Holly Lawrence wins in Vietnam; Tim Reed surprises with third
Holly Lawrence has been nothing short of spectacular, taking her third successive win of the year Sunday as she dominated Ironman 70.3 Vietnam. Lawrence led from start to finish and took the win in a record time of 4:04:41.
” I am so happy to take the Asia-Pacific Championship title after leading wire to wire. Two regional championship titles, eight days apart, and two course-records! “
” I wasn’t sure how I’d fare so close off the back of St George and being such hot and humid conditions here in Vietnam, but the day couldn’t have gone better,” explained Lawrence. “I put a gap to the others in the swim and managed to extend it on the bike even though the three women behind me were working together. By the time I came into T2, I knew I had around five minutes to Sarah Crowley, so I just ran strong thinking I may fade due to the heat at some point. I wanted to save a bit in case the gap got closed towards the end, but I still managed to finish with quite a big gap around four minutes, and take the tape and the course record. “
In the men’s elite race, Tim Reed was astonished that he could muster a podium performance so soon after completing an Ironman. Reed competed in the Ironman Australia on May 5th where he finished in second place.
” Racing a week after an Ironman is far from healthy, but I’m here to stick by my initial commitments, expand my pain tolerance, and really enjoy the recovery days either side of the event in Da Nang. “
Reed put in an incredible performance in the bike leg on his Speed Concept, opening a significant gap on his competitors, which enabled him to hold on in the run and finish on the podium. He was not expecting a big result after coming off an Ironman the week before.
” I really surprised myself with a third at the Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific championships,” said Reed. “With an Ironman last week, I knew I wouldn’t be able to compete on the run with such a quality field, so I stayed aggressive on the bike and managed to get a gap of a little over 2mins on the field by the end of the 90km ride. I was reeled in on the run but managed to hang tough for a 3rd place finish. Huge congrats to Patrick Lange and Tim van Berkel for 1st and 2nd. Thank you to all those behind this race. It’s been amazing to watch the progression of this event into a world class race.”
The bikes Lawrence & Tim used in this race: Speed Concept with SRAM Red eTap AXS Aero groupset
Photo credit: webthethao.vn / racing.trekbikes.com
