Testing conditions with both heat and wind met athletes at China’s largest triathlon, Challenge Xiamen, today with a stellar line up of professional athletes and over 1,00 age groupers. Women’s champion, Sara Pérez Sala (ESP) not only successfully defended her title but was in control of the race from start to finish. Meanwhile, in the men’s race, Zachary Bernier-Michaud (CAN) took the win in the final metres and with it his first professional victory over the middle distance.

Alejandro Rodriquez Rilo (ESP) led out of the water in 23:36 with Louis Woodgate (GRE) and Dorian Horsten (NED) just 12 seconds behind. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) was in the chase group 20 seconds behind while Gustav Iden (NOR) was more than two minutes down on the lead. Out on the bike and Horsten took an early lead with the only athlete able to keep his pace being Woodgate who was sitting 20m in line with the Challenge Family’s 20m draft zone. At the start of the second lap, Woodgate took the lead from Horsten with the chase group of Antony Costes (FRA), Rilo, Blummenfelt and Ognjen Stojanović (SRB) 100m further back.

By the third lap, Horsten was back in the lead with Woodgate in second but the chase group were making no inroads on them around three minutes behind. Heading into T2 Horsten, put time into Woodgate, heading out onto the run with a more than 20 second lead. Bernier-Michaud came into T2 at the front of the chase group and headed out onto the run more than six minutes down on the lead. Horsten seemed to be dominating on the run, continuing to put time into the rest of the field but no-one accounted for the running speed of Bernier-Michaud who came flying up the course in the final kilometres, taking the lead from Horsten in the final metres to claim the win in 3:39:11. Horsten had to make do with second in 3:39:36 while defending champion, Storch rounded out the podium in third in 3:40:49.

There were less surprises in the women’s race with Pérez Sala leading out the water in 25:06 with more than a two minute lead. Early on in the bike, Pérez Sala caught some of the back markers in the men’s race while behind her Justine Gerard (FRA), Jasmine Brown (AUS) and Caroline Bridges (UAE) were chasing hard but making no in roads. Essentially, Pérez Sala was untouchable on the bike, coming into T2 with more than a seven-minute buffer between herself and second place Brown while Magada Nieuwoudt (RSA) had ridden herself up into third. During the run, Pérez Sala continued to dominate, extending her lead to a massive 15 minutes, taking the win in 4:00:04. Behind her Jasmine Brown took second in 4:14:59 with Magda Nieuwoudt proving she is back on form with a third place in 4:16:38.

Challenge Xiamen is China’s largest triathlon with over 2,000 participants over the weekend. With its scenic coastal course, and the region’s strong sporting legacy, Challenge Xiamen provides athletes with a world-class race experience to round out the year over middle, Olympic and sprint distance racing, plus a duathlon and an Ultra option.

For further information visit www.challenge-xiamen.com.

For full results go to https://tri.ydfuture.com