More than 1,100 participants raced in the second edition of PortAventura World Challenge Salou under a blazing sun that physically tested all athletes.
Some thirty paricipants were forced to withdraw from the swim leg due to strong waves. Despite the difficult conditions most athletes continued to power through the swim leg with the first triathlete out of the water being Olympian Xavier Llobet followed by Iñaki Baldellou and Hungarian Balazs Csoke.
Ivan Raña, the favourite for the race, joined Balldellou and Eduardo Lass of Brazil at the head of the race on the bike leg with all three still together at the 70km mark of the bike leg. They were joined by Italy’s Jonathan Ciavetalla as they reached T2.
Ciavatella led the group out of T2 and was followed out onto the run by Baldellou in second and Raña in third. Raña ultimately had to retire near kilometer 5 of the run suffering from a sore Achilles tendon and did not finish the race.
Iñaki Baldellou proved too strong overall to post a winning time of 3 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds. The second step of the podium belonged to the Brazilian Eduardo Lass with Italian Jonathan Ciavattella in third.
In the professional females, the first out of the water was the Slovenian Alena Stevens. Kim Morrison led the surge of the strong bikers as she made her way to the front of the race, although Susie Cheetham of Great Britain was first through T2, followed by Kim Morrison, who eventually finished fourth after being overcome in the run leg by the Catalan Sara Loehr and the Australian Kirralee Seidel.
It was Susie Cheetham’s day as she surged to victory with a strong run and posted an overall winning time of 4 hours, 16 minutes and 55 seconds. Cheetham’s victory in the women’s race also placed her in tenth position overall at Challenge Salou. Cheetham was joined on podium by Sara Loehr (4:22:36) and Kirralee Seidel (4:24:16).
