70.3 Campeche: Bozzone’s triple, Wurtele defends in Mexico

in the weekend preview I highlighted Terenzo Bozzone’s busy few weeks, commenting, “Can he make it three wins in consecutive weeks?” at Sunday’s IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche in Mexico. The answer to that was a resounding ‘Yes’:

• IRONMAN New Zealand, Saturday 3rd March
• IRONMAN 70.3 Bariloche, Argentina, Sunday 11th March
• IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche, Mexico, Sunday 18th March

“Three’s a charm!” said Bozzone. “So happy to finish off my racing block with a win today. Three races in three weeks — done and dusted and now time to put the feet up.”

Fourth out of the opening 1.9km swim, 20 seconds down on Rodolphe Von Berg, Bozzone got off to a great start, to which he added the second fastest bike split, to reach T2 alone and clear, just over two and half minutes up on Michael Weiss (AUT). While the Austrian managed to close that gap, the in form Kiwi held strong to take the win by a full minute at the finish line.

Big congrats to these fellas for making the fight that much harder. @michaelweisstriathlon was closing the gap hard throughout the bIke and run & @rudyvonberg has definitely picked up his game this season. Took a bit to shake him on the bike… 🚴🏻😜 nice work guys. #campeche703 #podium

A post shared by Terenzo Bozzone (@terenzo1) on Mar 18, 2018 at 2:27pm PDT

For the Pro women, I’d suggested that Canada’s Heather Wurtele may have a tough job to repeat her 2017 winning margin of almost ten minutes. Well, didn’t fair too well with that prediction – she won by 9:25!

As you would expect, Lauren Brandon (the U.S. athlete that swam stroke-for stroke with Lucy Charles at Kona in October), took a huge lead during the opening segment, reaching dry land 3:46 up on Wurtle in second place. Brandon is no slouch on two wheels either, and even the mightly cycling prowess of the tall Canadian took until the 80km mark to make the pass. She would reach T2 just 41 seconds clear.

The big changes came on the run though – Heather running 1:24:36 to the 1:33:09 of Lauren, which built that big winning margin. Angela Naeth (CAN) just held off the fast running Linsey Corbin (USA) to complete the podium trio.

Well that was a great day! Very happy to make it two for two at @ironmantri #703Campeche & to have set a new course record in hot, windy conditions. Congrats to @laurenbbrandon & @angelanaeth for strong races. Viva Mexico! 🏅💛 . Huge thanks to @enriquelifra @trimexico for the photo!

A post shared by Trevor and Heather Wurtele (@teamwurtele) on Mar 18, 2018 at 12:15pm PDT

IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche, Mexico – Sunday 18th March 2018
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km

PRO MEN

1st – Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) – 3:49:40
2nd – Michael Weiss (AUT) – 3:50:40
3rd – Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) – 3:54:21
4th – Alan Carillo (MEX) – 3:55:53
5th – Matt Hanson (USA) – 3:56:08

#IM703Campeche @terenzo1 takes the win at IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche in a winning time of 3:49:40 and has recorded three wins in three consecutive weekends. #3for3 pic.twitter.com/QZ4hwaIyov

— IronmanLIVE.com (@IRONMANLive) March 18, 2018

PRO WOMEN

1st – Heather Wurtele (CAN) – 4:17:23
2nd – Lauren Brandon (USA) – 4:26:48
3rd – Angela Naeth (CAN) – 4:27:39
4th – Linsey Corbin (USA) – 4:28:44
5th – Maria Barrera Anduaga (MEX) – 4:37:22

#IM703Campeche The "H" in @TeamWurtele takes the victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Campeche in a winning time of 4:17:23. #Congrats pic.twitter.com/sJVKnvoJ3k

— IronmanLIVE.com (@IRONMANLive) March 18, 2018