Maurice Clavel was a man on a mission in IM70.3 Vichy. The BMC-Vifit Sport athlete was on fire on the bike and controlled his lead in the closing half marathon. Clavel took the victory in a winning time of 3:46:17. Colin Norris (GBR; 3:53:54) finished second as Mattia Ceccarelli (ITA; 3:58:42) crossed the finish line in third.
Maurice Clavel started the day with a very solid swim (Swim: 24:20) entering T1 in 3th place, 24" behind the two leaders. In the early stages of the bike, Maurice moved up to the front of the race and after 23k was part of a leading trio. But the trio didn' stay together for long as Clavel and Costes kept setting a blistering pace and started to open up a gap towards the rest of the field.
Blistering bike performance
At the 50K mark on the bike, Clavel and Costes had extended their lead to 3'. But the BMC-Vifit Sport athlete was a man on a mission and kept pushing the pace. In the closing stages of the bike, Maurice started to put time in on Costes. After a tremendous bike performance, Clavel finished the 90k in a phenomenal time of 2:04:24. Costes followed in second already 4:37 down, with Ceccarelli in 3rd 6:38 behind leader Clavel. In the early stages of the closing half marathon Clavel controlled his lead and gradually started to put more time in on the first chasers. After 9k Maurice had extended his lead to 7'40. From then onwards his victory was never in danger. After an outstanding half marathon (Run: 1:13:16) Maurice Clavel crossed the finish line in a winning time of 3:46:17. An excellent performance from the BMC-Vifit Sport athlete who dominated the race from start to finish.
Very emotional
For Clavel it was a very emotional victory in France: "Victory here in IM70.3 Vichy. For me a very emotional moment winning in France. I had a perfect day out there and I really enjoyed it. A fantastic race and great organisation. A special thank you to all volunteers, organisors and the amazing spectators out there today. I am really happy to take the win here today!"