American Danielle Lewis took a fantastic first win over the Ironman distance on Sunday, as the 36-year-old triumphed over domestic rivals at IRONMAN Lake Placid.
Weathering a sub-par swim and a big crash on the bike, Lewis lined up just two weeks after finishing fifth at Challenge Roth and took the tape in 9:01:54.
After her victory, the PTO World #24 said that the “sky is the limit” in terms of her potential at the IRONMAN World Championship in September, after also punching her ticket to the race in Nice.
Battling it out all day
After coming out of the water some 15 minutes down on the leaders, Lewis had her work cut out, and in her bid to make it back up towards the front of the race, ended up crashing on a grassy verge halfway through the bike.
“The swim was fairly standard for me, it was slower than I wanted, I’m aiming for that 1-hour mark, but I knew I still had a real fighting chance because the course suits me in terms of the hilly nature of the bike and the run.
“I just wanted to go out and bike really hard, which I did, and I caught a group with some of the main contenders midway through the second loop, then I turned into an eager beaver and overcooked a corner and I ended up flipping and landing flat on my back.
“I think I have a little whiplash, I got on and my handle bars were crooked for the rest of the bike, but everything else is working right and I kept trudging on and took it a little easier over the latter portion of the bike, because I didn’t really know how the crash would end up affecting me.”
Bouncing back from Roth in style
After dusting herself off, Lewis finished the bike with the fastest split of the day, and went on to run down her competitors, thanks to a phenomenal 2:52:23 marathon.
Racing so soon after competing in Roth, the American admitted that she didn’t know what to expect, but added that with each Ironman race she does, she is only getting better.
“I knew it was a risk racing two weeks ago, but I knew it was a risk I needed to take because I was still ironing a few things out in my full distance racing and doing Roth gave me a lot of confidence going into this one.”
With a course that suits her strengths well, the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice will offer Lewis a great opportunity to showcase her talent on the world stage, and make up for her DNF in Kona last year.
