Beyond Going Long

Ironman Lanzarote promised to be a cracker and it delivered. British pro racers played a massive part in this classic version of the Ironman race and many played their parts in today’s drama.

At the sharp end, it was Clan Bayliss who demonstrated their permanent class - to remind everyone of what a dominant force they are when trained and peaked. Both claimed second in their respective categories, with perhaps Bella grabbing more of the headlines being as it was her first race at this distance for over a year.

Read on to find out the results of Ironman Lanzarote and how all our racers from the British Isles did.

When the gun went it was immediately apparent that the British men here meant business. By the halfway point of the swim it was Halksworth, Graves and Bayliss in the lead and were joined in the front pack by Simon, Bilyard (AG) and Molloy (AG). By the time the wet but had finished and T1 had panned out, the first on the bike were Bayliss who was quickly followed by Graves and Oliver Simon. Bert Jaemmer (my pick to win) and Dan Halksworth were soon out as well.

It quickly became apparent that Philip Graves meant business on the bike - he really put the hammer down and opened up a massive 10+ minute lead. Earlier this week I had spoken to Philip and he said that the race had never been won on the bike before - he obviously had decided he was the man to do it. Bayliss and Halksworth settled in, the two teammates working together to produce a more realistic and evenly paced leg here. Students of this race and Graves history will know that he has a tendency to put it all on the line on the bike and has DNF more than once as a result - would this happen here? He was on for record pace.

Meanwhile in the ladies race Bella was putting a solid shift in. She was 4th on the bike leg and despite losing time to the eventual winner Michelle Vesterby, she was pulling away from the chasers and keeping 2nd and 3rd in her sites.

Out onto the run for our athletes and the torrid pace really started to show. Graves pulled out after 13 miles. His legs just couldn’t do it and has sited post-race his lack of run training as a cause. He might have pulled out but he remained upbeat about his chances in Ironman Austria later next month. Halksworth also dropped off the radar - did he pull out? It looks like it. I’ll update more. Until this point though he was showing us his class. The Spaniard Victor Del Corral demonstrated a masterclass in Ironman pacing and blitzed through the field. He took the lead and never looked like losing it and he became the second Spanish winner here. Meanwhile Stephen Bayliss was being just as impressive and took 2nd. His best ever result at Ironman Lanzarote. Chapeau sir. Further back Bryan McCrystal has impressed me hugely with his performance- taking 12th.

1 VICTOR DEL CORRAL ESP PRO 08:44:40
2 Stephen Bayliss GBR PRO 08:53:38
3 Sergio Marques POR PRO 09:02:59

In the ladies race it was a war of attrition - and Bella wins those type of races! Michelle Vesterby had a 9 minute lead on the run, but could Bella catch her? Both girls ran incredibly hard at 3 hour pace. Brutal in the heat and after that sort of a ride. There was a great feeling of excitement as Bella started to eat into the lead - every split bought them closer and closer - and then great excitement… Vesterby was slowing! Her speed was dropping dramatically - over to Bella, this was the chance to complete the fairytale return and her Lanzarote hattrick!

Unfortunately those same splits revealed that Bella was slowing too - at the same rate as Vesterby. These girls had raced themselves almost to a standstill. It finished like that but Bella Bayliss must be proud to have comeback to Ironman and produced this type of result.

1 Michelle Vesterby DEN PRO 09:58:07
2 Bella Bayliss GBR 10:06:13
3 Heleen Bij de Vaate NED 10:17:34

What a day and what a race. Congratulations to the Bayliss clan and also to Bryan McCrystal for a great debut.

I’ll update this page with age group podiums and also Oliver Simon and Dan Halksworth as I get more information.

Also, if you have 5 minutes have a watch of the Dan Halksworth video interview.