Jannik Schaufler (GER) and Chloe Sparrow (GBR) celebrated impressive victories at Challenge St. Pölten with times of 3:44:30 and 4:25:51. Schaufler dominated the race and built up a clear lead. Sparrow was in the lead throughout the day and had to give her all once again on the last kilometers to perfect her first victory on the middle distance.
Despite the initial cold – the swim was shortened to 1,500 metres – the races took place in perfect conditions. As in the previous year, Hannes Butters (GER) took the lead in the water early on and swam the fastest time of 20:23. Schaufler followed just four seconds behind. Shortly afterwards, Martin Demuth (AUT) came out of the water. Athletes such as Michele Sarzilla (ITA), Christophe De Keyser (BEL) and Florian Angert (GER) followed directly behind, less than 15 seconds behind – the field was close together. A lead group quickly formed on the challenging bike course. At the same time, Jannik Stoll (GER) started a race to catch up and made up over a minute and a half.
Stoll with a strong bike performance
Stoll gave his all on the bike. After 60 kilometres, only Schaufler was still behind him. Both reached the second transition zone (T2) just eleven seconds behind each other and set off together on the half marathon. Will Draper (GBR), who finished fourth at The Championship last weekend, followed 58 seconds behind. Florian Angert (GER), Rafael Lukatsch (AUT) and Martin Demuth (AUT) were 2:40 minutes behind in fourth to sixth place.
Schaufler showed his class in the run. Stoll quickly lost time, while Schaufler ran safely towards victory. Halfway through the race, Draper overtook Stoll, who was falling behind, and secured second place – but still more than three minutes behind.
Schaufler was not to be denied victory in the final kilometres. He won in 3:44:30. Draper was second in 3:48:31, and Ondrej Kubo (SVK) fought his way up to third place (3:50:48) on the finish line. The best Austrian was Rafael Lukatsch with 3:51:16.
Chloe Sparrow in a league of her own
In the women’s race, Chloe Sparrow clearly set herself apart from the field. The Brit celebrated a start-to-finish victory. She swam the 1,500 metres in 23:00 minutes. France’s Maëla Moison followed 23 seconds behind. Tanja Stroschneider (AUT) and Margaréta Bicanová (SVK) were around one and a half minutes behind.
Sparrow was able to pull away further on the bike. She set a fast pace and continuously extended her lead. After the bike she reached the transition zone 5:35 minutes ahead of Emely Ravn from Denmark. Anna Pabinger (AUT) followed 7:53 minutes behind. Gabriele Obmann (AUT) was already almost eleven minutes behind in fourth place – the podium seemed to be decided early on.
But Pabinger quickly made up ground on the run course. Halfway through the race, Sparrow still had a 3:48-minute lead, but Pabinger had already worked her way up to second place. Five kilometres before the finish, the gap was only one and a half minutes – an exciting finale was on the cards. Ravn dropped back and Obmann took third place. Sparrow kept her nerve on the finish line and saved her lead. She won in 4:25:51, thirty seconds ahead of Pabinger (4:26:21). Obmann finished third in 4:29:06.
