TRIATHLON – Ironman 70.3 Vichy (W): Manon Genêt 3rd behind Emma Pallant and Jocelyn McCauley

Thanks to a half-marathon run in 1h16’18, Emma Pallant won today’s Ironman 70.3 Vichy, after catching American Jocelyn McCauley, who had been leading since the start of the race, at 7 km from the finish. Manon Genêt finished 3rd.

The Race

After the 1,900 m swim in the waters of the Allier, two women, Italian Margie Santimaria and American Jocelyn McCauley, exited the water in the lead with a 1’25 advantage over Justine Mathieux (Fra), Jeanne Collonge (Fra), Manon Genêt (Fra) and Emma Pallant (Gbr).

At T2, after the 90 km bike, Jocelyn McCauley was still in the lead. She had a 3’54 lead over Manon Genêt, 3’59 over Emma Pallant and 4’19 over Anna Noguera (Esp). Was this enough of a lead for the American to complete the half-marathon? Unfortunately not.

After 10 km of running, Jocelyn McCauley’s lead had shrunk by half. She now had only a 2’09 lead over Emma Pallant and 2’40 over Manon Genêt. The turnaround was underway. Emma Pallant caught the leader at the 14th km and quickly had a 20-second lead at the 15th km. The Briton was heading for victory. With a 46-second lead at the 17th km over McCauley and 2’10 over Manon Genêt, the podium seemed to be taking shape and the positions would not change again.

Emma Pallant ultimately won in 4h25’18 with 1’43 over Jocelyn McCauley (4h27’01) and 3’01 over Manon Genêt (4h28’19).

Also noteworthy in the top 10 were two other Frenchwomen: Jeanne Collonge, 7th in 4h41’33, and Justine Mathieux, 8th in 4h43’04.

All rankings here