Search
shop

Emma Pallant-Browne, Bart Aernouts win IRONMAN 70.3 Florida

A second consecutive weekend of IRONMAN 70.3 racing in the States saw Great Britain's Emma Pallant-Browne top the podium in Haines City, Florida
Chief Correspondent
Last updated -
Get the ultimate guide to destination racing

Great Britain’s Emma Pallant-Browne continued her positive start to the season on Sunday, adding another victory to her C.V. with victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Florida. That follows success on (new home) soil recently at the South African Triathlon Championships. Sixth last week at IRONMAN 70.3 Texas, Belgium’s Bart Aernouts stepped up five places, to top the men’s standings, holding off a fast finishing Matt Hanson.

A minute down on Sonja Catano (USA) through the opening 1.9km swim at Lake Eva Park, a typically swift transition followed for Pallant-Browne who didn’t take long to move to the front of the race early in the bike leg. Her 2:17:54 90km split saw her arrive at T2 solo, with a 1:43 buffer over Heather Jackson, the fastest rider of the day (2:17:26).

With her strongest discipline ahead, only the humidity would provide the biggest challenge to the Brit, who negotiated what has been an achilles heel for her in the past, to secure a clear win by more than four minutes. Lesley Smith (USA) set the fastest run time of the day, to leap-frog Jackson to the second step of the podium.

Emma Pallant-Browne / IRONMAN 70.3 Florida 2021

Aernouts never makes racing easy for himself, though because of that, exiting the water to find an almost three minute deficit to the leaders will not have come as a particular shock. That said, you don’t really want to give up two minutes to cyclists of the calibre of Andreas Dreitz (GER ) – check out his bike HERE! – and more than a minute to Joe Skipper, who himself was well outside the top-10 when entering T1.

The bike saw fireworks, with Dreitz setting the fastest time (1:58:38) to reach transition alone, and with a three minute lead. Chasing him were Aernouts (1:59:47) and Skipper (2:00:43). Matt Hanson (USA) was more than six minutes back at this stage, but his run performances of later have been such that you cannot rule him out of contention.

Andreas held the lead until well into the final 5km of the run, before the Belgian finally made the catch and pass at around the 11-mile mark. Aernouts was himself being hunted down though, and the hunter was indeed Hanson. The American was able to finally catch Dreitz inside the final mile, but would eventually come up 38 seconds short of taking the win, despite his race-best run performance of 1:10:38, versus the 1:13:02 of the former World Duathlon Champion.

Bart Aernouts / IRONMAN 70.3 Florida

IRONMAN 70.3 Florida, Haines City – Sunday 18th April 2021
1.9km / 90km / 21.1km

PRO WOMEN

1st – Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR) – 4:18:48
2nd – Lesley Smith (USA) – 4:23:05
3rd – Heather Jackson (USA) – 4:27:42
4th – Mollie Hebda (USA) – 4:31:57
5th – Simone Mitchell (GBR) – 4:33:17

14th – Tara Grosvenor (GBR) – 4:58:17

PRO MEN

1st – Bart Aernouts (BEL) – 3:47:42
2nd – Matt Hanson (USA) – 3:48:20
3rd – Andreas Dreitz (GER) – 3:49:04
4th – Jackson Laundry (CAN) – 3:51:20
5th – Bradley Weiss (RSA) – 3:52:36

9th – Joe Skipper (GBR) – 3:58:54

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.
Discover more
TRI247 podcast
What is it really like to be a professional triathlete? NEW TRI247 x Challenge Family podcast takes you beyond the start lines this race season
Challenge St. Pölten 2024 - image credit Jose Luis Hourcade / Challenge Family
Expert swim coach on the three most common swim mistakes age group triathletes make (and how to fix them!)
French Riviera T100 bike course Esterel
Let’s race… French Riviera T100
TRI-FIT VANGUARD tri suit review
The entry-level tri suit with a serious amount of performance for the price point – TRI-FIT VANGUARD review
Gustav Iden aero position body rocket
How to get better at holding your time trial position – Expert tips from former PRO time trial cyclist Alex Dowsett
latest News
Challenge Barcelona 2023 - Photo Credit: Jose Luis Hourcade
‘It’s going to be an absolute firecracker’ says Cam Wurf after booking IRONMAN World Champs spot
Maya Kingma Karlovy Vary win 2024
Two-time Olympic triathlete joins top pro cycling team – and is set to race in Giro d’Italia
Oliver Conway World Triathlon Cuo win Saidia 2025
Breakthrough World Cup win – and Brownlee Racing spot – in memorable week for British youngster
Lionel Sanders wins 70.3 St George 2025 photo credit Getty Images for IRONMAN
Triathlon superstar Lionel Sanders moving again but taking it step by step in injury battle
Magnus Ditlev - T100 San Francisco 2024 run
“I lost it mentally” – Magnus Ditlev reveals why he was shown red card at IRONMAN Frankfurt
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...