IRONMAN 70.3 Barcelona welcomed 1,500 athletes to Calella, Spain for a spectacular day featuring one of the toughest bike courses on the IRONMAN 70.3 global schedule. Conditions were perfect with a very light breeze and a calm Mediterranean Sea to start the swim. Fantastic crowds lined the bike and run courses throughout the beautiful Barcelona-Calella region.
Men’s Race:
Rasmus Petraeus (DEN) led the men’s professional field out of the water in 22:49, but was followed by a group 30-seconds later that included favorites Will Clarke (GBR), Terenzo Bozzone (NEZ), Sylvain Sudrie (FRA), Bruno Pais (POR) and Jan Van Berkel (SUI). Clarke quickly went to the front on the bike as the course climbed but, on the most difficult climbs, it was Sudrie and Van Berkel who showed their cycling strength by pulling ahead of the rest of the field. The two arrived at T2 with a five-minute advantage on their closest pursuer, Bozzone. Once onto the run, Sudrie extended his lead with a solid 1:14:46 run for the flat 21-km run course. The fight for the podium became a foot race with Clarke posting the fastest run split (1:13:24) to move into second place and Bruno Pais coming through to take third. Hometown favorite, Victor Del Corral, ran his way to a fifth place finish.
Women’s Race:
The women’s race was dominated from the start by Camila Pedersen (DEN). Only eight months ago Pedersen was fighting for her life after an accident that left her in a coma for three weeks. In just her second race since, Pedersen lead on the strength of a fast swim and dominating bike ride to cruise to victory, finishing 18-minutes ahead of the rest of the women’s field. The race for the remaining podium places was much tighter with Katja Konschak (GER) using the fastest run-split to secure second place over Germany’s Diana Riesler. Riesler, who has been coming back from a nagging injury, was pleased with third.
Top five professional women’s results:
1. Camilla Pedersen DEN 4:36:16
2. Katja Konschak GER 4:53:41
3. Diana Riesler GER 4:59:13
4. Tine Holst DEN 5:04:48
5. Helena Herrero ESP 5:07:52
Top five professional men’s results:
1. Sylvain Sudrie FRA 4:02:43
2. Will Clarke GBR 4:06:03
3. Bruno Pais POR 4:06:53
4. Jan Van Berkel SUI 4:08:33
5. Victor Del Corral ESP 4:08:40
The event offered a total professional prize purse of 25,000 € and 30 coveted age-group slots to the 2014 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place on Sept. 7 in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.