Men’s pro preview Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast

This is one of the biggest pro fields we have seen in Australia and it is really hard to call.

Pete Jacobs is a professional athlete (yeah we know the whole field is) and even though his focus is firmly on defending his Ironman World Championship crown in four weeks we expect to see a very polished performance with a stella run in particular this weekend.

With Clayton Fettall racing Kona for the first time this year it will be interesting to see if he uses this race to test out a race strategy that many think he should be using in Kona. Can Fettall hold back on the swim and stay with the front pack, build on the bike and run as fast as he potentially can. We have not seen his best run yet as he dominates in the swim and bike which most likely takes the edge off his run. We know that in training he is running above what we see in the race.

Tim Berkel is still recovering from the MetaMan full distance triathlon two weeks ago so we are unsure of what he will be able to do this weekend.

We were looking at Sam Appleton and Mitch Robins to potentially be two of the main players late in this race. Mitch misfired in Yeppoon after over heating while in second on the run. He has since done some sweat testing and is looking in to managing this side of his nutrition more efficiently. However he has had a bout of tonsillitis and according to his facebook post had a spill on his bike recently. So we won’t see Mitch leashed on the Sunshine Coast this weekend.

Appleton missed Yeppoon after being sick in the lead up so will be chomping at the bit to have the race of his life this weekend. We know Appleton is incredibly strong over all three disciplines and it will be good to see how the second half of his run is coming along against some fast guys. Last time we saw Mitch and Sam going head to head was in Huskisson last year when both were chasing Pete Jacobs. Sam hung on to Mitch until 10kms then fell off the pace.

Kiwi Adam Gordon had his first 70.3 podium recently with a third at Yeppoon. Since then he has knuckled down and we are expecting to see an even fast Gordon this weekend.

Michael Murphy was seen walking around with a bandage on his foot. If that is from Bintan, where he raced recently then it could be an infection. If he is on antibiotics then that could come in to play with high temperatures forecast for tomorrow. Antibiotics can add to cramping so he will have to watch that.

Racing pro for the first time is Victorian Tom Rogers. We wish him the best as he steps up.

Everyone will be looking forward to seeing former ITU World Champ Peter Robertson racing this weekend. Robbo raced a 70.3 recently in Europe and will be looking to further build on his comeback to triathlon.

Cronulla’s Michael Fox will be one of the leaders out of the water and early on the bike. Fox is still looking for that elusive 70.3 podium and is creeping closer with every race.

Sam Appleton’s training partner and former ITU gun junior Patrick Baldacchino will be looking to improve on his recent race at Yeppoon as he looks towards going full time again in the near future.

Casey Munroe is swimming well and we saw him come out with the leaders in Yeppoon recently and he can bike. With his run evolving he is growing as a serious contender for a podium in a major race.

West Australian Johan Borg has been building quietly over in Perth for this race and IMWA. We last saw Johan on this side of the country at Cairns Ironman in June where he finished 12th overall and was slightly disappointed with this result.

More to come…