 Bart Aernouts (BEL) takes the win at Challenge Poznan(Photo: Scott Fairchild; click to enlarge) |
Challenge Family arrived in Poland in force at the weekend with over 3,500 athletes taking part in the three-day long Enea Challenge Poznan triathlon festival. In Sunday's flagship half distance Challenge Poznan race Diana Riesler (GER) and Bart Aernouts (BEL) were unbeatable to take the wins.
The fight for a victory was between the Polish and foreign pro competitors since the very beginning. Competitors of Enea Tri Tour Team – Ewa Bugdoł and Kacper Adam – held a very strong position. After demanding swimming stage the first was Pieter Heemeryck but during the cycling route he was caught up by the best cyclists including Giulio Molinari who led the bike and was first out onto the run. However, by the 8km mark, he had been caught by Aernouts who went on to finish in 3:49:35. James Cunnama (RSA) took second in 3:52:11 and third Markus Hörmann (GER) in 3:54:46.
"I am really pleased. I managed to achieve a really good time despite the hot and windy weather. I must admit that the running route was really fast," said Aernouts. "Enea Challenge Poznań is a really amazing event, the festival of triathlon lasts for the whole weekend. I can see that triathlon in Poland is really developing," he added.
Jodie Swallow (GBR) was the female favorite, She was first out of the water with over a minute's advantage on Eva Putockova (CZE). Unfortunately her race ended on the bike due to a mechanical issue and the fight moved to between Riesler and Radka Vodickova (CZE). Eventually the best was Riesler with a time of 4:21:33. Vodickova was second (4:24:01) and third was Potuckova (4:28:03). The best Pole was Ewa Bugdoł who took fourth, just 20 seconds off the podium.
"After the swimming route I got muscle tensions and I thought I wouldn't be able to finish the race. However, I saw that Jodie Swallow had technical problems and I wanted to fight for a victory. Unfortunately this time I didn't manage to win," said Bugdoł from Enea Tri Tour Team. "I will come back to Poznań for sure. The organisation, volunteers, fans – all of it makes me want to come back here next year, when I will fight for the gold medal in European Championships."
The next Challenge Poznan will take place on 24 July 2016 and will host the official ETU European Long Distance Triathlon Championships. Entries are open now at www.challenge-poznan.pl.
For full results: http://www.sts-timing.pl/challengepoznan/live/index.php?dystans=1
