Athletes at Altitude: All They do is Win, Win, Win
Giardini & Goss ... (photo by TriMexico)

Athletes at Altitude: All They do is Win, Win, Win

Duffy Dominates

Niwot, CO, USA - June 26, 2016: Triathlete Flora Duffy (middle) takes the win while fellow triathlete Paula Findlay (right) squeaks out a close second in the Senior Women Pro/Category-1/Category-2 competition at the Niwot Circuit Race.
A week before her World Triathlon Stockholm victory, Flora Duffy (middle) used the local Niwot Circuit Race as a warmup, winning the sprint at the line against fellow triathlete Paula Findlay (right) who finished second (photo by Adam Hodges)

We have seen Flora Duffy race so well during this past year, so it’s no surprise that she took her first ever WTS gold in Stockholm this past weekend. The Olympic-bound Bermudian wasted no time after getting out of the water behind the leaders and turned on her blazing biking legs.

Duffy quickly found herself in the lead and alone for roughly nine grueling laps. Heading into the final transition, Duffy showed she was a force to be reckoned with and let her running legs do the rest of the talking as she hit the finish line in a winning time of 2:03:38. Andrea Hewitt followed in second and Helen Jenkins in third.

Duffy told on-the-scene reporter Chelsea White that she had “been trying and trying to win one of these and today when I was out there on the front of the bike I had no idea how it was going to play out. I got off and felt strong on the run and just ran as best as I could.”

Congrats on your first ever WTS gold, Flora. We can’t wait to see you race in Rio!

Giardini, Goss Grab San Gil Titles

Giardini & Goss ... (photo by TriMexico)
Davide Giardini and Lauren Goss celebrate wins at Challenge San Gil (photo by TriMexico)

Davide Giardini has been knocking at the winner’s door for some time now, and over the weekend at Challenge San Gil, it was finally answered. The uber-swimmer led out of the water in 23:38 and didn’t look back.

Thanks to a bike split of 2:15:32 and a half marathon time of 1:23:28, Giardini was able to take the win by over two minutes in 4:07:07.

Finishing second was Nathan Kilam (4:09:40) and rounding out the podium was Vincio Ibarra (4:11:51). Not far behind was Boulder’s A.J. Baucco who had a solid day, finishing sixth in 4:15:51.

On the women’s side, a repeat champion—Boulder’s Lauren Goss—was crowned in a winning time of 4:36:41. Goss came blazing out of the water with the fastest women’s swim of the day (25:09), which she followed with the second fastest bike split (1:54:32), and then capped off with the fastest run split (1:26:20).

All of this made her almost untouchable. Goss took the finisher’s tape with almost six minutes to spare ahead of second place finisher Palmira Alverez. Finishing in third place for the women was Carolina Furriela.

Congrats to both our men’s and women’s champions and all who raced!

Leiferman Returns to Podium

Leiferman third. Pic by A.Leiferman
Chris Leiferman on the podium at IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant (photo by A. Leiferman)

I realize I’m a weekend behind in this recap, but we had to mention Colorado’s Chris Leiferman who is making quite a name for himself at the 70.3 distance.

After an amazing comeback at 70.3 Boulder where he captured second place, Leiferman continued to prove that he is a force to be reckoned with as he grabbed the final podium spot at IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant at the end of June.

His second fastest bike time (2:07:12) and his third fastest run time (1:17:33) gave him almost a four-minute cushion before hitting the finishing chute in a time of 3:53:25.

Boulder’s Paul Matthews turned in a solid day coming in sixth in a time of 4:01:42. Great job, guys!

Megan Evoe

When she isn’t writing about the exploits of Colorado’s pro triathletes, Megan Evoe works with student-athletes at the University of Colorado as a Learning Specialist. Before coming to Boulder, Megan spent a decade teaching in Illinois and Texas while coaching soccer and cross country. Her passion for athletics stems from her collegiate days of playing soccer at Illinois State University where she twice earned All-Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Team honors. She holds a BA in English and Kinesiology, as well as an MA in Education. She has run over 20 marathons, including the Boston Marathon six times and an ultra-marathon, and has completed five triathlons, including IRONMAN 70.3 Austin. The sport of triathlon has brought many valuable pieces to Megan’s life, such as traveling, great friends, and an appetite for competition. Megan is married to professional triathlete Patrick Evoe.