PTO World #6 Sam Long has transformed his season in the space of a couple of months, with his win at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder the third successive victory over the middle distance for the American since May.

Having started his season off with a disappointing fourth at Clash Miami and a poor seventh place finished at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, Long has turned his fortunes around and now looks like a real contender for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in August.

After the race in Colorado, Long was full of praise for his rivals, with second placed finisher Lionel Sanders and third place Chris Leiferman full of plaudits for the 27 year old.

“I want to thank my competitors”

Having looked utterly dominant on the bike and run, Long admitted the swim was the biggest challenge in the race, but was pleased with the way he worked through it.

“The hardest part was definitely the swim, it was like being at a Metallica concert, I kept getting beat up left, right and centre and I just tried to stay positive.

“I could tell I was in a good group in the swim. It was quite a good swim and I figured I would be up there at altitude, so I am happy with it.” 

Having won the North American 70.3 Championships in St George, then IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast in Florida and now the race in Boulder, Long is in a fine run of form, much of which he credited to his rivals.

“I really want to thank my competitors, not just at this race but at the last three races, for getting the best out of me and also thanks to IRONMAN for putting on such a great race today.” 

“Sam is just on a different level right now”

For Canadian Sanders, this was the third race in a row where he has finished behind Long, having also raced in Utah and Florida. Discussing his great rival, Sanders was full of praise, adding that he would need to make some adjustments in training to narrow the gap to Long.

“Sam is just on a different level right now and it is just absolutely amazing. I did come out where I needed to come out but it was just no contest, so it’s back to the training board.” 

After acknowledging he wasn’t in the race for the win early on, Sanders shared that he had focused solely on racing to the best of his ability and trying his best to outlast Leiferman in a brutal sprint finish.

“You just have to stay within yourself when you are not going to fight for the win and just try to get the most out of yourself.

“I battled with the guys around me and I cramped at the end but managed to come back from the dead. It was a great battle [with Chris Leiferman] and he is a great dude.” 

“I didn’t know what to expect”

For third place finisher Leiferman, this was his first race since Kona last October, with the American admitting that he didn’t recognise many of the new faces at the pre-race briefing.

“I go to the pro meeting and my last race was Kona, which in racing terms is an eternity ago and there were so many new faces and it was so deep and I just didn’t know what to expect.

“What I did know was that Sam and Lionel are still the best in the world and I have raced them many times so I knew I had to do to be amongst them.”

Despite gaining a qualifying slot for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, Leiferman revealed that he intended to turn it down, instead fully focusing on the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice.

“No, I’m going to pass on that [70.3 Worlds], I’ll race in Couer d’Alene in two weeks time and then I will put it all on Nice at the IRONMAN World Championships.”