News

Eneko Llanos outdueled two-time ITU Duathlon world champion Paul Amey and broke 8 hours for the first time; Leanda Cave outdueled Linsey Corbin to win her first Ironman title as both women smashed the 9-hour barrier for the first time at Ironman Arizona.



Cave, the 2002 ITU Olympic distance world champion and two-time ITU long course world champion, overcame time lost to a flat tire and outdueled Linsey Corbin with a sizzling 8:49:00 time that topped the Montanan’s own personal best by 5 minutes and 33 seconds. The win was Cave’s first at the Ironman distance and comes on the heels of her breakthrough 3rd place finish at the Ironman World Championship in Kona last month. Corbin took her feat well, exulting in her very first sub-9 hour (8:54:33) performance that should have won had Cave not had a quantum leap of a day herself.



Like Llanos, Cave’s victory was not wire to wire, as Amanda Stevens broke into the lead with a race-best 48:43 swim that put 3:25 on Cave, 3:03 on Meredith Kessler, and 8:17 on Corbin. Stevens’ 4:51:51 bike held her lead as she gave back 1:40 to Corbin, 45 seconds to Cave, and added 1:45 to her lead on Kessler. Stevens hung stubbornly to her for one of three laps before surrendering the lead to Cave’s dominating, race-best 2:58:18 marathon. When the Cave’s run was over, the Great Briton outran 2nd place Corbin by 3:36, third place Kessler by 11:27 and the fading to 4th place Stevens by 24:54. 

At the line, Cave’s 8:49:00 finish was 5:33 faster than Corbin, 11:14 better than Kessler, and 20:39 better than Stevens. 



While all three podium women praised 2010 winner Chrissie Wellington for raising the bar of expectations for women Ironman triathletes, Cave’s impressive finish was still 14 minutes slower than Wellington’s 8:35 race-record last year.

Ford Ironman Arizona
Tempe, Arizona / November 20, 2011
2.4m swim / 112m bike / 26.2m run

Top men

1. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 7:59:38
2. Paul Amey (GBR) 8:01:29
3. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 8:14:36
4. Torsten Abel (GER) 8:16:44 (Pinarello, DMT)
5. Stephane Poulat (FRA) 8:18:55
6. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 8:19:29
7. Jeremy Jurkiewicz (FRA) 8:19:38
8. Michael Weiss (AUT) 8:21:36
9. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 8:22:21
10. Christophe Bastie (FRA) 8:26:10

Top women

1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 8:49:00 (Pinarello, DMT)
2. Linsey Corbin (USA) 8:54:33
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) 9:00:14
4. Amanda Stevens (USA) 9:09:39
5. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) 9:11:23
6. Kelly Williamson (USA) 9:12:18
7. Kathleen Calkins (USA) 9:12:40
8. Sara Gross (CAN) 9:18:03
9. Susan Dietrich (GER) 9:19:47
10. Charisa Wernick USA) 9:22:37

Written by: Timothy Carlson
Date: Sun Nov 20 2011