We Noticed: Severe Bike Crash at IM Maryland Forces Course Closure and Results Change, Knibb Races at Worlds TT and More

There was some really sad news from this weekend’s IRONMAN Maryland event – an athlete hit a car during the bike which led to the course being closed for an air evacuation. There has been no official update on the athlete’s condition, and we, along with the entire triathlon community, hope they recover from the injuries.

After the accident emergency officials closed the course in order to allow a medical helicopter to land to evacuate the athlete. There was some confusion on when athletes were allowed to start the race, which meant that while most of the pro men’s field were waiting on the side of the road for the helicopter to evacuate the athlete, Federico Scarabino, was back racing on the bike course.

According to Scarabino, he was stopped by a volunteer:

“I did not receive any instructions or orders from a police officer,” he posted on Instagram in reply to an update from onyerleft.sports. “I did not speak with a police officer at any time in that situation. The person who stopped me was a volunteer. At the time, I thought he was a spectator helping out, as he was not wearing anything that identified him as part of the Ironman organization.”

“My understanding from my conversation with the volunteer was that I needed to wait for the helicopter to leave before I could continue,” Scarabino continued. “After approximately one minute, the helicopter left, and that is when I continued.”

While Scarabino would cross the line first, IRONMAN officials decided that the only fair solution to the situation was to nullify a portion of the bike, course, subtracting that time from the athletes’ total time. In the end, that gave the men’s title to Cameron Wurf.

Here’s the statement IRONMAN posted on social media:

Dear IRONMAN Maryland Athletes,

During the bike portion of Saturday’s IRONMAN Maryland triathlon, an athlete was transported from the course for medical care. As a result, a portion of the bike course was temporarily closed and athletes were rerouted.

Following a review of the impact this had on the competition, race officials determined that removing the affected timing segment from the bike split calculations was the fairest and most equitable solution. Importantly, this does not mean that athletes did not complete the bike course, only that this section will not be included in the official timing results and overall finish times will be adjusted accordingly.

We recognize this may result in changes to standings throughout the field. However, applying the same adjustment ensures competitors are evaluated using a consistent standard and best preserves the integrity of the competition under the circumstances.

We also want to recognize the tremendous effort, commitment, and perseverance demonstrated by every athlete on race day. Every finisher should be proud of what they accomplished.

We appreciate your patience, understanding, and sportsmanship as race officials worked through this challenging situation.

Also in reply to the onyerleft.sports post, Wurf wrote:

“My take is that should the race have played out under normal circumstances Finn (Grosse-Freese) would’ve won by 10 minutes. It was setup perfectly for him, it’s a real shame for him that it transpired the way it did. Not least of which someone is seriously hurt. Further to that, those who actually stopped & got an understanding of what was happening, how serious the situation was, we had no idea if the race was even still happening or not. We basically just rode back to T2 to get an update. At that point we just figured I guess we’re still meant to run, so we did, results were what they were.”

Grosse-Freese would, in the end, pull out of the race. The German was at IRONMAN Hamburg three years ago when an athlete was hit by a motorcycle, leading to the death of the motorcycle driver.

“Some moments remind you that there are things far more important than sport,” Grosse-Freese wrote on Instagram yesterday. “Yesterday at IRONMAN Maryland was one of them. During the bike, an accident involving a cyclist and a motor vehicle brought the race to a complete standstill. A rescue helicopter came in and I waited on the course for around ten minutes. Standing there brought me straight back to IRONMAN Hamburg three years ago, where I witnessed the tragic motorcycle accident during my first long-distance race. In moments like these, racing suddenly feels very small.

“When we were eventually allowed to continue, I honestly wasn’t sure whether I wanted to keep racing,” Grosse-Freese continued. “But before the accident, racing had felt right again for the first time in a while. I was in 2nd place, felt really strong on the bike and that old racing mindset was finally coming back. So I decided to keep going. Unfortunately, the pain in my right leg — which had started after the flight and had already been checked by ultrasound — became too much on the run. DNF. After a season like this, I’ve questioned more than once how much longer I want to keep doing this. I still don’t have that answer. But yesterday showed me two things. First, there are things far more important than sport. And second, the fire is still there. Above all, I hope everyone involved in the accident is okay.”

IRONMAN’s fix to the problem hasn’t been without controversy – athletes complained that anyone who had ridden easily during that stretch would benefit, while those who had raced hard and aggressively would be penalized.

As was posted in the Slowtwitch Forum thread on this topic, the results were recalculated, with Wurf’s time being modified by almost 40 minutes, compared to just over 34 minutes for Scarbino.

The women’s race was straightforward – Switzerland’s Mena Suter dominated the day (8:49:15), well ahead of Tara Rooney (9:17:55) and Katie Colville (9:19:53).

With US$100,000 and two Kona slots per gender up for grabs, the race was an important one for the pro athletes involved, but all that becomes moot when an athlete’s life is on the line. Once again, our thoughts are with the athlete and their family.

Women’s Results:

Men’s Results:

UCI Road World Championships TT

The big news from yesterday’s elite time trial racing at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal was how American Taylor Knibb, fresh off her fourth IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title, fared. Last week in Nice she joked that the goal was to “remain upright” after her three crashes during the time trial at the Olympics in 2024. Knibb did that, finishing 13th. She was the top-ranked American in the field.

In terms of the overall titles, it was a record-tying fourth win for Remco Evenepoel (his fourth straight title, for that matter – he joins Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara at four). The Belgian star stopped the clock at 44:53:13, just under a minute clear of Italy’s Filippo Ganna. France’s Paul Seixas would take the bronze medal.

Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser defended her women’s title, using a late surge over the final few kilometres of the women’s race to surge past Great Britain’s Zoe Backstedt to win by 40 seconds.

Women’s Results:

Men’s Results:

Anyone Remember Karin Thürig?

As impressive as Knibb’s racing was yesterday, she’s still got a ways to go to match another cyclist/ triathlete on the world time trial stage – Switzerland’s Karin Thürig. She won the 2004 and 2005 UCI Road World Championships TT in 2004 and 2005, to go along with a bronze medal in 2002 and silver in 2006. She also won two bronze medals at the Olympics in the discipline in 2004 (Athens) and 2008 (Beijing).

Thürig’s mulitsport feats included winning the long-distance duathlon world title in 2001 and 2001, and she also won a number of IRONMAN titles – France (2002), Switzerland (2005 and 2010) and Lanzarote (2006), and took second at The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2011. Thürig’s best Kona finish was a pair of sixth-place efforts in 2010 and 2011.

Dubrick Tops at 70.3 Cozumel, Sanders Finishes Third

American Marc Dubrick led from start to finish to take his second IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel title, winning in 3:39:18, over seven minutes clear of Mexico’s Rodrigo Gonzalez. Lionel Sanders was three minutes back after the swim, but would have the day’s second-fastest bike split to move himself towards the front and the final spot on the podium.

The women’s podium was an all-Mexican sweep led by Cecilia Perez (4:21:36).

Women’s Results:

Men’s Results:

De Vet Bounces Back to Win 70.3 Emilia-Romagna

After a tough day at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice (her partner, Hayden Wilde, noted that she was much fitter than her 21st-place finish might suggest), Belgian Hanne De Vet held off Switzerland’s Loanne Duvoisin for the win at IRONMAN 70.3 Emilia-Romagna. Great Britain’s Deri McCluskey took the men’s race.

Women’s Results:

Men’s Results:

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