Butterfield Finishes Second in IRONMAN VR10 Pro Challenge
IslandStats.com
The IRONMAN VR10 Pro Challenge will see four professional male athletes battle it out. The Pro Challenge featured a 3 km run leg and then the Pros competed on a Bike taking on the ROUVY’s IRONMAN 5150 Eagleman course.
Australia’s Joe Gambles, 38, was the reigning IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman champion (2019) and had finished on the IRONMAN 70.3 podium (top 3) more than 25 times in his highly decorated career. He is a two-time IRONMAN Champion with additional runner-up finishes at IRONMAN Boulder (2018) and IRONMAN Asia Pacific Championship Cairns (2017). He lives in Boulder with his family.
Andre Lopes, 25, moved from his native Brazil to the U.S. in 2018 to pursue his dream of racing as a pro triathlete. Last year he finished third at IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta and placed fifth at IRONMAN 70.3 Steelhead and IRONMAN 70.3 Bariloche.
Butterfield, 37, was the IRONMAN champion (Cozumel 2019) and multiple IRONMAN 70.3 champion. In the past decade, he had finished in the top 3 in the IRONMAN 70.3 distance ten times. He and his wife, Nikki, a former pro triathlete, operate a small family farm and equestrian facility.
American Kennett Peterson, 34, raced his first triathlon in 2015—the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship in St. George, Utah—and finished as the first amateur. Since then, he’s amassed multiple top-10 finishes in the distance, including third place at last year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder and runner-up at 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
Despite some technical difficulties and nearly oversleeping and missing the race, Peterson came out on top for the bike portion of IRONMAN VR10.
Butterfield finished second with Gambles third and Lopes finished 4th.
