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IRONMAN Barcelona: GB Age-Group success

A quick roundup of the British Age-Group athletes racing at IRONMAN Barcelona this past weekend, where there were plenty of great performances and podium results collected in Calella
Chief Correspondent
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British Age-Groupers enjoy podium success in Barcelona

Sunday’s IRONMAN Barcelona in Calella, Spain, saw a standout performance in the women’s Pro race from Germany’s Laura Philipp. In her first race over the distance, the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Bronze medallist produced the fastest female debut time ever with an 8:34:57 finish. Her splits of 55:43 for the swim, 4:42:39 for the bike and an exceptional 2:52:00 marathon represent a very complete performance – and a winning margin of more than half an hour.

By contrast, the men’s Pro race witnessed a very close finish. After starting the run with a lead of almost six and a half minutes, Jesper Svensson (SWE) was caught with about 12km remaining by Franz Loeschke (GER), a former Under-23 ITU World Champion and Mixed Relay Triathlon World Champion. When the German lead by increased his lead to over a minute at the the 35km mark the race looked over, but the Swede was able to fight bike and take victory by just 11 seconds.

The Barcelona race is very popular with Age-Group athletes and with easy travel, always attracts a significant U.K. entry. Lots of British names on the podium too, with Mark Matthews and Hywel Davies the fastest two amateur athletes overall. Victoria Nealon – our ERDINGER Athlete of the Month earlier this year – continued her fine year by winning the F35-39 division, finishing second Age-Group athlete overall and setting a new P.B. of 9:33:00.

IRONMAN Barcelona, Sunday 7th October 2018
3.8km / 180km / 42.2km

PRO MEN

1st – Jesper Svensson (SWE) – 8:05:56
2nd – Franz Loeschke (GER) – 8:06:07
3rd – Miquel Blanchart Tinto (ESP) – 8:14:23

30th – Brian Fogarty (GBR) – 9:04:59

PRO WOMEN

1st – Laura Philipp (GER) – 8:34:57
2nd – Hanna Maksimava (BLR) – 9:08:18
3rd – Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) – 9:10:49

DNF – Natalie Seymour (GBR)

Great Britain Age-Group Results

Age-Group Results Overall Men

1st – Mark Matthews (GBR) – 8:53:59
2nd – Hywel Davies (GBR) – 8:54:54
3rd – Leandro Leao Guerriere (BRA) – 8:55:36

IRONMAN Barcelona 2018 - Hywel Davies
Hywel Davies

Age-Group Results Overall Women

1st – Aino Luoma (FIN) – 9:27:13
2nd – Victoria Nealon (GBR) – 9:33:00
3rd – Gabriele Obmann (AUT) – 9:33:56

6th – Hannah Katy Peel (GBR) – 9:56:39

GB Podium Results

1st – M30-34 – Mark Matthews
1st – M40-44 – Hywel Davies
3rd – M55-59 – Glenn Karpeta
3rd – M60-64 – Ian Hird
3rd – M70-74 – John Heaney

IRONMAN Barcelona 2018 - Hywel Davies

1st – F35-39 – Victoria Nealon
2nd – F40-44 – Jennifer Wood
3rd – F40-44 – Emma Bexson
3rd – F45-49 – Jill Cliff
2nd – F65-69 – Margaret Ehrenberg

IRONMAN Barcelona - Vicky Nealon
Victoria Nealon
John Levison
Written by
John Levison
TRI247's Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
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