India Lee gave herself the perfect belated birthday present with an emphatic victory at 70.3 Tours Métropole in the Loire Valley in northern France.
The British star took control on the bike and finished more than four minutes clear of Emilie Morier (FRA), with Justine Mathieux (FRA) a distant third.
And in the men’s race it was a home one-two as Casimir Moine made it two wins in a row by getting the better of Dylan Magnien (FRA), with Daniel Bækkegård (DEN) rounding out the podium.
Here’s how it all played out…
Women’s race – Weekend trip pays off for Lee
Lee turned 36 on Saturday and had made the short trip across the channel with the main aim of trying to get one of the two available slots for the IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds in Marbella.
And that objective never really looked in doubt – she was just a few seconds behind swim leader Morier before moving to the front on the bike and riding away from the field.
She reached T2 over five-and-a-half minutes in front of Morier, who herself was two minutes ahead of third-placed Mathieux.
And that was how it stayed on the run – Lee and Morier clocking similar half marathon times (1:21 and 1:20 respectively) while Mathieux went backwards but had enough in hand to hold onto third.
It was Lee’s first victory since she landed Challenge’s ‘The Championship’ in Samorin just over a year ago.
Men’s race – Moine makes it two out of two
And in the men’s race Moine followed up his IRONMAN 70.3 Peru victory with a dominant display to take what was virtually an all-the-way success.
He led the swim alongside fellow Frenchman Cenzino Lebot, with the pair putting half a minute and more into Bækkegård and the rest.
It was a similar story on the bike, with the French duo locked together throughout and by the time they reached T2 together they had 3:34 in hand over the chasing pack.
But on the run Moine wasted little time in powering clear of Lebot, putting more than half a minute into him in the first 4km and pretty much putting the race to bed by the midway point of the half marathon.
At that point Moine’s advantage was just under three minutes and Bækkegård and James Teagle (GBR) had bridged up to Lebot.
Moine never looked under threat and would cross the line in 3:36:14 after a 1:11:12 half marathon, more than two minutes clear of the rest.
No one was quicker on the run course than Dylan Magnien (FRA) and his 1:09:51 half saw him move past Bækkegård in the closing stages to win the battle for second.
IRONMAN 70.3 Tours Métropole 2025 results
Sunday June 1, 2025 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
PRO Women
- 1. India Lee (GBR) – 4:01:36 [26:33 / 2:06:50 / 1:21:45]
- 2. Emilie Morier (FRA) – 4:06:03 [26:29 / 2:12:37 / 1:20:34]
- 3. Justine Mathieux (FRA) – 4:16:12 [27:56 / 2:12:26 / 1:28:43]
PRO Men
- 1. Casimir Moine (FRA) – 3:36:14 [23:36 / 1:55:26 / 1:11:12]
- 2. Dylan Magnien (FRA) – 3:38:25 [24:11 / 1:58:34 / 1:09:51]
- 3. Daniel Bækkegård (DEN) – 3:38:38 [24:10 / 1:58:23 / 1:10:07]
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