Passuello, Griesbauer On Top At Inaugural Taiwan

Italy’s Domenico Passuello and the United States’ Dede Griesbauer earned the victories at today’s inaugural Ironman Taiwan in Kenting.

Men’s Race
France’s Rod Kanel led the men into T1 with a swim time of 50:35, with Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) right with him. Passuello, who is fresh off of a victory at Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya in Malaysia last Sunday, exited the swim at about two minutes down, but he used his cycling skills to quickly erase that deficit. The Italian turned in a 4:32:16 bike split to earn a nearly 9-minute lead to start the marathon. Croneborg had the strongest run legs of the day and looked like he could be closing in on the lead, but Passuello was able to hold strong. He posted a 2:55:52 marathon to earn the 8:25:54 victory. Croneborg’s 2:49:48 run split was the best of the day, giving him the runner-up spot in 8:28:37. American Patrick Evoe rounded out the top three at 8:40:38.

Women’s Race
American Samantha Morrison was first out of the water thanks to a swim time of 51:05, but Griesbauer (51:10) and the Czech Republic’s Eva Potuckova (51:18) were not far behind. From there Griesbauer dominated the 112-mile bike ride in 5:05:19, establishing a nearly nearly 18-minute lead over Australia’s Dimity-Lee Duke to start the run. Griesbauer concluded her day with a 3:17:16 marathon to earn the 9:20:23 victory. Duke’s 3:10:17 marathon was the best of the women, giving her second at 9:31:30. American Kim Schwabenbauer claimed third at 9:38:35.

Ironman Taiwan
Kenting, Taiwan – April 12, 2015
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run

Men
1. Domenico Passuello (ITA) 8:25:55
2. Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) 8:28:38
3. Patrick Evoe (USA) 8:40:58
4. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:43:14
5. Patrick Jaberg (SUI) 8:44:47

Women
1. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 9:20:23
2. Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS) 9:31:30
3. Kim Schwabenbauer (USA) 9:38:34
4. Shiao-Yu Li (TPE) 9:50:51
5. Keiko Tanaka (JPN) 9:55:40