Originally published at: On the Ground in Utah: The St. George Finale Sees a Pair of Dominant Performances - Slowtwitch News
Lionel Sanders charges to a big win at the final IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship St. George. Photo: Eric Wynn
They were the race favourites heading into the last IRONMAN event to take place in St. George, Utah, but it’s hard to imagine anyone figured they would dominate their races quite the way they did. Lionel Sanders took his fifth title in St. George, finishing over two minutes ahead of two-time defending champion Sam Long and over six minutes up on Long’s countryman Colin Szuch.
Photo: Eric Wynn
Paula Findlay made it an all-Canadian affair on the top of the podium, winning the women’s race by over three minutes, with Americans Danielle Lewis (2:13 back) and Jackie Hering (exactly 6 minutes behind) rounding out the podium.
Findlay Defends
Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes was one of the first out of the water at last year’s Paris Olympics, so it’s hardly a surprise that she led the women out of the water at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Lotte Wilms was next out, with Findlay hitting T1 a minute behind. Right on the Canadians heels was American Chelsea Sodaro, the 2022 IRONMAN world champion. American’s Jocelyn McCauley and Hering were about 1:40 back as they hit dry land.
Sodaro managed to stay with Findlay through the early miles of the bike, but would eventually pull out on the bike. Turns out she wasn’t completely over the sickness that sidelined her from the IRONMAN Texas race a couple of weeks ago. She reported that she couldn’t stop throwing up on the bike, so was forced to call it a day.
Findlay on the bike. Photo: Eric Wynn
Findlay powered on alone and had caught up to Lopes by roughly the halfway point of the bike, but the Brazilian hung tough and managed to stay with the Canadian up the challenging Snow Canyon climb and the descent back to St. George, with the two finishing the ride 2:04 up on McCauley, 3:02 ahead of Lisa Becharas (USA) and 4:02 ahead of Lewis.
Lopes blasted out of T2 ahead of the Canadian, but would pull off the course within the first couple of miles – she’s reportedly dealing with an injury and had never planned to finish the run. That meant Findlay could maintain a steady pace through the final leg to easily hold off the rest of the field to win in 4:11:06. Lewis (4:14:12) and Hering (4:17:06) would run about a minute faster than Findlay, but her lead was never threatened as she successfully defended her title and cruised to her third win in St. George. Brit Simone Mitchell would run her way to fourth in 4:17:46, while Wilms would take fifth in 4:20:29.
Danielle Lewis takes second. Photo: Eric Wynn
Sanders’ St. George Magic
Lionel Sanders has enjoyed more than a bit of success over the years at the IRONMAN races in St. George. He’s now won the 70.3 race five times, along with a runner-up finish the year St. George hosted the IRONMAN World Championship, and a runner-up finish to Alistair Brownlee in 2017.
Sanders was a logical favourite for the win this year after his excellent season opener in Oceanside, but he outdid himself with a bike course record that set up his win.
Olympian Seth Rider was first out of the water, leading fellow American Marc Dubrick by 36 seconds, with another former short-course specialist, Kevin McDowell (USA), leading a group of about 10 about 1:34 down. In that group was another pre-race favourite, Magnus Ditlev, the Danish uber-biker who started his season off with a big win at IRONMAN South Africa. Sanders was a shade under three minutes back after the swim, with Long another minute behind.
Once out on the bike it didn’t take Sanders long to power his way to the front and he was in the lead before the halfway point of the ride. Ditlev had moved his way to the front for a short time, but was reportedly slowed by a flat tire and never factored in the race after that. Sanders’ 1:58:13 split broke Long’s previous course record by over 90 seconds and saw the Canadian hit T2 with a lead of 2:40 on Long, with American Colin Szuch finishing the bike just under four minutes down, with McDowell, Rider, Kiwi Ben Hamilton and Canadian Jackson Laundry all arriving roughly 30 seconds later.
Long would run about 19 seconds faster than Sanders, but that was hardly enough to put any pressure on the Canadian, who would set a new course record of 3:37:54 to take the win. Long’s runner-up spot was never in jeopardy either as he finished in 3:40:08, with Szuch hanging tough to take third in 3:34:04. McDowell would cross the line 20 seconds later, and Aussie Jake Birtwhistle (3:45:20) rounded out the top five.