Potts, Wellington Repeat Victory at Timberman

With the heat and humidity beating down on the field Sunday, August 23, 2009 in Gilford, NH, TYR-sponsored Andy Potts and Chrissie Wellington retained their championship titles at Ironman 70.3 Timberman, while rising star Magali Tisseyre finished in a strong third. The race was off after a delayed start with the professional field breaking the calm of Lake Winnipesaukee’s fresh water. Potts was first out of the 1.2 mile swim course wearing the Tracer Sayonara, and mounting his bike held a slight lead over John Kenny. “I pushed hard from the start on the swim I wanted to create an early separation and I was able to do that,” said Potts. “I swam in the Sayonara and was really happy with it. The suit is more about swimming than it is about how high you sit in the water.” On the women’s side of the swim, Dede Griesbauer came out on top of field in the as expected, with Wellington and Tisseyre close behind. The 56-mile scenic bike route entailed challenging hills along the loop, proving to be advantageous for strong cyclists to regain lost ground. So was the case for Bjorn Andersson who passed Potts and held a lead going into the run. For Wellington, the bike portion proved her dominance over the field- splitting 2:19:59 to pass Griesbauer. Her time not only bested the second women on the course by five minutes, but fell amongst the top 10 men’s bike splits. Tisseyre positioned herself third entering the run, with Catriona Morrison just ahead. “I hopped onto the bike feeling good,” said Wellington on her impressive bike. “The women’s pro field was really strong and I knew I had to post a really fast bike split to hold off the charge of some of the faster runners. I really attacked the bike, rode the hills as hard as I could and made sure I kept my concentration throughout.” Entering the final leg of the race with the sun showing no mercy on the competitors, Potts regained his lead and never looked back. Despite not leading on the bike leg, his split still lowered his last year’s performance by three minutes, and with that he lowered his course record and finished in 3:51:19. “Once I got on the run, there was a pace clock on me and I knew right away I had a chance to go right t or under last year’s time,” said Potts on breaking the course record. “It was a great performance and I am very happy.” Wellington used the scenic 13.1 mile run to maintain her lead, splitting 1:24:37. With the split, she charged into the finish and was crowned a champion yet at the course in 4:15:11. Morrison finished second (4:17:07), and Tisseyre was able to finish strong at 4:23:24 to round out the podium. Using the race as another step towards her big race at the Ironman World Championships in six weeks, Wellington feels excitement to defend yet another title at the race in Hawaii. “I look at the good and the bad and will take a lot of confidence and lessons into Kona, she said. “I cannot wait to get to the big island and defend my title there. It won’t be easy but I really look forward to the challenge.” To follow the results of Potts, Wellington, and Tisseyre, as well as the rest of TYR’s professional triathletes as they look to finish their 2009 season strong, visit the News/Events section at TYR.com.