World Ironman Champion Pete Jacobs cruises to victory at Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast

Pete Jacobs has shown the triathlon world that he is ready to defend his World Ironman Champion title.

Jacobs led out of the water with Clayton Fettell on his heels along with Casey Munro and Sam Appleton with Michael Fox just off the back. It looks like Fettell has held back slightly on the swim to ride with Pete Jacobs and try to save some for the run. Although riding with Jacobs at this time of year is never going to save you something for the run.   Jacobs just got the jump on rest of the lead swimmers and along with Fettell went to another gear on the bike.

In to T2 and the two lead guys had almost six minutes lead over the rest of the field.

Out on to the run and it was the Pete Jacobs show as he galloped away to post a 1:13:09 for a total time of 3:39:59.

Check out Pete Jacobs’ race report here

Clayton Fettell’s coach Grant Giles of Aeromax Team had these comments about Fettell’s race. “Clayto did a great job today on a 3:47 with zero taper for 2nd place to Pete Jacobs who was on fire. Pete and Clayton rode 2:01 for power of 345watts for Clayton, he’s very aerobically fit and looking at a strong first outing in Kona. He said he felt pretty flat sans taper so things are looking good.”

Casey Munro’s 3rd was a step back to what he is capable of. For most followers of triathlon Casey is a relative unknown. But the former VIS junior triathlete, who went on to cycle professionally, knew that it was just a matter of time before he got all three disciplines back up to the level he was used to.

When Casey stepped back in to triathlon at Cairns last year he had not run much and continued to suffer from stress fractures for some time after that. In fact prior to Mandurah last year Casey only managed a couple of 40 min runs in the lead up.

Fast forward to the inaugural Sunshine Coast 70.3 and he out ran Sam Appleton which is no mean feat. While a junior in Victoria Casey was doing both triathlon and cycling but chose to take the cycling path at the time. By his own admission he was an average swimmer even coming out second last at the All Schools in his division (including boys and girls). It wasn’t until a growth spurt after 16 that he grew in to a swimmer. At 6’2″ and with an arm span of 205cm he is showing no that he is a very good swimmer.

The fast bike course will raise some eyebrows with the potential for this event to become a world championship. If it does it will be a runners race.

Ironman Press Release

SUNSHINE COAST, (September 15, 2013) “Current IRONMAN World Champion Pete Jacobs and Kiwi super mum Gina Crawford will hit the start line at the 2013 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on the back of strong wins at the inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast.

While for Jacobs it was a wire to wire win, Crawford had to dig deep during the run leg to secure the victory. It was the sacrifice of spending time away from her son that helped her pull away from Japan’s Kiyomi Niwata late in the run. Australian Lisa Marangon came in third

“Kiyomi caught me at 10km and I didn’t think I could win, but it’s a big sacrifice for me to come here and race and be away from my son for three days so I wanted to win it for him, I gutsed it out and got the win,” Crawford said.

A number of below par race results this year had many people questioning Jacobs’s ability to defend his World Championship title in four weeks’ time. But today in a world class time of 3hours 39mins and 58secs he answered those questions, Pete Jacobs will be a major factor in Hawaii on October 12.

“I said in the press conference on Friday that I was burning to get a win here, I’m getting in good shape to defend my title at Hawaii, and I felt awesome on the bike and built into the run,” Jacobs said.

“I have worked on my bike and strength and it’s all going to plan for Hawaii, I’m hoping to go back and defend, and to everyone who can’t make it to Kona in four weeks, hopefully it will look the same as it did today.”

Clayton Fettell in second place was full of praise for Jacobs after the pair rode away from Casey Munro and Sam Appleton, who finished 3rd and 4th respectively, on the second lap of the bike.

“That really really hurt, hats off to Pete today, I just hurt the entire ride staying with him. All credit to him,” Fettell said.

“Pete showed he was the best in the world today and to be honest I didn’t think I’d be in the shape I am today four weeks out from Hawaii, so I’m happy with that result.”

After a windy day yesterday produced great conditions for surfing, Mooloolaba was much kinder to the athletes this morning throwing up perfect conditions for the race.

The morning kicked off with a calm ocean producing a fast swim that saw Jacobs exit the water with a 10-15 second lead over a group of athletes that included Fettell, Appleton, and Munro.

Onto the bike and conditions were ideal for a fast ride, with Fettell, young Aussie pro Appleton and ex-pro cyclist Munro quickly joining Jacobs. They rode together until Jacobs and Fettell put the hammer down on the second lap, starting the run with a 5min 55sec lead over Munro and Appleton.

Jacobs then hit the ground running building a 2min 45sec lead over Fettell in the first 10km of the run, and would eventually run a 1hour 13min half marathon to take the win in a world class time of 3hours 39mins and 58secs.

It was a welcome return to form for Jacobs who has failed to fire in most of his lead up races this year, his best finish to date was a second at IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines.

“During the ride Clayton said to me mate; “Kona is yours, you’re smashing this bike,” Jacobs said.

For Crawford the win validated what she’d been doing in training, and gives her the confidence she’ll need when she hits the big Island of Hawaii.

Crawford spent the swim and bike as the hunter chasing Marangon who built a 3min plus lead on the back of a strong swim bike combination.

After taking the lead early in the run she became the hunted as triple Olympian Niwata produced a blistering fast run to move her way into contention.

Niwata and Crawford spent the majority of the second lap running side by side until Crawford made a move in the late stages building a 37sec lead, and was able to hold on for the win.

“I had an issue with my bike, the tyre was flat and I couldn’t pump it up and ran out of time so I just left it. On the ride I was working hard but not really getting anywhere, I was surprised I ran so well, and glad I gutsed it out and got the win,” she said.