Athletes from around the world competed at the inaugural SAIL Challenge Cap Québec powered by Argon 18 in a race that marked Challenge Family’s long-awaited return to North American triathlon. The day delivered victory for Jack Moody (NZL) and Valerie Barthelemy (BEL), who established dominance on the fast race course of SAIL Challenge Cap Québec with winning times of 3:40:14 and 4:12:13 respectively.
The day began with a technical one-lap swim in Louise Bassin. In the men’s race, Matt Schafer (USA) exited the water first in 23:09, followed closely by Brennen Smith (CAN) and Miguel Mattox (USA).
The four-lap bike course led the athletes through scenic routes along the Dufferin-Montmorency Highway. At 11.5 km, Schafer and Mattox were in the lead, with Moody (NZL) 26 seconds behind. By the 22.5 km mark, Moody took the lead and extended his advantage throughout the bike course. He entered T2 with a bike time of 2:02:45. Moody extended his lead even more on the run, showing renowned strength over this discipline. He maintained his position to finish on top of the podium by over nine minutes in 3:40:14 and doing so, further extending his lead at the top of the Challenge Family World Bonus. Nicolas Gilbert (CAN) secured second place in 3:49:26, and Brennen Smith finished third in 3:53:33.
Moody said he loved this race, “It’s not often I find myself in the lead on the bike, and I really enjoyed getting after it. The crowd support was just on another level. Even out on the far turn of the run, the course was packed with spectators!”
In the women’s race, Jodie Stimpson (GBR) led out of the water in 24:08, followed by Valerie Barthelemy and Emily Tato (CAN). On the 90km bike course, Barthelemy and Stimpson worked together at a strong pace, creating a three-minute gap on the rest of the field. Barthelemy entered T2 first with a bike time of 2:22:44, just ahead of Stimpson. Barthelemy and Stimpson ran together on the two-lap run for much of the course. At km 18, Barthelemy made a decisive move to pull ahead and secure her first-ever middle-distance win in 4:12:13. Stimpson finished second in 4:13:21, and Dominika Jamnicky (CAN) rounded out the podium in third in 4:21:09.
Barthelemy said she had a hard race today, “I knew it was going to be hard to beat Jodie. We are quite evenly matched, so we used that to our advantage to get a gap on the field. I needed her for the first 18km of the run. I was struggling, but then I started feeling quite strong, so it was great.”