In his seventh Challenge Family race of the season, Ognjen Stojanovic (SRB) took that elusive first Challenge win today at Challenge Xiamen in 3:41:02 and confirmed his second position in the Challenge Family World Bonus. And it was a faultless performance from Alanis Siffert (SUI) who dominated from start to finish, taking the win in 4:06:08 and securing her Challenge Family World Bonus victory in the process.
In the men’s swim Stojanovic took an early lead with Jesper Svensson (SWE) hot on his heels and exited the water in first in 25:06 with Svensson just two seconds behind. They were followed just over a minute later by group of three, Jia Hoa Chang (CHN), Will Draper (GBR) and Jack Moody (NZL).
Onto the bike, taking place on a purpose-built coastal track, completely free of traffic, and Svensson quickly took the lead with Stojanovic sitting 20m behind in accordance with the Challenge Family 20m non-drafting rule. Draper and Moody were chasing hard and by the end of the first lap Draper was 1:40 down on the lead while Moody was a further 1:20 down. In the first kilometres of lap two, Svensson addressed his frustrations of doing all the work in lap one by quickly distancing himself from Stojanovic. By the time they reached the end of lap two, this had grown to 1:48. He came into T2 with a 1:56:51 bike split and 1:42 ahead of Draper who had ridden up into second, just three seconds ahead of Stojanovic in third.
With Svensson in the lead and Draper and Stojanovic running together, the battle was on for the four-lap out and back run course. All three were also racing for their final positions in the World Bonus while behind them, Moody needed a minimum of fifth place if he was to retain his top position in the event of Stojanovic taking the win which is exactly what happened – Stojanovic became the first Challenge Xiamen champion in 3:41:02. Draper hung onto second place in 3:41:56 while Moody ran up into third in 3:43:49, securing his top spot in the Challenge Family World Bonus.
“It’s great to be able to perform my best at the end of the season,” said Stojanovic. “To win has been a big goal of mine all season so it’s great to take the win. To win the World Bonus I would have needed to have a lot of good luck and Jack would have needed a lot of bad luck so I came here to fight for my second place in the World Bonus.”
In the women’s race, Siffert quickly distanced herself from the rest of the field at the beginning of the swim but Chloe Sparrow (GBR) was never far away and they exited the water just three seconds apart, Siffert posting a time of 26:47.
As they took to the bike, Siffert showed her dominance and put more and more time between her and Sparrow, building it to 38 seconds after lap one. However, Sparrow wasn’t willing to let go and by the later stages of the second lap, she had closed the gap to 20m. But again Siffert pushed ahead and came into T2 1:38 ahead of Sparrow while behind them Visser had made up 45 seconds, entering T2 2:20 down on Siffert. By the first turn around point, Visser had overtaken Sparrow, with no apparent sign of her recent injury but Siffert’s win was never in danger. She crossed the line in 4:06:08 and in doing so, not only became the inaugural Challenge Xiamen champion but confirmed her as the youngest winner of the Challenge Family World Bonus. Visser took second in 4:12:55 while Boulanger rounded out the podium in third in 4:17:12.
“For me it was really special as I train in China and I’m really happy to take this win,” said Siffert. “It was really amazing course and venue, the people were amazing and the course was so safe but it was a tough race!”
For further information, visit www.challenge-xiamen.com. For timing and results, visit www.challenge-family.live.