Bedfordshire-born Sam Laidlow became the youngest-ever winner of the men's Ironman World Championship as he delivered a near perfect performance in sun-kissed Nice.
Representing France in the first full distance Ironman worlds to be held outside of North America, the 24-year-old put on a swim, bike and run masterclass to go one better than Hawaii in October where he finished runner-up to Gustav Iden.
Not even a charging Patrick Lange could thwart Laidlow on the Promenade des Anglais, despite the two-time Ironman champion running a race-best marathon to finish second and finally defeat nemesis Magnus Ditlev of Denmark.
Laidlow swam 47:50, biked 4:31:28 and the ran 2:41:46 marathon for a 3:55 victory over the 37-year-old Lange, who overtook Ditlev in the final miles with USA's Rudy Von Berg in fourth and Bath-based Frenchman Leon Chevalier in fifth.
But it wasn’t the retirement celebration that three-time Ironman champion Jan Frodeno had dreamed of, as the German faded on the bike and would eventually finish well down the field in 24th. And neither was it a perfect day for Britain’s Joe Skipper either, who was off the pace from the start and finished by jogging in the marathon.
What happened in the swim?
With the women’s event taking place in Hawaii in a month, the men took centre stage in Nice as they lined up before sunrise for the 2.4-mile swim on the Cote d’Azur.
The water temperature was a balmy 24.8 degrees Celsius ensuring it was a non-wetsuit swim for all participants, with the race an in-water – rather than beach start – due to the rough surface of the pebbled underfoot.
New Zealand’s Braden Currie was fastest away from the horn and led for the first half-mile before France’s Laidlow eased his way to the front.
At that point, the 24-year-old put in a surge that started to split the field, with Italy’s Gregory Barnaby – who’d not raced an Ironman since qualifying in Israel in November – on his toes.
Currie and Frodeno slotted in behind as the course headed back close to shore before diverting out again for the final 1.2 mile loop.
Frodeno had a stint on the front as they headed back towards T1 and running up the exit ramp it was USA’s Matt Marquardt who was first over the timing mat in 47:46.
The front group of 12 also featured a number of pre-race favourites including USA’s Von Berg, as well as France’s Denis Chevrot and World Triathlon long course world champion Mignon.
There was then a minute’s gap to two-time world champion Lange, who led a second pack of 12 that included powerful bikers Ditlev, fellow Dane Kristian Hogenhaug and the inform Belgian Pieter Heemeryck.
With Heemeryck and Hogenhaug having finished on the podium behind Chevrot and in front of Frodeno in the Ironman European Championship in Hamburg, there was plenty of firepower with the chasers.
Australia’s Wurf finished the swim 3:20 behind the leaders and firmly in contention, with Britain’s Skipper in 37th with a deficit of 5:33, signalling he might not have the day he hoped
What happened on the bike?
In a first sign that perhaps it wasn’t going to be Frodeno’s day either, the German appeared to have a mishap in transition that ended with a torn racesuit as he tried to pull it up ahead of the bike leg.
Mignon and Laidlow were the first to make a move, striking out ahead of the race’s major climb, the Col de l'Ecre, at around 26 miles.
As they headed into the ascent, Frodeno started slipping back through the field and ceding time to the front. A third of the way through the ride he was already 5min off the pace, but gaps were blowing out between riders all over the course as the intensity and terrain took its toll.
While the French pair were the fastest on course, Ditlev – who pre-race had said the harder the bike course, the better – was almost matching them for pace as he moved into third. Ineos Grenadiers’ Wurf also wasn’t losing much time as he made his way up into the top 10.
Lange could still consider himself in striking distance, but Skipper was more than 14mins behind and not having the day he planned.
While the penalty tents were nowhere near as full as they had been in Hawaii in October, South Africa’s Bradley Weiss was visibly emotional as he served a 5min penalty for drafting when he was running in the top six along with Ditlev, Von Berg, and Currie.
Laidlow started to pull away midway through the bike leg and opened a 2min gap to Mignon as they approached the only out and back section on the course.
He was one of a group of athletes who seemed to be benefitting from home field advantage as four French athletes plus Von Berg, who has lived and trained in the region for long periods, were handily placed in the top 10.
Currie was the next of the leading contenders to suffer a setback as he was handed a 5min penalty for littering as he was running in sixth.
With Laidlow making short work of the descent there was a sense of deja vu to Hawaii last year when he set the bike course record. On that occasion he came into T2 just over 6min ahead of the field, and he delivered a similar performance in Nice with a gap of 5:16 over Von Berg as he reached the Promenade des Anglais for the marathon.
Ditlev reached transition in third ((5:53 adrift), followed by Wurf (7:17), Chevalier (11:05). Lange was 12:29 back hoping for for comeback akin to Mark Allen running down Germany’s Thomas Hellriegel in 1995 to have a chance of victory.
What happened on the run?
There was no relief from the beating sun and punishing tarmac as Laidlow set off for the marathon looking to go one better than last year.
All the leading contenders went through the first five miles at a similar pace, with Lange in eighth only managing to make up 40sec on the leader.
With the athletes able to see one another on each turnaround of the four-lap course it was possible to gauge the gaps, and through the half-marathon point Laidlow was holding the 5min buffer steady.
Frodeno was attempting to make the most of his retirement race and giving out high fives to supporters, while Skipper was running hard trying to make up as many places as possible.
As they entered the final stages, Lange was charging for a podium place but he never looked likely to close the deficit to Laidlow who held on for a memorable triumph.
Ironman World Championship results
- Sam Laidlow
- Patrick Lange
- Magnus Ditlev
- Rudy Von Berg
- Leon Chevalier
