IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia results 2026: Wins for Laidlow and Schär

Sam Laidlow (FRA) and Cathia Schär (SUI) ran out the impressive winners of IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia on Sunday.

Former IRONMAN World Champion Laidlow was kicking off his season with a rare outing in a 70.3 race – despite multiple IRONMAN, Challenge and T100 wins, he’d yet to even finish a 70.3.

But he took control in trademark style on the bike to tee up the victory.

Schär meanwhile made it three wins in a row by moving into the lead at the start of the run before powering clear of her rivals, eventually beating 70.3 debutant Sophie Evans (GBR) by just under three minutes.

Men’s race – Cruise control for Sam

The swim was a closely-packed affair with less than 20 seconds covering the first 14 athletes, with Laidlow emerging from the water in 13th place.

But it didn’t take the Frenchman, who won the IRONMAN World Championship on home soil in Nice in 2023, to assert on the bike leg.

Midway through his advantage was up to three minutes from Valdemar Solok (DEN), Lasse Nygaard Priester (GER) and Johannes Vogel (GER), who was wearing the #1 bib as defending champion.

Reaching T2 that trio were just over four minutes back but Priester had cut it to two-and-a-half minutes midway through the run.

But Laidlow had enough in hand and he crossed the line in 3:33:56, just over a minute ahead of Priester who registered an impressive 1:07:02 half marathon.

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It was Laidlow’s first appearance of the season – bar a curtailed attempt at the Barcelona Marathon – on a weekend which saw most of the big names tackle IRONMAN Texas.

And speaking afterwards he said: “I had a really great day overall and everything went smoothly. Before the race, I felt more confident in my run than on the bike, but by the end I actually felt stronger on the bike.

“I came off the bike with a bigger lead than I expected, knowing there were some fast runners behind, so I focused on keeping a steady pace. I struggled with some cramping around kilometre 15, but I managed it by easing off slightly and was able to recover and secure the win, which makes me really happy.”

Sam Laidlow ironman 703 Valencia 2026 j — Sam Laidlow celebrates his win in Valencia [Photo credit: IRONMAN]

Women’s race – Schär sees opff Evans

There was a nice surprise in the build up to the race when Sophie Evans (formerly Coldwell) announced that she was making a late decision to head to Spain for what was her first ever 70.3, saying: “Excited to race, no expectations, just lots to learn and experience in my first 70.3 tomorrow!”

And she was in the mix throughout – second out of the water, just four seconds behind Alice Betto (ITA), with Schär having two minutes to make up in sixth.

Other big names included Lena Meißner (GER) in third after the swim and Marjolaine Pierre (FRA) in eighth.

It was nip and tuck on the bike but it was Pierre who reached T2 first, with a 24 seconds gap to Aurelia Boulanger (FRA), Schär, Meißner and Evans.

But it took Schär less than one kilometre on the run to move to the front and she never looked back.

By the halfway point she was more than two minutes clear of Evans and comfortably maintained that advantage to the line, winning in 4:03:39 which was 2:45 in front of Evans, with Meißner rounding out the podium in third. Last year’s winner Daniela Kleiser again produced the fastest run of the day but that was only good enough for sixth.

That makes it three wins in a row for Schär since she moved up to middle distance from short course late last year.

“It was a really nice race,” she said afterwards. “As it was only my third at this distance and my first of the season, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I felt strong on the bike and was able to catch the lead group quite quickly, although I had to work hard to stay with them towards the end. The first lap of the run felt great and I could push, while the second was more challenging, but overall, I really enjoyed it – especially the amazing support from the crowds on the run course.”

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