In a race that was thrilling until the final metres, Milan Brons claimed the men’s on home turf at the European Championship Long Distance at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam. Victory in the women’s field also went to a Dutch athlete, with Kyra Meulenberg taking control of the race with an impressively strong marathon.
There was plenty of speculation beforehand about a potential victory for Milan Brons, who was already considered one of the favourites. Brons had stood on the podium in Almere before and finished in the top 10 several times, but his long-held ambition to win Challenge Almere-Amsterdam had never eventuated. Until today, on a day where everything essentially fell into place and Brons made his childhood dream come true.
The pace was pushed hard during the swim by Sweden’s Jesper Svensson and the Netherlands’ Niek Heldoorn, who set off together on the 180km bike. This all took place under excellent conditions: the water was as glass, and there was barely a breath of wind during the first of two bike loops. It was Heldoorn who initially took the initiative there, while Svensson began to struggle early on and would ultimately fade further back. Dane Thor Bendix Madsen, by contrast, moved up quickly and took the race lead after about 30km. Heldoorn did not even attempt to hold his wheel; riding a heavy gear, Bendix Madsen was simply going too fast.
The pace set by the Dane surprised Heldoorn and Brons, who soon found each other in a strong chase effort behind the leader. The gap between Bendix Madsen and the two Dutchmen fluctuated, but ultimately remained over a minute in T2. Shortly before that, Heldoorn had dropped Brons in the final kilometres of the bike ride, with Brons starting the marathon just under a minute behind Heldoorn.
The start of an exciting battle
This marked the start of an exciting battle that reached an early peak 10km into the marathon: Brons caught up to Heldoorn, and Heldoorn caught up to Bendix Madsen, bringing all three men side-by-side during the second of four laps. Brons didn’t wait long, made the first decisive move, and that ultimately proved to be the game-changer.
Even so, the more than 25km Brons spent leading solo were far from easy. Initially, his lead stretched to over a minute and a half, but Bendix Madsen edged dangerously close in the final kilometres. With 5km remaining, the gap between the two had shrunk to just twenty seconds, but Brons rediscovered his energy and managed to extend his lead once again.
Brons crowned himself European Champion and Dutch National Champion in his first professional win in 7:37:00, Bendix Madsen finished second in 7:38:00, and Heldoorn took third in 7:42:21.
In the women’s race, the excitement was also intense and Kyra Meulenberg – who was widely tipped as the pre-race favourite – proved she could handle the pressure. Still, the dynamics of the race were quite different, mainly due to Maaike Vooren building up a hugelead in the swim. That scenario had been anticipated, and the top Dutch athlete stayed in front throughout the bike as well. However, Vooren did lose time on the bike and failed to secure an ideal starting position for the marathon. Dutch athlete Morena Stevens and Germany’s Denise Hiemann managed to work their way up and the gap between these three women was four minutes heading into the marathon.
One person who started the marathon with a much larger deficit was fellow Dutch athlete Meulenberg. However, there was no reason for her to panic, as the athlete from Utrecht knows she can always rely on a lightning-fast marathon. Today was no different, and Meulenberg proved she is unmatched during the third leg. Within the first 15km, she shaved off more than eight minutes from her 10-minute deficit, and by then it was clear that Meulenberg held all the winning cards. A few kilometres later, she actually took the lead in the race and did not relinquish it.
Barbora Besperát also moves up fast; podium contenders shift in final phase
Meulenberg wasn’t the only fast runner of the day, as Czech athlete Barbora Besperát also made quick work moving up the field and made a strong surge. This came at the expense of Vooren and Stevens, among others, but Meulenberg was simply a cut above: the Czech runner couldn’t close that gap. Nevertheless, Besperát fought her way to second place with an excellent marathon.
Meulenberg took her first professional victory in 8:42:07, Besperát finished second in 8:44:48, and Stevens took third in 8:55:30.
The full results are available at https://live.ultimate.dk/desktop/front/index.php?eventid=7420. For further information, visit www.challenge-almere.com.
Finish Line Interviews
Milan Brons – https://youtu.be/snpsyr2batQ
Thor Bendix Madsen – https://youtu.be/-MqH2OnA7rA
Niek Heldoorn – https://youtu.be/7YaXMakJ7_o
Kyra Meulenberg – https://youtu.be/ztq2rbjg9QA
Barbora Bestperát – https://youtu.be/dYmdoZ_yKNY
Morena Stevens – https://youtu.be/qsYKYAp-Wak