Ironman Malaysia stirs
A few things emerged from the first Ironman race of the season. It was a race of contrasts and no doubt the issues stirred up in Langkawi will gather momentum throughout the season as the full realisation of the new WTC rules for professionals begins to take effect.
The racing at Ironman Malaysia was always expected to be dominated by both Luke McKenzie, the returning champion, and Marino Vanhoenacker. The script was running as expected until McKenzie pulled the plug 100km into the bike with a stomach complaint. With a swim that put him out in front McKenzie was going to be a real threat. Vanhoenacker was still winding up having had a swim that was 3 minutes down on the speedy McKenzie.
From then on the writing was on the wall and Vanhoenacker ran away from the rest of the field never to be seen again. Vanhoenacker is a force in Ironman racing as as the rest of the professional field imploded under the weight of the conditions he stood up and converted a brilliant race (8.22). Nishiuchi Hiroyuki came in second and Guillaume Romain was third.
The story of the men's race was McKenzie's withdrawal and Vanhoenacker's continued rise. The Belgium is a legitimate threat every time he enters a race. For McKenzie it's back to the drawing board and an air ticket to China for a shot at redemption in two weeks time.
The women's race was a return to form for Belinda Granger as she set about regaining hers spot in the top group of Ironman racers world wide. Granger had her trademark race. Swim well enough to stay in touch with the leaders (she was second female pro out of the water) and then bike the house down.
Granger's time bested the rest of the field with only Edith Niederfriniger near her some 16 minutes behind. So strong was the Granger ride that third placed Hillary Biscay was 33 minutes behind the bike time of Granger.
Granger returns to the top of the podium where she started 2009. She is a monster on the bike and held on for a stunning win. This makes it win number 12 for Granger.
The other issue to come out of this event was the 8% rule that was brought in by the WTC. Essentially pros must finish within 8% of the winner's time in order to get paid. With the time differentials from IM Malaysia some profesionals will not be getting a pay cheque. This is going to be a theme that will crop up time and time again. Will we be seeing a high DNF rate from the professionals now that this has come in?
The Ironman distance is demanding enough only to finish and then be told that you won't be paid.
During the race McKenzie was twittering his dislike for the new rules "so whats granger do?! wait b4 finishline so hillary gets pay check?! new wtc rules ar s@#b!!!" He got some support from Chris McCormack "re - new WTC rules and finish time. I hope everyone gets paid in China. Too hard a day not to for the pro's."
A great start for the 2010 season for Granger and Vanhoenacker. But underneath the race a storm is brewing with some very unhappy pros.
Results - Men
- Marino Vanhoenacker 8:22:31
- Nishiuchi Hiroyuki 8:50:52
- Romain Guillaume 8:54:38
Results - Women
- Belinda Granger 9:23:33
- Edith Niederfriniger 9:35:02
- Hilliary Biscay 10:10:59
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