Sam Long ticked off the first leg of a potential rapid win double when taking the title at IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast at the weekend – and it looks like he also bagged the fastest-ever bike split in a men’s 70.3 race.

The Big Unit was just over a minute back after a shortened swim and he then went into overdrive on the one-lap 90km bike course through the Pine Log State Forest.

When he reached T2 the clock stopped at 1:49:32 – the previous best was his good friend Trevor Foley’s 1:51:09 at 70.3 Boulder a couple of years ago.

Power-packed

Of course there are any number of variables and so quick was the Gulf Coast course – for whatever reason – that Benjamin Zorgnotti and Seth Rider also went under Foley’s mark to go #2 and #3 on the list.

But Long was a full minute quicker than both of them on what was an undeniably impressive performance as he closed out the overall victory over Rider.

And he’s recently posted his Strava file of the big leg, saying: “World record 70.3 bike split confirmed – 55.49 miles, 1h49m.”

That’s an average speed of 30.7 mph or 49.4 km/h over a course with 755 feet of elevation gain.

‘Never giving up’

Looking back at the win overall, he added on Instagram: “This one is for never giving up.

“When you get bad luck, setbacks, and disappointment, you channel that energy into something positive.

“And one quick note on the swim: I was just as disappointed as anyone that it was cancelled. I believe in my full abilities as a triathlete.”

And he’s got another chance to display those talents again when he lines up at 70.3 Chattanooga on Sunday looking to repeat last year’s win in that race, with his main rival looking to be Foley.