Henry Räppo (EST) and Bridget Theunissen (RSA) claimed victory at the 11th edition of Challenge Turku, mastering challenging wet and rainy conditions to cross the finish line in 3:35:10 and 4:12:12, respectively.
In the men’s race, Räppo exited the unique swim course, surrounded by Turku’s historic ships, first in 22:34. Henrik Goesch (FIN), Gabriel Sandör (SWE) and Jakub Maliszewski (POL) followed within 10 seconds.
By the halfway point of the bike, Germany’s Jonathan Homberg had worked his way to the front and led for the remainder of the ride. Despite recording the fastest bike split of 1:56:54, Homberg was unable to break away from Räppo, Sandör and Goesch. The quartet reached T2 separated by less than 20 seconds. Behind them, Matthew Caminer (RSA) had moved into fifth place and started the run 4:04 behind the leaders.
Räppo regained the lead just two kilometres into the run and steadily increased his advantage. Behind him, Goesch moved into second while Sandör held third for much of the run. Räppo crossed the finish line in 3:35:10 to take the win. Goesch finished second in 3:36:15, while Sandör secured third place in 3:37:06.
In the women’s race, Great Britain’s Jasmine Holmes led the swim in 25:02, with Maaike Vooren (NED) and Bridget Theunissen (RSA) all within seven seconds.
Theunissen wasted no time on the bike, attacking early to establish a 30-second lead by kilometre 20. By the halfway point of the ride, her advantage had grown to 1:24 over Holmes and Vooren, who continued to ride together. Heading into T2, Theunissen had extended her lead to three minutes after recording a 2:14:44 bike split.
The South African remained in control throughout the run, comfortably maintaining her advantage to claim victory in 4:12:12. Holmes finished second in 4:15:12, while Vooren completed the podium in 4:18:15.