Daniel Fontana captured his first IRONMAN title, while Linsey Corbin has returned to her winning ways at the Ford IRONMAN Los Cabos. The day started with a wetsuit-legal, single-lap swim with Stephen Bayliss (GBR) exciting the Sea of Cortez with a clear lead of over two minutes on Daniel Fontana (ITA), Jan Van Berkel (CHE) and TJ Tollakson (USA). Once the race hit the highway that connects San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas, the lead quartet worked together to distance themselves from the remainder of the field for most of the ride. The four became five when the leaders were later joined by former pro cyclist Domenico Passuello (ITA). A persistent group containing Derek Garcia (USA) and Swen Sundberg (DEU) hovered four to eight minutes off the pace, throughout the 112-mile ride, but never surrendering the huge deficits that were building on the remainder of the field.
The last 20 miles the fireworks occurred with Van Berkel pushing the pace that saw him break up the pack of five riding up front. Bayliss, Fontana and Passuello had forfeited over three minutes to Van Berkel as the bike portion of race concluded, while Tollakson hit T2 almost five minutes in arrears.
Once on the run, Van Berkel was solid for the first seven miles, then showed signs he was struggling in the heat as Fontana chew into his lead at an alarming rate. Fontana grabbed the lead around mile nine and from there Van Berkel went in reverse unable to contain the damage. Bayliss and Passuello made quick work of Van Berkel, but could not match Fontana’s pace out front. Fontana faltered ever so slightly over the closing miles, but his lead was never in jeopardy as the Italian went on to capture his first ever IRONMAN title in and elapsed time of 8:26:15. Bayliss rock solid performance was rewarded with a second place finish (8:32:19), while Passuello rounded out the podium with his 8:34:18 clocking.
Corbin's patient race
As expected, Haley Chura managed to reach the timing mat first out of the water, but had Katy Blakemore nipping at her heel just two seconds back. Prerace favorites Carrie Lester (AUS) and Linsey Corbin (USA) found themselves 4:33 and 5:23 off the leading duo up front, as they mounted their bikes.
Once on the bike, Lester forged her way into the lead at 30 miles and managed to hold off all challengers for the remainder of the ride. Corbin moved into second and appeared content to let Lester lead the way in the rollers for the rest of the ride. Lester carried a tentative advantage of just over two minutes on Corbin as the race headed into T2, with third place (Karen Thibodeau), looking at over a 12 minute deficit to deal with.
Once on the run, Lester was holding off Corbin and keeping the three-time IRONMAN champion at bay by two to three minutes for the first 10 miles. The wheels started to fall off the Lester train as the women’s race reached the halfway point on the run and leader’s advantage had been reduced to three seconds. Corbin claimed the lead then quickly established a commanding six minutes advantage by 21 miles. Now, Lisa Ribes (USA) was tearing through the field, on a race-best run pace that eventually allowed her to catch a faltering Lester in the closing miles.
Corbin wasn’t going to let this one get away, as the veteran held on to win the 2014 IRONMAN Los Cabos championship in with a winning margin of 3:57 over Lisa Ribes and her impressive run. Lester struggled to the end, falling 9:52 off Corbin’s winning pace, but managed to complete the day with a podium finish.
Top Men
1 Daniel Fontana ITA 8:26:15
2 Stephen Bayliss GBR 8:32:19
3 Domenico Passuello ITA 8:34:18
4 Swen Sundberg DEU 8:38:17
5 Patrick Evoe USA 8:40:13
Top Women
1 Linsey Corbin USA 9:16:43
2 Lisa Ribes USA 9:20:40
3 Carrie Lester AUS 9:26:35
4 Beth Shutt USA 9:32:28
5 Haley Chura USA 9:33:35