Emma Pallant and Amelia Watkinson finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at IM70.3 Mallorca. Pallant crossed the finish line in 4:26:51 with her teammate Amelia Watkinson rounding up the podium in a time of 4:33:03. Laura Philipp (GER; 4:21:41) took the win. In the men’s race Will Clarke finished 4th in a time of 4:07:23.
Second and third
Following on from her win in the Olympic Distance Triathlon in Colonia San Jordi in Mallorca just a week ago Emma Pallant was keen on a good result in IM70.3 Mallorca. Together with her teammate Amelia Watkinson she started the day well. Amelia exited the water in 5th and Emma in 7th position, both just a few seconds behind the top 3.
Amelia immediately moved up on the bike and settled in 2nd place. Emma moved through the field as well taking control of 3rd place. Unfortunately, Watkinson had a small crash in one of the descents, but she managed to keep her 2nd place during the rest of the bike leg. Coming in transition in 2nd and 3rd, the two BMC-Etixx athletes started their run. Pallant used her incredible running pace to close down the gap on Watkinson. Halfway through the run the British athlete made her move and passed her teammate. From that point the positions were fixed. Emma crossed the finish line in 4:26:51 as she produced the fastest running split once again. Amelia took home 3rd place in a time of 4:33:03.
Will Clarke 4th
Will Clarke decided a few days before the race to participate. He felt good and recovered well from his Ironman in Texas three weeks ago.
The swim went well as Will exited the water in 8th place. Thanks to a fast transition he jumped on his bike in 5th place. Early on the bike Clarke moved up to 4th place. Towards the end of the bike Will managed to move up another spot to jump off his bike in 3rd. He managed to maintain that position during the first part of the run, but then he dropped back a place. The British athlete still gave his all to keep his running pace as high as possible. His 4th place was never in danger. Will finished the race in a time of 4:07:23.
Satisfied
Afterwards all three athletes were satisfied with their results.
Emma Pallant looked back at her performance: “I’m really happy with the result. I still have a lot to improve on the bike, but great to finish second. And fantastic for Amelia to finish in third, so we are happy ‘roomies’.”
Amelia Watkinson had to recover from a crash in the downhill: “Not a bad day out there. I came out of the water in a pack of about 5 athletes 30” back of the lead. On the bike we quickly split up. On the hill I was just behind Laura Philipp and we had a pretty good lead. Unfortunately I overestimated my ability on one of the switchbacks on the downhill. But I only lost about a minute before I was back on my bike without any damage. Once off the bike my teammate Emma had an absolutely brilliant run to finish second and I crossed the line in 3rd. So I am happy to round up the podium in such good company.”
Will Clarke: “I was in 3rd place coming off the bike, I was stuck in Ironman pace a bit on the run. I did an OK job. I’m relatively happy after my Ironman Texas three weeks ago. A decent result today as I’ll go home to recover and built towards my next important race which is Ironman UK.”
