ANOTHER PODIUM & TWO QR WOMEN LEADING THE IRONMAN PRO SERIES
The biggest race action was at IRONMAN Lake Placid on Sunday. We had no idea there would be such a stacked field of our pros in attendance, but with late Kona slots to chase and lots of athletes in pursuit of more Pro Series points, everyone was there hunting something.
A Second Podium for Marta Sánchez
Spanish powerhouse and QR pro Marta Sánchez had but one big thing on her menu: The Dub. After a great swim, she kept her giraffe-themed Studio NEXT V-PRi on display in the IRONMAN Livestream as she and Canadian Paula Findlay traded turns at the front of the women's race. Sánchez also managed to achieve the second-fastest bike split of the day! They stretched their lead, while Aussie QR pro Grace Thek bounced in and out of the top five all day on her new X-Small Studio NEXT V-PRi.
Off the bike, Sánchez and Findlay paced off one another through the first half of the marathon. Sánchez was gapped late in the run, but still held it close to finish second overall at IRONMAN Lake Placid, in a time of 8:51:30 (just 3 minutes, 46 seconds off the winning time).
For her part, Grace Thek had another stellar showcase race against the best, finishing sixth on the day.
Grace Thek and Marta Sánchez Lead the IRONMAN Pro Series
The bigger picture: With her sixth-place result, Grace Thek vaulted into first place in the IRONMAN Pro Series season-long points series, with Marta Sánchez's runner-up result moving her into second. With Katrine Græsbøll Christensen in 10th, Quintana Roo's Pro women hold down three of the top 10 spots in the season series—a testament to their consistency and ability to perform at the biggest races.
While the series pays the pros 50 deep at year’s end, the top 10 are incrementally bigger dollars for the athletes, with the winner taking home $200,000. With just six races left this season, including the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France, and the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, our ladies—especially Thek and Sánchez this weekend—have shown themselves to be the most consistently exceptional pros in the world.
