The seventh consecutive week of virtual racing saw a mixed pursuit format for the IM VR7 Pro Challenge. This featured two professional women and two professional men racing on the same course each day across the weekend.
As with other virtual pro triathlete races, the action was broadcast live exclusively through the IRONMAN Now Facebook Watch page.
The mass participation race, IRONMAN VR7, saw over 25,000 athletes from 136 nations sign-up to take part. IRONMAN VR7 opened for competition on Friday, May 15 at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT).
IRONMAN VR7, a Sprint Distance simulation, required competitors to complete three segments – 1.5 km run, 20 km ride, and 5 km run by race close at 23:59 GMT (19:59 ET) on Sunday, May 17.
IRONMAN VR7
Participant numbers for IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series events appear to have picked up, following a lull from the fourth event. The most recent event shows a pick-up in finisher numbers. It also interesting to note that shorter course virtual racing appears to be more popular in terms of registered athletes and finisher numbers (results as at time of writing):
IRONMAN VR7 – 17,034 finishers (25,024 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR6 – 12,739 finishers (21,246 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR5 – 8,256 finishers (14,886 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR4 – 14,555 finishers (23,753 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR3 – 20,267 finishers (33,213 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR2 –16,378 finishers (22,990 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR1 – 6,696 finishers (11,042 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IM VR7 Pro Challenge
The seventh edition of the IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge saw eight leading professional triathletes battle it out over the course of two days. For the first time the IRONMAN VR Pro Challenged featured two professional women and two professional men racing on the same course each day in a mixed pursuit format.
After the conclusion of two days of racing, Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain claimed top honours in women’s race while Ben Kanute of the United States topped the podium in the men’s competition.
During the IM VR7 Pro Challenge on Saturday and Sunday, groups of two professional women and two professional men, took to their bike trainers. They battled it out over two laps of the newly offered 20km SUPERSEAL Sprint distance bike course utilizing Official Virtual Cycling partner ROUVY’s virtual cycling platform.
On lap one of the 20km course, the two professional women from each day started with a three-minute lead on the two professional male athletes. After a quick break, a pursuit format second lap followed shortly after. Here, each athlete was sent off based on their finish times handicapped from lap one. The overall winner was determined by the first professional to cross the finish line.
In the women’s professional race, Nikki Bartlett (GBR) claimed the overall victory with an impressive performance Saturday, clocking an overall time of 52:39. Sarah Piampiano (USA) finished second in a time of 57:03, while Mel McQuaid (CAN) followed in third clocking a time of 57:36.
While not part of the official IRONMAN VR7 Pro Challenge, broadcast host, former professional and three-time IRONMAN Champion Dede Griesbauer joined in on the second lap of Saturday’s races posting a time of 29:08. Griesbauer, along with all other registered age-group athletes in IRONMAN VR7, had the ability to ride alongside the pros by logging onto the ROUVY platform.
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
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