It was a busy weekend of racing around the world: a doubleheader in Europe, a blazing-fast race in South Korea, and a wet and wild 70.3 in Waco. The common thread between them all? Fresh faces could be spotted on the top podium step at just about every race. Take a trip around the world with these images from the weekend of racing.
Challenge Peguera-Mallorca
The was plenty on the line at Challenge Peguera-Mallorca as athletes battled for points to decide the year-end $125K Challenge Family Pro Athlete World Bonus.
The Challenge Peguera-Mallorca course is known for its technical and demanding bike leg, full of constant uphills and downhills as it winds along the coast and up the mountains.
The four-loop run course of Challenge Peguera Mallorca is both beautiful and tough, winding along the boulevards and boardwalks of the Mallorca coast.
With an overall time of 3:53:37, Jonathan Wayaffe (BEL) took the surprise win for the men’s race, shocking everyone with a surge in the final three kilometers to run his way from sixth place to first. Andrea Pizzeghella (ITA) and Tom Bishop (GBR) rounded out the podium.
Imogen Simmonds (SUI) won the women’s race with at time of 4:20:58, besting a field that included training partner Anne Reischmann (GER), who took second, and recent Ironman World Championship sixth-place finisher Fenella Langridge, who placed third and earned enough points to secure her World Bonus lead.
World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong
Conditions were idyllic for the next edition of the 2022 World Cup season in Tongyeong, South Korea, as the top triathletes in the world lined up to race in the standard-distance format. The field consisted of 49 women and 65 men contesting for medals and race glory on the world stage.
The Korean World Cup commenced with a 1.5km swim in the Tongyeong harbor, which transitioned to a 6-lap bike course for 40km before finishing with 4-laps of the 2.5km run portion of the race. Tongyeong boasts a challenging and hilly course that tests athletes on the bike and the run.
In the women’s race Audrey Merle (FRA) put an incredible amount of time on the field to run away with her first World Cup victory. 2022 World Triathlon Cup Huatulco champion Annika Koch (GER) made her move at the halfway point of the run to earn the silver medal. A brilliant race set-up by Mathilde Gautier saw the Frenchwoman claim bronze and on her first-ever World Cup podium.
In the men’s race Matthew McElroy (USA) timed his surge to perfection to run down the field and take the tape in Tongyeong. Hungary’s Gábor Faldum crossed the line to earn a hard-fought silver and Great Britain’s Samuel Dickinson stormed across the line with a bronze.
Ironman 70.3 Portugal-Cascais
With a $30,000 prize purse and four pro slots to the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship on the line, athletes dove into Cascais Bay in Portgual for a day of hot and fast racing.
The two-loop bike course at Ironman 70.3 Portugal-Cascais offers breathtaking views of the Portuguese Riviera, Guincho Beach and the wonderful natural park of Sintra-Cascais. But for many, the best part of the course was taking a hot lap around the Estoril Formula 1 circuit.
In the men’s race, it was Menno Koolhaas (NED) who broke the finish-line tape, unleashing a 1:10:54 run split en route to a 3:45:28 win. Mathis Margirier (FRA) and Andrea Salvisburg (SUI) placed second and third, respectively.
Marta Bernardi of Italy won the women’s race by working her way from 12th place out of the swim to first place at the finish. Her overall time: 4:18:51. In second place was Nikki Bartlett (GBR), followed by Jade Nicole Roberts (RSA).
Ironman 70.3 Waco
One of the most popular 70.3s on the circuit kicked off in Waco. The Central Texas race takes athletes on a downriver swim, a bike course with gentle climbs and fast descents and a scenic run course.
But the idyllic course couldn’t hide the biggest challenge of the day: heavy rains. Slick conditions caused bike crashes and made handling treacherous for several pros, including Americans Andy Potts and Justin Metzler, who found themselves unable to stay on the road during turns.
Andy Potts goes wide on to the grass. Justin Metzler has to go way off road!
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— IRONMAN Triathlon (@IRONMANtri) October 16, 2022
In the end, it was rookie Trevor Foley (USA) who took the win in the men’s race, besting a stacked field and horrendous conditions to run his way to a 3:45:58 win. Metzler finished second, and Potts third.
Ai Ueda of Japan was all smiles as she took her first-ever Ironman 70.3 win. A run split of 1:21:22 gave her the win by more than 5 mins over Sarah Bishop (USA), who finished second. Julie Iemmolo of France placed third.
Want to watch all the action at Ironman 70.3 Waco? Outside+ members can stream the entire race coverage on demand here.