Trevor Foley and Ellie Salthouse took the spoils at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder on Saturday as the pair both picked up their maiden wins on the brand new IRONMAN Pro Series.
For Foley, this success came some three weeks after his season opener at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga, where he had finished third. Originally slated to race both IRONMAN Texas and IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, Foley was ruled out after a collision with a car.
Salthouse, who had opened her season with a win at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong, picked up a third podium of the year in Boulder and is gathering momentum ahead of the crucial part of the season.
Pro Men – Foley can’t be stopped
Out of the water, it was supertri E World Triathlon champion Chase McQueen who led the way, with the American entering transition alongside fellow countryman Greg Harper and South African Nicholas Quenet.
Sam Appleton was +0:39 down with Canadian Matt Sharpe on his heels. Matt Hanson exited alongside Kiwi Sam Osborne +2:14 down in ninth and 10th, with Foley back 27th, +3:42 in arrears.
On to the bike, McQueen and Quenet set the early pace, with McQueen subsequently handed a five-minute penalty for a rule violation and Appleton making his way to the front of the race by the 28.8km mark.
Making remarkable headway on the bike, Foley blitzed by everyone in the field over the first half to move into the lead by the 57.1km mark, splitting 1:51:09 for the bike, more than two minutes quicker than Sam Long had when he won here in 2023.
On to the run, the 24-year-old had a +2:34 advantage over Appleton in second, who entered transition alongside Quenet. Hanson, +5:40 back from Foley, was in fifth at the culmination of the bike leg.
Holding strong on the run, Foley clocked the fourth fastest split of the day, which was enough to see the former Florida Gator take the win ahead of Hanson, who moved up into second thanks to a lightning quick 1:10:41 run.
In third place, Appleton ran well to outlast Quenet, who finished in fourth place. Rounding out the Top 5 was American Colin Szuch, who had the third fastest bike and seventh fastest run.
Pro Women – Salthouse keeps the ball rolling
In the women’s race, a front pack of four athletes formed in the swim, with Jodie Stimpson leading Valerie Barthelemy, Ericka Ackerlund and Sif Bendix Madsen out of the water, with Salthouse +0:36 down in fifth.
Out of transition, it was Madsen who seized the initiative, with the Dane immediately setting to work and opening up a gap of +0:36 over the opening kilometres, as Salthouse bridged back up to the rest of the leaders.
For the rest of the bike, Madsen was gone with the wind, as she consolidated her lead at the front of the race kilometre-by-kilometre to enter T2 with a huge buffer of +8:43 over Barthelemy, Salthouse, Stimpson and Ackerlund in the chase pack.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, the wheels started to come off on the run, with the chasing quartet all running faster out on course. Of these four athletes, it was Salthouse who started to make up ground the quickest, as the Australian set out in chase of the front.
Gaining slowly at first but then much more rapidly over the second half of the run, Salthouse has Madsen in her sights with three kilometres to go, and inflicted the killer blow in the closing stages, passing Madsen with the finish line in sight.
Taking the tape, Salthouse prevailed ahead of Madsen in second, with Barthelemy outlasting Stimpson to secure third and the final spot on the podium. Stimpson was fourth, with Ackerlund finishing in fifth.
IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder – Saturday June 8 2024
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
Pro Men
1. Trevor Foley (USA) – 3:33:36 [26:15/1:51:09/1:12:56]
2. Matt Hanson (USA) – 3:36:47 [24:46/1:58:14/1:10:41]
3. Sam Appleton (AUS) – 3:38:57 [23:11/1:56:41/1:15:38]
4. Nicholas Quenet (RSA) – 3:40:35 [22:36/1:57:48/1:17:10]
5. Colin Szuch (USA) – 3:41:34 [25:53/1:56:42/1:15:54]
Pro Women
1. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) – 4:06:12 [26:09/2:13:00/1:23:32]
2. Sif Bendix Madsen (DEN) – 4:06:47 [25:35/2:04:50/1:32:55]
3. Valerie Barthelemy – 4:08:22 [25:33/2:13:36/1:25:54]
4. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) – 4:09:51 [25:32/2:13:38/1:27:16]
5. Ericka Ackerlund (USA) – 4:14:57 [25:34/2:13:48/1:32:33]
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