Lovato Surprises Women - Colucci Wins Ironman 70.3 Pucon

Shawn Skene recaps Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Pucon Chile

Published Sunday, January 24, 2010

Lovato Surprises Women - Colucci Wins Ironman 70.3 Pucon It was American Amanda Lovato's day in the sun as she secured the Ironman 70.3 Pucon title here in Chile on Sunday. Lovato surprised race favourites Heather Gollnick and Tereza Macel with a finishing time of 4:36:12. Gollnick, the 2008 and 2009 Ironman 70.3 Pucon champion crossed the finish line in second (4:38:42), and rounding out the podium was Canada's Tereza Macel (4:46:31.)

800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Going into this race Lovato had relocated to Austin, Texas for winter base training. Her coach, Cliff English said, “She had time to get in one, good, three week block of training and then jump on the plane and taper for this race.” He went on to say, “She has worked so hard for this victory and I have a very good feeling this is going to set the stage for a huge year for Amanda in 2010.”

1. Amanda Lovato (USA) 4.36.12
2. Heather Gollnick (USA) 4.38.42
3. Tereza Macel (CAN) 4.46.31
4. Pamela Tastets (CHI) 4.55.42

5. Carla Stampfli (ITA) 4.56.32

In the men’s race, Argentina’s Eduardo Sturla’s hard charging effort on the bike resulted in him fading off the back and eventually pull out of the race. At the completion of the 90 km bike, Brazil’s Reinaldo Colucci, Argentina’s Daniel Fontana and Oscar Golendez entered the transition together and it appeared that the race would be a three-way battle for the win. However, Galindez had an uncharacteristic slow transition that he would never recover from. Colucci and Fontana headed out on the run together in front of Galindez, a four-time Ironman 70.3 Pucon champion.

The leading pair of Colucci and Fontana extended their lead over Galindez while running shoulder-to-shoulder for the first half of the run. At 14 km, Fontana was unable to respond to a Colucci surge on a hill that saw lanky Olympian inch away. Colucci made his move stick as he methodically pulled away from the field for the remainder of the run. Colucci eventually finished 1:22 ahead of Fontana and 5:47 in front of Galindez for his second Ironman 70.3 Pucon title.

After the race, Colucci stated, “I wasn’t feeling great in the swim and started the bike very uncomfortable.” He continued, “I knew I was running fast and if I could handle the pressure, I would have a great run… I managed to do that."

1. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 3.52.38
2. Daniel Fontana (ARG) 3.54.00
3. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 3.58.25
4. Santiago Asenco (BRA) 4.02.40
5. Mario de Elias (ARG) 4.03.01
6. Raul Furtado (BRA) 4.08.56
7. Lucas Cocha (ARG) 4.09.45
8. Michael Lovato (USA) 4.10.25
9. Velmar Bianco (ARG) 4.11.10
10. Felipe Van Der Wingard (CHI) 4.12.18

Photo credit: Renata Farah

Shawn Skene can be reached at: SSkene@Ironman.com

Tagged with: 2010 ironman70.3 pucon70.3 recap topstory

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