Lucy Buckingham dominated the race from start to finish at IM70.3 Warsaw to take her second victory of the season. The BMC athlete broke the tape in a finishing time of 4:04:34. Lucy posted the fastest swim and run split and 3rd fastest bike split of the day. Lottie Lucas (UAE; 4:09:10) came home in 2nd place as Justine Guerard (FRA; 4:12:45) rounded out the podium.
Magnificent performance
Fresh off her victory in Mallorca two weeks ago, Lucy Buckingham toed the line in IM70.3 Warsaw looking to make it two out of two this season. She made her intentions clear from the start. Conditions made for a non-wetsuit swim and Lucy went strong early on in the race, exiting the water with a lead of nearly 3 minutes over the rest of the field. In the first kilometers of the bike, Buckingham was able to extend that lead to 3’50”. With an average of 40km/h, Lucy charged past the halfway mark with a 3’10” advantage at that point. The British athlete paced perfectly as she managed to extend that gap in the second part of the bike. Starting the run, Lucy’s lead went out to 3’46” again. On the run, the BMC athlete was able to control her pace and managed her race well towards the line. Concluding the race with the fastest run split of the day (1:26:32), Lucy Buckingham broke the tape to make it a perfect two for two this season in BMC Pro Tri colors.
Afterwards Lucy Buckingham was very satisfied with her race and performance. “I am super happy to put a race together. Some things I need to iron out like transitions and my sighting in the swim. For now, I’ll take the win. Thanks so much for all the support from my team over the last few months with getting me back to the start line. It’s meant the world.”
Chris Leiferman on the podium at IM70.3 Boulder
One day earlier, Chris Leiferman raced to 3rd place at IM70.3 Boulder. The American exited the water in 19th place with a 2’19 deficit over the leaders at that point of the race. Halfway through the bike, Chris managed to move his way up to 5th place already, but it was clear he wanted more. Pushing the pace even more in the second half of the bike, Leiferman made the connection with the first chase group and was battling for 2nd place starting the run. Early on the run, the BMC athlete settled in his own rhythm and managed to keep connection with the competitors in front of him as the deficit never grew over 20 seconds. In the second part of the run, Chris started to up his pace and found himself in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle for 2nd place with less than 3k to go. Leiferman opened up a small gap and gave his all towards the line. But eventually Sanders clawed back and in a sprint finish Chris fell just a second short to snatch away 2nd place and had to settle for 3rd. "Bummer I didn't get second, but can't complain after everyhing I have been through", added Chris. "I am proud of my performance today and it was really good to experience the pain of racing again. I am confident this will set me up well for Ironman Coeur d’Alene in two weeks time."
