The day started as expected with Laidlow and Perez Sala taking early leads, but it soon became a race full of surprises. Ultimately, it was Laidlow and van Coevorden who took the wins in 3:34:57 and 3:58:41 respectively

Ognjen Stojanovic led out the water in 23:07 with Henri Schoeman (RSA) and Emil Holm (DEN) hot in his heels with Laidlow in fourth nine seconds down. A quick transition saw Laidlow exit T1 first, taking an early lead on the bike and setting a blistering pace. By 25km he had put just under a minute into Holm in second while Cameron Main (GBR) had ridden up into third. Holm, who only decided to race a couple of days ago, tried to keep the deficit at bay as much as he could but Laidlow was not holding back with speeds of up to 65kph on the super fast course. By the halfway point, defending champion, Will Draper (GBR) had started to work his way up the field into fifth, behind Frederick Webb and Ognjen Stojanovi (SER) who led the chase group which also featured Schoeman, Rostilav Pevtsov (UKR) and Main. Despite his best efforts, Holm in second just could not close the gap to Laidlow and he soon had Draper to contend with who by the closing kilometres of the bike had ridden up into third, convincingly dropping the rest of the chase group. As they entered the Silk Road Complex with 5km to go, Draper flew by Holm as if he was standing still and put Laidlow firmly in his sights, closing the gap to 1:38 coming into T2 and posting the fastest bike split in 1:52:23. Holm came in in third, 2:09 down on Laidlow.

Then suddenly, 1km in the run, Laidlow stepped off the course and started walking, giving Draper a chance to close the gap. Draper was in for the hunt, setting up for an exciting half marathon. By 3km, he had caught Laidlow but instead of blowing past him, Draper ran with him and it wasn’t long before Holm joined them creating a set-up no-one expected. Halfway through the second lap, Holm and Laidlow dropped Draper and it became a head-to-head. At the halfway point, it was Laidlow setting the pace. By the end of the third lap, Laidlow finally started putting some time into Holm, looking strong with the earlier drama well behind him. The win was his in 3:34:57, Holm took second in 3:35:37 and Draper third in 3:36:10 marking the end of a close and thrilling day of men’s racing in Samarkand.

There were no surprises in the women’s swim with defending champion Sara Perez Sala exiting in the lead in 24:48 and heading out onto the bike course in front of fellow countrywoman, Maria Vilas Vidal and Daisy Davies (GBR). In the early kilometres, Perez Sala held the lead with Davies and Natalie van Coevorden (AUS), who quickly rode up into third, behind her riding at 20m as per the Challenge Family drafting regulations. By 35km, the lead group of three was led by Davies before switching back to Perez Sala in the ever-increasing windy conditions. Behind the lead group of three, Nicole van der Kaay (NZL) was riding solo with Australia’s Milan Agnew a further minute back in fifth. Perez Sala maintained her lead into T2 and but quickly the half marathon became a repeat of the men’s race with Perez Sala and van Coevorden racing head-to-head, with Davies in third. Unlike the men, at the start of the second lap, van Coevorden broke away to take the lead, but all three women remained looking strong and in contention, with the main battle between Perez Sala and Davies for second and third. It seemed Davies had second secured, but Perez Sala had other ideas, pushing hard all the way. In the end, Davies held on to take second in 3:59:49 which Pérez Sala finishing third in 4:00:08. The win went to van Coevorden in 3:58:41.

For further information visit www.challenge-samarkand.com and results at https://my.raceresult.com/416706