Posted: April 9, 2006

Triathlon: Tight Men’s Race at Ford Ironman Arizona

By Helen Manning

The Men’s race at Ford Ironman Arizona has had a complete change in the top five men during the 112-miles of the bike leg.. Brent Foster (New Zealand) was passed early on the bike course but fought back to stay with Spencer Smith (Britain) and Francois Chabaud (France) eventually dropping off the pace after mile fifty.

There is a tight group at the front heading out on the run, with last year’s second place finisher Michael Lovato (Boulder, CO) leading by about a minute over Francois Chambaud and Stijm Demeulemeester (Belgium). It promises to be an exciting run for the championship.

In the Women’s race Michellie Jones moved to the front early in the bike portion of the race and has continued to pull away from the field. Heading out on the run course she had an impressive lead of over ten minutes on the remainder of the field. She is followed by Andrea Fisher (Austin, TX) and Hillary Biscay (Manhattan Beach, CA).

For updates please go to /www.ironman.com or www.ironmanarizona.com.

Leaders onto the run course

1.	MICHAEL LOVATO (USA)
2.	FRANCOIS CHABAUD (France)
3.	STIJN DEMEULEMEESTER (Belgium)
4.	SPENCER SMITH (Britain)
5.	DAVE HARJU (Canada)
6.	SWEN SUNDBERG (Germany)
7.	TIMOTHY DEBOOM (USA)
8.	JENS KOEFOED (Denmark)
9.	JAMIE CLEVELAND (Canada)
10.	STEPHEN BAYLISS (Britain)

1.	MICHELLIE JONES (Australia)
2.	ANDREA FISHER (Austin, TX)
3.	HILLARY BISCAY (Manhattan, CA)
4.	DESIREE FICKER (Boulder, CO)
5.	HEATHER GOLLNICK (Florida)
6.	UTE MUECKEL (Germany)

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