British athletes reigned in Ireland, where in both the men’s and women’s competition, winners were made on the run. There was no doubt that in the men’s race, it was on France's Romain Guillaume to attack on the bike. He did as expected and stormed to the front in a fashion that has made him often a race leader.
Guillaume knew that a fast bike split would be mandatory to keep Brit David Mcnamee off his feet on the run. The Frenchman let the hammer go down and managed an extraordinary bike ride, putting almost 5 minutes on the chasers. But it was just not enough. With about 5 kilometers to go on the run, Mcnamee flew by and pushed Guillaume into runner-up position.
Two-time defending champion Susie Cheetham was expected to dominate the women’s race heading into the competition. The 31-year-old seemed to be on the way to take her third consecutive win when she passed the timing mats after 75 kilometers of the bike course. Cheetham had the race under control, but the gaps were there. Things changed quickly when Sarah Lewis downsized Cheetham’s lead on the final kilometers of the bike and started the run only about 40 seconds behind. It took her less than 8 kilometers on the run to fix the win.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 McNamee, David GBR 3:48:14
2 Guillaume, Romain FRA 3:48:43
3 Donnelly, Sean POL 3:56:06
4 McCrystal, Bryan IRL 3:58:43
5 Smales, Elliot GBR 3:59:14
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Lewis, Sarah GBR 4:23:11
2 Cheetham, Susue GBR 4:26:26
3 Wilson, Amanda AUS 4:34:43
4 Donegan, Aine IRL 4:36:22
5 Deary, Emman GBR 4:36:39