It has been a busy Ironman weekend, but most of the attention went to the clash between Jan Frodeno and Lionel Sanders in the 70.3 Ironman at Oceanside on Saturday. The German pulled the sheet and took the win in 3hr35'05 with a 3 minute gap on Lionel Sanders. Rudy Von Berg came fifth and Niels Vande Casteele finished as fourth AG.
Niels and Tom 3 and 5 in M30
There were no Belgian pro's in Oceanside, but a very strong AG field. Niels Vande Casteele, who has been living in the US for several years, pulled off a top-30 ranking in the WC 70.3 Ironman AG last year. He was first Belgian and managed to redo the trick last Saturday. In 4hr22'19 he came 26th overall, third in M30. Tom De Bruyn finished fifth in that same AG.
Talansky debut
Frodeno took the lead from the start of the race. Only Eric Lagerstrom managed to follow his feet during the 1900m swim, but had to let go early in the 90km bike ride. Noticeable: Andrew Talansky followed right behind Jessy Thomas in his debut, only 3 minutes behind Frodo. Halfway in Lionel Sanders came barging through the door, but eventually lost 2'30 on Frodo. During the half marathon Jan consolidated his lead, winning the duel with a 3' gap. Andrew Talansky eventually came 19th in 4hr21'20, falling short in the half marathon (1hr35'20) and even his bike split was a bit disappointing (3hr13'51).
The female race was won by Anne Haug, beating Holly Lawrence and Sarah True.
Original article posted on 3athlon.be by Hans Cleemput on 08/03/2018
Translation by @T0v3