Fredrik Croneborg ran himself into third place at the Ironman 70.3 Taiwan last Sunday after staying within striking distance all day. The Swede, who was the 2013 champion and last year’s runner-up, claimed his podium position with the race’s fourth-best swim and bike, moved up to third out of transition, and recorded the day’s fastest run split.
Croneborg was sidelined by a running injury midway through the year, but there were no signs of that on race day in Kenting. He said, “Nice swim and felt much better than expected on the shortened bike course (77 kilometers because of strong winds). Kept my third place during the run and could not get close enough to the two in front. Big congratulations to Guy Crawford for his first 70.3 win, really happy for you! Nice to race alongside Bahrain Endurance teammate Paul Ambrose, who finished fifth.”
Meanwhile, Caroline Steffen finished fifth at the Noosa Triathlon, backing up after her ninth place finish at the Ironman World Championship. She said, “Pretty happy with fifth today. Congrats Ashleigh Gentle on another Noosa Tri win.” Having gone up against speedy ITU athletes, this was a solid result for the Swiss ahead of Ironman 70.3 Mandurah next week and the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship in Bahrain next month.
Ben Hoffman took on the XTERRA World Championship in Maui and finished 10th among a credentialed field. He takes home the Outrigger Double award for this year’s fastest combined finish times from the Ironman World Championship and XTERRA World Championship. He said, “What a day! Harder than I thought, and had to battle all day for top ten. Congrats to everyone who put it on the line.”
