Australia’s Natalie Van Coevorden and France’s Damien Le Mesnager were the winners of IRONMAN 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz on Sunday as they earned themselves early spots at next year’s 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga.
Women’s race
Van Coevorden won on home soil at 70.3 Western Sydney in May and this latest success was wire to wire.
She led out of the water with a swim time of 28:16, 47 seconds in front of Justine Guerard (FRA), with Nina Derron (SUI) having more than three minutes to make up in third.
But midway through the bike, Derron had moved past Guerard and into second, just over two minutes behind Van Coevorden. And she continued to close the gap all the way down to T2.
Starting the run there were just 32 seconds between them but it was Van Coevorden who proved strongest on the half marathon to seal the deal with a time of 4:11:18, 2:26 in front of Derron, with Jeanne Collonge (FRA) producing a quickest-of-the-day 1:20 half marathon to move up to third.
Men’s race
The men’s race could hardly have been more contrasting to Van Coevorden’s all-the-way success as Le Mesnager was 4:10 behind leader Trent Thorpe (NZL) after the swim.
And on the bike it was Youri Keulen (NED) who led a front pack of five but Le Mesnager gradually worked his way into contention – he was a minute-and-a-half back at the halfway point and up to seventh.
Keulen and Thorpe were first and second into T2 but Le Mesnager was now just 27 seconds behind and he moved into the lead inside the first 5km of the run.
But both Keulen and Guillem Montiel (SPA) stuck with him for the next 8km or so before Le Mesnager started to pull clear.
He crossed the line 40 seconds clear of Keulen with Montiel rounding out the podium in third.
IRONMAN 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz 2026 results
Sunday 12 July 2026 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
Pro Men
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damien Le Mesnager | FRA | 29:02 | 1:54:02 | 1:10:17 | 3:37:23 |
| 2 | Youri Keulen | NED | 25:02 | 1:57:41 | 1:11:16 | 3:38:03 |
| 3 | Guillem Montiel | ESP | 24:53 | 1:58:03 | 1:13:18 | 3:40:11 |
| 4 | Trent Thorpe | NZL | 24:52 | 1:57:43 | 1:14:50 | 3:41:39 |
| 5 | Casimir Moine | FRA | 24:56 | 1:57:56 | 1:16:02 | 3:42:54 |
PRO Women
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natalie Van Coevorden | AUS | 28:16 | 2:15:57 | 1:22:44 | 4:11:18 |
| 2 | Nina Derron | SUI | 31:21 | 2:13:41 | 1:24:38 | 4:13:44 |
| 3 | Jeanne Collonge | FRA | 34:02 | 2:15:44 | 1:20:56 | 4:15:26 |
| 4 | Justine Guerard | FRA | 29:04 | 2:17:35 | 1:25:55 | 4:17:10 |
| 5 | Laura Addie | GBR | 31:24 | 2:15:08 | 1:28:28 | 4:20:16 |
