Ruedi Wild, Radka Kahlefeldt Victorious in Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay

By Wires March 13, 2017

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In one of the most competitive field to start a 70.3 race in Asia, Ruedi Wild (CHE) and Radka Kahledfeldt (CZE) rose to the top to win the elite titles in the Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay in the Philippines.

View the Best Photos: 2017 Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay-Pro Race

Men

Sam Betten (AUS) led the swim in 23:22 in a lead pack of 8 that included defending champion Craig Alexander (AUS), current 70.3 world champion Tim Reed (AUS), Michael Raelert (DEU), Ruedi Wild, Jake Montgomery (AUS), Sven Riederer (CHE) and Kevin Collington of the USA. The lead pack rode tight all the way to the u-turn inside the expressway part of the course when surprisingly, young 21 year old Jake Montgomery blasted his way to the lead to breakaway from the pack a little under km 50 of the 90k bike course. The Aussie had suffered head injuries when hit by a car in September while training for the Ironman 70.3 world championships.

Entering T2, Montgomery had put a 1:20 lead over the pursuers that included Johannes Moldan (DEU) who had stamped the day’s best bike split at 2:05:32. Montgomery biked the 2nd best split at 2:05:40. The best runners in the field immediately put work at the first 5km of the race. Riederer, 2004 Olympics Bronze Medalist, had put on a 25 second lead over chasers Reed, Wild and Alexander. Montgomery had dropped to 9th place at the u-turn mark.

Reed and Wild caught up with Riederer at the u-turn mark, with Alexander trailing by just 15 seconds. By km 14 Riederer had been dropped by the lead pack which now included Alexander. By the 17.5km mark, Ruedi had put a 10 second lead on Alexander and would gradually increase the pace until the finish line. Wild finished with a winning time of 3:48:24, a 33 second margin over the ageless 44-year old Craig Alexander (3:48:57). Tim Reed closed podium for 3rd and a time of 3:50:17. Wild had the day’s best run split at 1:14:07. Alexander and Reed also had the 2nd and 3rd besst run splits (1:14:54 and 1:16:15). Montgomery would eventually finish at 11th.

Women

In a small field in the women’s race, Caroline Steffen (26:18) and Radka Kahledfeldt (26:20) exited the swim within 2 seconds of each other. The other women on the field, all Aussies, had lagged on the swim, Kate Bevilaqua was at 27:44, Dimity Lee Duke at 29:20 and Sarah Lester at 31:38. Steffen and Kahlefeldt rode the whole of the bike course together and entered T2 seconds apart. Radka turned the tables on Steffen and immediately put a 40 second gap by the first third of the 21km run course. By the u-turn mark it was almost a 2 minute lead. Kahlefeldt will never be threatened the rest of the way to win in 4:22:13, a 3:42 winning margin over Steffen. Dimity Lee Duke finished at 3rd place (4:41:57).

Filipinos Augusto Benedicto and Jenny Guerrero won their asian elite category finishing with times of 4:25:42 and 5:14:23 respectively.

Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay
Subic Bay, Philippines
March 12, 2017

Results

Pro Men

1. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 3:48:24
2. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:48:57
3. Timothy Reed (AUS) 3:50:17
4. Sven Riederer (SUI) 3:52:04
5. Kevin Collington (USA) 3:52:11
6. Timothy Van Berkel (AUS) 3:54:52
7. Michael Raelert (GER) 3:56:17
8. Sam Betten (AUS) 3:58:33
9. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 3:59:46
10. Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) 4:03:11
11. Jake Montgomery (AUS) 4:04:30

Pro Women

1. Radka Kahlefeldt (CZE) 4:22:13
2. Carolina Steffen (SUI) 4:25:55
3. Dimity Lee Duke (AUS) 4:41:57
4. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:47:29
5. Sarah Lester (AUS) 4:59:19