Potts, Dibens Win Ironman 70.3 Boulder

The United States’ Andy Potts and Great Britain’s Julie Dibens took 70.3 wins in a town known for its triathlon presence.

Andy Potts showed his Ironman World Championship preparations are on track with a win today in Boulder, Colo. Potts found his way to the front of the pack in the swim, exiting in 23:30. It was more than a minute later that the second swimmer, American Stephen Hackett, headed into T1. Potts hammered away on the bike, showing a dramatic improvement in his cycling skills since 2009. Although he was briefly overtaken by Hackett towards the end of the bike, Potts started the run only seconds down. He turned in a 1:16:44 half marathon to surge ahead of Hackett and take the overall win in 3:46:50. Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield, who is more known for his cycling skills, turned in the fastest run time of the day at 1:15:21 to take second. Hackett held off Australia’s Richie Cunningham to earn a spot on the podium at 3:51:27.

Dibens win came thanks to a dominant performance on the swim and bike, and then held the lead all the way through the run. Despite holding a large lead at the end, Dibens replicated a move by Kelly Williamson at last weekend’s Ironman 70.3 Steelhead race and reportedly stopped just shy of the finish line for awhile in an attempt to help fellow professionals earn prize money.

Ironman 70.3 Boulder
Boulder, Colo. – Aug. 8, 2010
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:46:50
2. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 3:49:18
3. Stephen Hackett (USA) 3:51:27
4. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:54:11
5. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:54:12

Women
1. Julie Dibens (GBR) 4:19:46
2. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:22:27
3. Jessica Meyers (USA) 4:25:09
4. Uli Bromme (USA) 4:26:58
5. Rebecca Witinok-Huber (USA) 4:30:37