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It was all set to be a another day of big money at the IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain, but the triple crown big purse went unclaimed.
Having won at IRONMAN 70.3 Dubai and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship this year, both Javier Gomez and Daniela Ryf had the opportunity to claim a $1million bonus with another win, but it wasn’t their day.
Bahrain Endurance athletes put on a valiant finish to their season, competing hard against one another in a spirited race to the finish line.
While Ryf and Gomez were favourites to take the win and clinch the million-dollar Nasser bin Hamad Triple Crown bonus, Great Britain’s 2016 World Champion Holly Lawrence and Norway’s Terenzo Bozzone put on a superb show to finish ahead of them.
After failing to finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship which Ryf eventually won, Lawrence showed she belongs atop the podium with a scrappy performance that seemed a duel between the two before Lawrence got the upper hand early on the run.
“I cannot believe I managed to pull off a win here in Bahrain,” she said. “I honestly thought I was racing for second place when Daniela dropped me like a stone on the bike, and then to have Anne Haug nearly run me down in the last couple of kilometres was stressful.”
While Ryf was pipped for runner-up in Bahrain by 10 seconds at the finish line, she has had a successful season winning dual world titles in Ironman and Ironman 70.3. She said: “I was disappointed not to get the win but extremely happy with my season. Congratulations to Holly and Anne on great races. I’m now looking forward to a deserved off-season break.”
Bozzone was in flying form, overtaking Gomez over the bike leg to get onto the run with a three-minute lead to the rest of the field. It took a blazing run from the Norwegian to deny him the win by 38 seconds.
Bozzone immediately started cutting the lead of the Kiwi, and by 12km they were running together. Terenzo stuck with the pace for a couple of kilometres, but with the start of the final run lap approaching, his rival upped the pace and pulled away.
Despite slowing over the last few kilometres, the 23-year-old took the 70.3 win in his first attempt, completing the race in three hours 40 minutes 24 seconds. He said he was delighted with his success but Bozzone admitted to followers on Twitter that he had ‘nothing left’ in the last 4km.
Swiss veteran, Sven Riederer completed the podium.
The main race was over three legs, beginning with a 1.9km swim lap, followed by 90km of cycling and 21.1km of running. It started at 6.20am and extended all the way to Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir and back.
Gomez finished in fourth place, feeling the effects of a long season. He said: “I didn’t have the legs on the bike and too many problems on the run, far from my usual level. It’s a shame that all the hard work didn’t pay off this time, but that’s racing sometimes! It was hard to make it to the finish line, but I’m happy I did it! Well done to the guys on the podium, great race.”
The Bahrain Endurance team was quick to join in the congratulations to team captain, Shaikh Nasser on qualifying for the coming Ironman World Championship in Kona.
