Lucy Charles-Barclay wins Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Marbella

There might have been a few doubts before the start, but there was little trace on the race course as Lucy Charles-Barclay battled to win the Ironman 70.3 world championship ahead of the USA’s Taylor Knibb.

The pair have dominated this event in the past five years with Knibb winning the past three editions and and Charles-Barclay taking the title in 2021. But both also failed to finish in Hawaii last month at the full distance event and there were plenty of question marks over whether they could turn it around in time here.

Germany’s middle distance novice Tanja Neubert strode to an impressive third place in only her second 70.3 race, and it was also another brilliant day for British triathlon, as Georgia Taylor-Brown (fourth), Jess Learmonth (seventh) and Lizzie Rayner (eighth) made it four GB women in the top eight.

What happened in the swim?

Puerto Banus is renowned for its luxury yachts and high-end shipping, and there was no shortage of class in the women’s field, as almost all the leading long course athletes were in attendance despite the high profile blow-ups in Hawaii four weeks earlier.

Charles-Barclay was one of the final athletes into the warm-up area pre-race, but predictably the first athlete to be back on the beach following a trademark solo swim out front, completing the 1.9km route in just over 25min.

Perhaps the chilly water (it had dropped to 17 degrees by the time of race morning) led to some extra exertion, but by the time the 2021 70.3 world champion had reached transition she had a 47sec advantage over Knibb.

America’s defending champion predictably had GB’s Learmonth for company, with the rest of the main contenders just over 2mins back, and a fearsome bike leg to come.

What happened on the bike?

On a bike course that was described tongue-in-cheek by one age-grouper as “unnecessarily hard” there was every reason to believe it could be the decisive leg of the race.

A fascinating opening few miles saw Knibb power to the front on the first climb, but with Charles-Barclay digging in to retake the lead on the descent.

It made it more reminiscent of the T100 races seen earlier in the summer than previous 70.3 World Championships where Knibb had just ridden away from the field.

It was so far so good for the duo upfront, who saw the gap to the field, led by Learmonth and Canadian Paula Findlay, grow steadily – just as it had in Kona four weeks earlier.

Matthews and Denmark’s Sif Bendix Madsen made it a chase line of four women as the race approached the summit of the final climb at 70km, but with the gap to the leaders now out to more than 4mins it was going to take a something very special to thwart Knibb or Charles-Barclay taking the crown.

Further back in the field, GB’s Rebecca Anderbury, who won her first 70.3 this summer and was on 70.3 world championship debut, had picked up 30 places on the bike having exited the swim in 46th.

Knibb was first into transition with a race-best bike split of 2:28:36, with Charles-Barclay in close attendance, followed by Matthews, Learmonth and Bendix Madsen, with Findlay having been dropped in the closing stages.

What happened on the run?

There was drama right at the start of the half-marathon, as Knibb attacked out of transition, before Charles-Barclay hauled her back in before they reached the halfway mark.

Meanwhile, Matthews – who now looked like the only athlete capable of catching he front two – was the fastest runner for the first 4km before pulling up with a calf issue that would end her challenge.

With Charles-Barclay and Knibb looking as if the top two spots were locked in, the race was on for the final podium position and Germany’s Neubert, a short course specialist who had been on the WTCS podium in China this summer, was taking advantage.

Taylor-Brown, who had quietly been going about her work all day, moved past Learmonth and up to fourth place, with the Rayner also having a breakthrough performance on the cusp of the top 10.

Ironman 70.3 World Championship women’s results

1. Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
2. Taylor Knibb (USA)
3. Tanja Neubert (GER)
4. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
5. Marjolaine Pierre (FRA)
6. Solveig Lovseth (NOR)
7. Jess Learmonth (GBR)
8. Lizzie Rayner (GBR)
9. Hanne De Vet (BEL)
10. Ellie Salthouse (AUS)