Two British hopefuls enjoyed a super final shakedown ahead of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship with victories on a challenging course in Ireland. Last year’s world championship runner-up Emma Pallant and Elliot Smales claimed victories at IRONMAN 70.3 Dun Laoghaire on a new course that tested all with the ride in the famed Wicklow Mountains National Park.
Pallant was overtaken on the climbs by teak-tough 40-something Tine Deckers with the Belgian taking a 1:45 buffer on to the run. The young English star swallowed that up by the 7km mark with her 1:22 run on a tough day enough for the victory without exhausting all the fuel in the tank.
The windy chop and tides made for a super-challenging swim that opened some telling gaps, of which British star Elliot Smales took full advantage. He led with veteran Andy Potts onto the bike and took a three-minute lead on to the run with his 1:17 effort more than enough for a telling four-minute win from the American with local star Bryan McCrystal third.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Smales, Elliot GBR 4:13:57
2 Potts, Andy USA 4:18:11
3 McCrystal, Bryan IRE 4:23:26
4 Parienko, Arten RUS 4:27:07
5 Bach, Elliot USA 4:29:05
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Pallant, Emma GBR 4:48:02
2 Deckers, Tine BEL 4:49:31
3 Ferreira, Amber USA 5:04:01
4 Falcaro, Nicole USA 5:04:55
5 Richards, Suzie GBR 5:10:45