Frederik Van Lierde and Carrie Lester win Ironman France 2017

Frederik Van Lierde won Ironman France for the fourth time, while Aussie Carrie Lester set the fastest bike and run splits for an impressive victory. Here’s how the races played out.

Ironman France Men’s Race 2017

Frederik Van Lierde secured his fourth win at Ironman France after a fierce race. He was third out of the water, but found his momentum during the bike leg. Throughout the bike, Van Lierde pushed hard to secure the second best bike split of the day of 4:39:00 which propelled him to the lead.

Australian Cameron Wurf, known for his powerful cycling skills, chased fast behind, setting the fastest bike split of the day of 4:35:14, but it wasn’t quite enough. At T2, Wurf was 26 seconds behind Van Lierde, while Eneko Llanos was 10:12 behind Van Lierde. In fourth place, seemingly out of contention was Degasperi who was a huge 16:44 behind the leader at T2.

After the first 10.5km of the run, Wurf had faded behind Van Lierde by 3:10. By the 21km mark, the Belgian Van Lierde looked even more in control as he strode forwards with his nearest contender, Llanos, 10:27 behind him.

With just six kilometres to go, Italian Degasperi found a burst of energy and reduced Van Lierde’s lead down to just 6:28. Degasperi recovered a mind-blowing 13:41 throughout the run, setting the fastest run split of 2:43:38. Despite the impressive power late in the marathon, it wasn’t enough to catch Van Lierde, who finished in 8:31:31.

1. Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) 8:31:31
2. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 8:36:18
3. Denis Chevrot (FRA) 8:39:42

Ironman France Women’s Race 2017

The women’s race was dominated by Australians, with Annabel Luxford leading the swim, finishing in 52:19. Just 3:13 behind her, fellow Aussie Carrie Lester was battling with Camille Donat of France.

In the bike leg, Luxford maintained a a solid lead initially, with a 2:23 gap ahead of Lester and a lead 7:21 ahead of Donat.

The Aussies were ready for battle though, and Carrie Lester fought hard to set up the fastest bike split of the day, finishing in 5:19:12 which took her into T2 ahead of Luxford by 2:26. Donat had all but faded out of the race, making it to T2 with a whopping 27:11 gap between herself and Lester.

Now in the lead, Lester powered forwards looking to increase the distance between herself and Luxford but Annabel was chasing fast. As the marathon progressed though, by the 21km mark, Lester had established a solid 3:07 lead on her fellow Aussie Luxford. Soon after, at the 26km mark, Luxford was beginning to fade, dropping to 4:23 behind Lester.

After the fastest run and bike splits of the day, Carrie Lester strode to the finish line in 9:27:53 with a generous lead over fellow Aussie Annabel Luxford.

1. Carrie Lester (AUS) 9:27:53
2. Annabel Luxford (AUS) 9:38:31
3. Linda Guinoiseau (FRA) 10:21:33 *F40-44

Trizone wishes to congratulate Van Lierde and Aussie Carrie Lester on their impressive races.