Jesse Thomas dominated the bike and run, while Meredith Kessler enjoyed an all-around performance.
Thomas closes the deal on the run
Practicing dentist and professional triathlete, David Kahn (USA), drilled a 23:41 swim to lead by over two minutes on a chase pack of three that included Jesse Thomas (USA), Leon Griffin (AUS) and Trevor Wurtele (CAN). The remainder of the field was five minutes behind.
Once the men hit the rolling hills on the bike, the front of the race closed up with Kahn, Wurtele, Griffin and Thomas riding within seconds of each other as the race neared 33 km. Thomas took control of the race over the last half of the bike when he surged and splintered the lead group. He led Wurtele by 90 seconds into T2, with Griffin over four minutes behind.
Initially, Wurtele matched Thomas’s pace, but eventually the American's race-best run of 1:13:15 sealed the win in a time of 3:52:31, with Wurtele crossing the finish line 2:46 later for second. Finishing third, 12:49 off the winner's pace, was Griffin in 4:05:20.
Kessler too hot to handle
Meredith Kessler (USA) and Julie Dibens (GBR) exited the lake two seconds apart. French Canadians Magali Tisseyre and Caroline St. Pierre were next out of the water, two and half minutes back, in third and fourth.
It was the Dibens and Kessler show on the bike as the pair battled each other for 90 km as the rest of the field was unable to match the pace and quickly fell back. The bike war between the pair resolved nothing as Dibens and Kessler dismounted their bikes four seconds apart. Laura Siddall (GBR) was the next women to come into T2, 12:51 off the lead pair’s pace, with Tissyre coming off her bike a minute later.
Kessler snuck out of T2 with a two second advantage on Dibens as they hit the run course. It was apparent from the start that Kessler was on her game as she immediately starting distancing herself from Dibens. Behind the lead pair Siddall's race-best run help;ed her grab a podium placing.
Kessler’s rock solid swim, bike and run earned her the IRONMAN 70.3 Mount-Tremblant title with a 7:21 winning margin over Dibens.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Jesse Thomas USA 0:25:44 2:10:07 1:13:15 3:52:31
2 Trevor Wurtele CAN 0:25:46 2:11:22 1:14:27 3:55:17
3 Leon Griffin AUS 0:25:45 2:14:26 1:21:42 4:05:20
4 David Kahn USA 0:23:41 2:18:41 1:20:35 4:06:42
5 Andrew Fast USA 0:29:36 2:19:34 1:29:29 4:22:43
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Meredith Kessler USA 0:25:15 2:19:21 1:24:39 4:13:23
2 Julie Dibens GBR 0:25:17 2:19:19 1:32:07 4:20:53
3 Laura Siddall GBR 0:28:36 2:28:47 1:22:25 4:23:48
4 Magali Tisseyre CAN 0:27:52 2:30:34 1:28:52 4:31:15
5 Suzanne Zelazo CAN 0:28:45 2:34:44 1:42:16 4:50:32