Emma Pallant finished 2nd at the IM70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She crossed the line in 4:18:36, once again making the difference on the run. Daniela Ryf (SUI; 4:11:59) took the victory as Laura Philipp (GER; 4:19:40) completed the podium.
In the men's race Maurice Clavel (3:55:18) crossed the finish line in 6th place at the IM70.3 World Championship. The German athlete was in contention for the podium all day long, racing an attentively race in front of the chase group. Javier Gomez (ESP; 3:49:45) took the title with Ben Kanute (USA; 3:51:07) claiming 2nd place. Tim Don (GBR; 3:52:00) finished third.
Vice World Champion
For Emma Pallant this IM70.3 event was the third World Championship race in 3 weeks time. After a third place at the WC Duathlon and a victory at the WC Aquathlon, she toed the line at her first IM70.3 World Championship.
Pallant had an excellent swim to start the day exiting the water in 16th position, less than 3’ down from the lead. Thanks to a very fast transition Emma made up some positions to jump on her BMC Timemachine in 9th place.
At the top of the big climb after 15k she settled for 10th, just 2’ back of the chase group as Ryf took over the lead at that point of the race. The difference towards the chase group melted away and with about 20k to go Pallant made the connection with the athletes in front of her to form a big chase group of 10 women, trailing leader Ryf by 7’30. Counting on her fast running pace the BMC-Etixx athlete settled in the middle of the group heading towards T2.
Entering the transition zone Pallant racked her bike in 7th position, about 20” back from Philipp in 2nd and more than 8’ back to Ryf. Emma immediately found her running legs to pass Philipp in the first kilometer and take control of that 2nd place. The British athlete gave her all to put pressure on the leading position of Ryf. After 7k she made up more than 2’, but was still trailing by 6’50. Halfway through the run Emma was able to cut down the lead to just over 6’, but Ryf controlled the race as she responded with an equal running pace towards the end. The 2nd place of Emma was never endangered as she clocked the fastest run split of the day in 1:19:52. Using her run as a great weapon Pallant took home a third podium place at a World Championship in a few weeks time.
Second in the World
Afterwards Emma Pallant looked back at her race with a very satisfied feeling.
‘I had a pretty good swim. We have been working a lot on the speed in the swim and I am very happy it paid off in the race. We also invested a lot of time in my biking the past few weeks and I’m super happy I was able to execute it in the race. So I had a solid swim-bike and I took off for the run in a big pack. To be able to show my running pace makes me super satisfied. When I saw the board marking a deficit of 7’50 over Ryf, I thought it was a mistake and it should be 1’50. I knew it would be tough to run that down. But Daniela is a great athlete, so I gave my all to finish as close as possible behind here. Also thanks to my amazing team and everyone who supported me’
6th place for Maurice Clavel at IM70.3 World Championship
The swim gave no problem for Maurice Clavel as he exited the water in the big chase group in 9th position, 1’ down from the leading duo Gomez-Kanute.
In the early stages of the bike Maurice tried to close down the gap towards Gomez in second place. The BMC-Etixx athlete succeeded and with the company of Kienle he pushed the pace to make the race as hard as possible. The chase group strechted, but didn’t break as the two Germans couldn’t find a way to break away. With a group of 9 athletes Clavel entered T2 and thanks to a fast transition he saw himself take off for the run in 3rd place, following Kienle in his footsteps. Maurice chose to run at his own pace and got the company of Don and Appleton after a few kilometers. With 5k to go Clavel ran in 6th place, trying to close down the gap towards Kienle in 5th. He definitely gave his all in those final kilometers, but he had to settle for 6th place, just 30” short of that top 5 finish. A great performance for Maurice Clavel as he was in the mix for podium all day long.
Mixed feelings
Looking back at his race, Clavel was gutted he couldn’t get that top 5 finish, but also satisfied with his 6th place mixing it up with best athletes in the world.
"On the bike I pushed really hard to break away, but I couldn’t open up a gap in that big chase group. Towards the end of the bike course I felt my legs hurting as I used a lot of energy. Once I had my running shoes on, I had a good feeling again. I really wanted to get that top 5 finish, so I gave my all. In the end, I have to be happy with this 6th place as this is a race with a stacked field full of tough competitors. To come away with 6th after my 8th place at last year’s World Championship, I’m glad with the progress I made this year. It gives me motivation to set another step forward next season."
Pictures Photo credit "Korup Vision"
