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The double for the BMC-Vifit Sport Pro Triathlon Team in Mallorca Olympic; Liz Blatchford wins IM70.3 Busselton

Both Emma Pallant and Patrik Nilsson dominated the Mallorca Olympic in Colonia San Jordi on Saturday. BMC-Vifit Sport Team mate Liz Blatchford went on to win IM70.3 Busselton in bizare circumstances the following day.

Two outstanding performances

What a day, what a race...

The Mallorca Olympic organised by BEST Swim Centre, an annual favourite of ours which fits in with the BMC-Vifit Sport team training camp every year here in Colonia Sant Jordi.

Emma was back to retain her title from last year and Patrik was also on the same start list as he was two years ago. The race attracted some 450 competitors.

The day was made even more interesting with a down pour of rain, and although the weather wasn't too cold, conditions could have been better for the draft-legal Olympic distance race.

The Swim:
An in-port 1.5km swim on flat calm water in the local bay saw both Patrik and Emma coming out in the 2nd pack of both their respective races, leaving them to play catch-up on the lead guy and girl.

The Bike:
Out of town, with a 40km out-and-back course to the next town was a little bit treacherous, the rain was getting heavy and was making conditions difficult. Patrik soon tucked into the 2nd (male) bike pack, but the lead biker was pushing the pace in both directions hitting T2 first... Emma on the other hand had a solo ride on the exposed Mallorcan roads, she was also hunting down the lead girl, the strong Swedish girl Annie Thorén.

The Run:
This is where we know where both Patrik and Emma excel .. and it wasn't before long that they both took the lead in their races, Pallant catching Thorén on the 1st lap of 3 around the wet streets of Colonia Sant Jordi, whilst Patrik had more of a battle, eventually shaking off his competitor on the final loop to take a comfortable win.

Final Times
Patrik: 1:50:19
Emma: 1:57:38

Liz Blatchford wins IM70.3 Busselton in very tough and strange circumstances

Liz Blatchford went on to win IM70.3 Busselton in tough and strange circumstances. The swim was cancelled and there were some problems with the course but Liz held strong and picks up some valuable points on the road to Kona.

Liz Blatchford looked back at her race: "Such a bizarre day... Woke to the stormy conditions that had been anticipated. Race officials made the call to cancel the swim for safety. Instead we were set to do a Duathlon 3-90-21. In all honesty I was pretty bummed. This year has been a crap load of swimming and barely any running for me. But, whatever, can’t control the weather. So after a wheel change (crazy winds) and some additional clothing, we set off. First 3km run was fun, running in a pack, never happens in long course racing, so I enjoyed that. Onto the bike Sarah Crowley and I went hard from the start to try and break things up. I was happy with my ride and jumped off the bike in the lead with Sarah and Chris Cross. Emily Loughnan was just behind. Onto the run. In all honesty I suffered. I hung tough and crossed the line in 4th. As it turns out the three women in front of me accidentally turned early on the first run lap and the race officials decided that all 3 of them were DQd. So... I guess that makes me the winner at IM70.3 Busselton. I am gutted for those women, it’s a shame and they were clearly faster than me today. Crazy day indeed." Photo credit @thisistriathlon

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