Sam Laidlow has made good predictions and won IRONMAN 70.3 Valencia 2026, his first win in the 70.3 format, after having won tests on the Challenge circuit at the time. Laidlow controlled the race from the bike and left his rivals behind.
In the women's category, Cathia Schär won with her third consecutive middle-distance victory.
Sam Laidlow's victory
The Frenchman came out of the water in thirteenth position, within a compact group of fourteen swimmers separated by less than 20 seconds. On the bike, the race changed: by the middle of the ride he was already three minutes ahead of Valdemar Solok, Lasse Nygaard Priester and Johannes Vogel, winner of the 2025 edition.
By T2, Laidlow had extended his margin to more than four minutes over the pursuing trio.
Priester bridged distances in the run and narrowed the gap to two and a half minutes, but Laidlow kept pace and crossed the finish line in 3:33:56. He beat Priester by just over a minute, who ran a half marathon in 1:07:02 that secured him second place.
This win opens the season for Laidlow, who despite his multiple wins in IRONMAN, Challenge and T100, had never finished a 70.3.
A few weeks ago, he dropped out of the Barcelona Marathon, but today he has shown that everything is still in place and that next October he will be competitive again in Hawaii and that, why not, he can win the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, where two and a half years ago he was already crowned in long distance.
Cathia Schär's domain
The women's event has gone to a Cathia Schär who has had to go back. With a Sophie Evans who signed up at the last minute for her first IRONMAN 70.3, coming out of the water in second place, four seconds behind Alice Betto. Schär came out sixth, two minutes behind.
In the cycling segment, Marjolaine Pierre came first in T2, closely followed by Aurelia Boulanger, Schär, Lena Meißner and Evans. Schär regained positions quickly in the foot race. A kilometre later, he was already leading the race.
Halfway through the running segment, Schär was more than two minutes ahead of Evans. He crossed the line in 4:03:39, 2:45 minutes ahead of Evans. Meißner completed the podium. Daniela Kleiser, last year's winner, set the fastest time in the race on foot but only reached sixth place.
With today's win, Schär has three consecutive middle-distance victories since leaving short-distance testing at the end of last year.