New Zealand’s Teresa Adam And Mike Phillips Secure Bragging Rights as Oceania’s Best During the IRONMAN VR6 Pro Challenge Weekend

May 10, 2020

Over 21,000 athletes from 137 nations registered to compete in IRONMAN VR6

TAMPA, Fla. (May 10, 2020) – The sixth edition of the IRONMAN^® VR™ Pro Challenge saw some of Australia and New Zealand’s leading professional triathletes go head-to-head-to-head-to-head for trans-Tasman glory with Kiwi’s Teresa Adam and Mike Phillips taking the top honors in the women’s and men’s race, respectively. In total, four professional women and four professional men battled on a 40 km portion of the newly offered IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta bike course utilizing Official Virtual Cycling partner ROUVY’s augmented reality.

For the women’s professional race Saturday, Teresa Adam claimed the victory with a time of 54:47, while fellow countrymate Hannah Wells (NZL) finished in second place with a time of 56:34. Radka Kahlefeldt (CZE) who is now based in New South Wales took third position with a finishing time of 59:50 as Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) rounded out the group clocking a time of 1:00:36.

The full broadcast of the women’s IRONMAN VR6 Pro Challenge can be viewed, HERE.

Professional women’s results:

While it was Sunday in the Western Hemisphere, it was an early Monday morning for the professional men in the Eastern Hemisphere when they hit the virtual course. Mike Phillips (NZL) claimed the bragging rights as the victor of the men’s IRONMAN VR6 Pro Challenge, completing the 40 km ride in a time of 48:42. Braden Currie (NZL) kept things close and came up just six-seconds shy ultimately taking a second-place time of 48:48. Professional triathlete Josh Amberger (AUS) finished third in a time of 53:51. At the 29 km portion of the 40 km course, Tim Reed (AUS) took the “Watt Bomb” challenge to a whole new level when he unfortunately suffered a blown fuse on his trainer and was forced out of the competition with a mechanical failure. Following the men’s portion of the pro challenge, Reed vowed to go out on the roads and finish off the remaining 11 km resulting in an unofficial time.

The full broadcast of the men’s IRONMAN VR6 Pro Challenge can be viewed, HERE.

Professional men’s results:

In total, more than 21,000 athletes from more than 137 nations and all 50 states set out to participate in the IRONMAN VR6 – 5150 Olympic distance simulation. IRONMAN VR6 requires athletes to complete a 3 km Run, 40 km Ride, and 10 km Run between Friday, May 8 at 2 p.m. ET (6 p.m. GMT) and race close this evening, Sunday, May 10 at 7:59 p.m. ET (11:59 p.m. GMT). Competitors can complete the three segments in any order and are not required to do the segments consecutively. Athletes are able to compete anywhere, indoors or outdoors. Bringing the IRONMAN community together virtually, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Club™ continues to grow and now has more than 90,000 members on the platform with thousands completing IRONMAN Virtual Club Challenges since its launch.

IRONMAN VR6 leaderboard updates can be found by visiting the IRONMANVR Facebook Page.

Full details and specifics regarding the IRONMAN Virtual Club are available on www.ironmanvirtualclub.com. For questions about the IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series, athletes can email ironmanvr@ironman.com. For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media related inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series^®, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, ITU World Triathlon Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf^® presented by Westpac, Ultra-Trail^® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with more than 235 events across 55+ countries. On March 26, 2020, Wanda Sports Group (Nasdaq: WSG) entered into an agreement to sell The IRONMAN Group to Advance; closing is anticipated in mid-2020. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.