Britain’s Ritchie Nicholls wins Ironman 70.3 Haugesund 2015
Strong swim sets GB athlete up for a convincing win, while Susie Cheetham narrowly misses women’s gold
British athletes shone at Ironman 70.3 Haugesund in Norway last weekend, with Ritchie Nicholls claiming gold in the men’s race and Susie Cheetham taking silver in the women’s.
Nicholls led a group of nine athletes out of the water, then came in for some strong challenges on the bike. Allan Steen Olesen (DEN) attacked hard early on, followed by German Markus Thomschke who hammered away on the second half of the bike leg. He reached T2 with a lead of 3:31 over Olesen, Gudmund Snilsveit (NOR) was already 5:17 behind.
Being 6:01mins behind after the bike, Nicholls stormed through the run course and into the lead after 15km, eventually posting an impressive run of 1:09:16 to take the title.
Wutti pulls a double
Only a week after her great success at Ironman Austria, Eva Wutti (AUT) had another great day in Norway. Radka Vodickova (CZE) set the field under pressure early in the water, reaching solid ground again after 24:40mins.
While Mette Moe (NOR) was only 1:03mins down, the pack of favourites including Wutti (+2:18mins), defending champion Susie Cheetham (+2:26mins) and Sofie Goos (+3:20mins) were already a bit more behind.
It was on Wutti to downsize the lead on the bike. Through 50km of the course she led a group including Cheetham, Vodickova, and Moe. On the final kilometres of the bike, Asa Lundstroem (SWE) came from behind to pass the group, but Cheetham and Wutti were only seconds behind.
Once in running shoes, Wutti took over the lead and set off for a great victory thanks to a sensational split of 1:19:29. She dropped Cheetham decisively after only a few kilometres and celebrated a historic double-win seven days after her success in Klagenfurt.
(Images: Getty)
Were you racing in Haugesund? Let us know in the comments below!
British athletes shone at Ironman 70.3 Haugesund in Norway last weekend, with Ritchie Nicholls claiming gold in the men’s race and Susie Cheetham taking silver in the women’s.
Nicholls led a group of nine athletes out of the water, then came in for some strong challenges on the bike. Allan Steen Olesen (DEN) attacked hard early on, followed by German Markus Thomschke who hammered away on the second half of the bike leg. He reached T2 with a lead of 3:31 over Olesen, Gudmund Snilsveit (NOR) was already 5:17 behind.
Ritchie Nicholls finishes the job at Ironman 70.3 Haugesund
Being 6:01mins behind after the bike, Nicholls stormed through the run course and into the lead after 15km, eventually posting an impressive run of 1:09:16 to take the title.
Wutti pulls a double
Only a week after her great success at Ironman Austria, Eva Wutti (AUT) had another great day in Norway. Radka Vodickova (CZE) set the field under pressure early in the water, reaching solid ground again after 24:40mins.
While Mette Moe (NOR) was only 1:03mins down, the pack of favourites including Wutti (+2:18mins), defending champion Susie Cheetham (+2:26mins) and Sofie Goos (+3:20mins) were already a bit more behind.
It was on Wutti to downsize the lead on the bike. Through 50km of the course she led a group including Cheetham, Vodickova, and Moe. On the final kilometres of the bike, Asa Lundstroem (SWE) came from behind to pass the group, but Cheetham and Wutti were only seconds behind.
Susie Cheetham (GBR) on her way to winning silver at Ironman 70.3 Haugesund
Once in running shoes, Wutti took over the lead and set off for a great victory thanks to a sensational split of 1:19:29. She dropped Cheetham decisively after only a few kilometres and celebrated a historic double-win seven days after her success in Klagenfurt.
(Images: José Luis Hourcade)
Were you racing in Haugesund? Let us know in the comments below!
220 Triathlon Team
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