico
Tim Don successfully defended his title while Heather Wurtele dominated the the field on her way to her win at IRONMAN 70.3 Monterrey.
by Shawn Skene, Photos by Eddie Silvers/FinisherPix.com
Don makes his move on the run
Matt Charbot (USA) was first out of the man-made Santa Lucia River waterway that rolls through the downtown of Monterrey. Sylvain Sudrie (FRA), Kevin Collington (USA), Tim Don (GBR), Stuart Hayes (USA), and Drew Scott (USA) spread out four to 23 seconds back of Chrabot.
It wasn’t long before Trevor Wurtele (CAN) went off the front and guided a lead pack of seven men that included Don, Sudrie, Ben Hoffman (USA), Scott, Collington, and Chrabot for much of the middle half of the bike. Sudrie surged to the front in closing miles and eventually reached T2 19 to 26 seconds ahead of Don, Chrabot, Wurtlee, Hoffman, Scott and Callington.
Don made quick use of his running prowess and blazed his way into the lead early on the run. Sudire stubbornly hung just back of Don during the first six kilometers with Chrabot and Wurtlete keeping the lead pair out front 25 seconds later.
Wurtele was quietly laying down the second fastest run of the day and ran his way into second just before the halfway point of the race, and less than a half minute off Don’s pace. Ultimately, Don’s strong run performance held off the charge mounted from behind by Wurtele to successfully defend his title in Mexico. Wurtele superb performance on the bike and run was rewarded with well-deserved second and Chrabot rounded out the podium
Wurtele starts season strong
Corrie Kristick (USA) was first to emerge from the water while towing Celine Schaerer (CHE), Camilla Pedersen (DNK), and Karen Thibodeau (CAN) into T1 within 11 seconds of each other.
Pedersen was first to take the reins on the bike and led the women early while Heather Wurtele (CAN) inched her way into second. At the completion of the first half of the bike, Wurtele put almost a minute on Pederen as Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) worked her way into third, but was almost four minutes off the pace. At the conclusion of the bike, Wurtele gaped Pedersen by over three minutes and nearing eight minutes on Sarah Piamiano (USA), Schaerer, and Carfrae.
Wurtele was solid on the run soldiering through the kilometers and putting time on everyone but Carfrae. Pedersen had a firm hold on second, while Carfrae, as usual, unleashed her potent run and ran her way into third by the end of the first half of the run. Wurtele’s relentless pace on the run garnered her the first win of 2016. Pedersen held on to second while Carfrae claimed third in her first race of the season.
Top 5 Pro Men
| 1 | Don, Tim | GBR | 0:22:49 | 2:04:37 | 1:12:46 | 3:42:53 |
| 2 | Wurtele, Trevor | CAN | 0:24:13 | 2:03:22 | 1:13:46 | 3:43:53 |
| 3 | Chrabot, Matt | USA | 0:22:32 | 2:04:57 | 1:14:25 | 3:44:37 |
| 4 | Sudrie, Sylvain | FRA | 0:22:36 | 2:04:26 | 1:15:03 | 3:44:51 |
| 5 | Hoffman, Ben | USA | 0:24:08 | 2:03:26 | 1:16:13 | 3:46:27 |
Top 5 Pro Women
| 1 | Wurtele, Heather | CAN | 0:26:31 | 2:16:49 | 1:22:09 | 4:08:19 |
| 2 | Pedersen, Camilla | DNK | 0:24:56 | 2:21:07 | 1:22:36 | 4:12:05 |
| 3 | Carfrae, Mirinda | AUS | 0:26:36 | 2:24:38 | 1:20:48 | 4:15:11 |
| 4 | Piampiano, Sarah | USA | 0:30:29 | 2:20:08 | 1:23:16 | 4:17:26 |
| 5 | Lyles, Liz | USA | 0:26:42 | 2:27:19 | 1:22:13 | 4:19:58 |
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