Wayaffe and Pohle Take Victory in Tough Conditions at Challenge Barcelona

November 3, 2024

A heavy swell, forecast to increase, saw the swim cancelled at today’s Challenge Barcelona, turning the race into a duathlon for the sold-out field of 3,500 athletes. But this did not deter Jonathan Wayaffe (BEL) and Caroline Pohle (GER) from achieving their wins in 2:18:55 and 2:37:36 respectively.

/ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – A heavy swell, forecast to increase, saw the swim cancelled at today’s Challenge Barcelona, turning the race into a duathlon for the sold-out field of 3,500 athletes. But this did not deter Jonathan Wayaffe (BEL) and Caroline Pohle (GER) from achieving their wins in 2:18:55 and 2:37:36 respectively.

The day started with a one-minute silence out of respect to all those who tragically lost their lives in the recent catastrophic flooding in Spain, just a short distance down the coast from Barcelona.

Once the start gun went off, it was a fast and furious 5km run to replace the swim which was led by Wayaffe and Elisabetta Curridori (ITA). However, once through T1 and onto the first of five laps of the 56km bike course through the heart of Barcelona it was all change.

In the men’s race, Wayaffe maintained his lead but was constantly challenged by a lead group of 12 with British Olympian, Simon Dickinson, soon asserting his dominance and taking the lead. By the start of lap three, Willem Hirsch (GER) had taken the lead and the speed, averaging over 50kph, was starting to take its toll on the field. This was also the time when torrential rain took hold, although it did little to slow the speed, just more careful cornering. By the final lap, the lead group of 12 had split apart and once again Dickinson made his move followed only by Guillem Montiel (ESP), however an unfortunate puncture for Montiel in the final kilometres put paid to his challenge for the lead. Dickinson entered T2 with a 20 second lead over the chase group that included Wayaffe, Michele Bartolomedi (ITA), Hirsch and Jannik Schaufler (GER). Bartolomedi quickly took the lead on the 15km run but there were still just seconds between the top five. Bartolomedi retained his lead for the majority of the run but in the final stages, Wayaffe took the lead and in the meantime, Challenge Vieux Boucau winner, Jack Hutchens (GBR) had run up into third place. After a tough day in testing conditions it was Wayaffe who took the win in 2:18:55, with Bortolomedi in second in 2:19:14 with Hutchens rounding out the podium in third in 2:20:00.

“On my way here I came through Valencia and then I wasn’t thinking about the race, it was very humbling. The minute of silence was really appropriate, as I said, I drove through there and it was horrible,” said Wayaffe. “To take the win was a surprise for me but I’m super happy with the way things turned out. Immediately from the start I felt good on the run and I dared to set the pace… When I had 2.5km on the run to go I attacked and really pushed hard and Bartolomedi wasn’t able to follow and I secured the win.”

In the women’s race, another British Olympian, Jessica Learmonth also quickly took the lead from Curridori. Behind her there was a battle for second and third between Caroline Pohle (GER) and Megan McDonald (GBR) while Curridori slipped down the field. With two laps to go, Learmonth had a comfortable two minute lead, which was down to 1:40 over Pohle and McDonald by the time they arrived into T2. Learmonth maintained her lead on the run but Pohle was slowly chipping away and by the final stages, the gap was down to just 10 seconds. This was enough for Pohle to give it a final push and take the win in 2:37:36 with Learmonth in second in 2:39:03. Behind them, Curridori had overtaken McDonald to take third place in 2:39:16.

“I worked really hard for that today,” said Pohle. “I was really surprised that we had a duathlon, I’m a good swimmer so I was a bit shocked. I tried to keep the first run calm and I worked really hard on the bike and by the second run I was feeling really good and I took the win and I’m really happy.”

For full results, visit https://live.copernico.cloud/0817d3a8-2610-4a2b-b994-6c62abf8abbf/challenge-barcelona-triathlon-2024/SHORT

For further information, visit www.challengebarcelona.com.

Finish Line Interviews

Jonathan Wayaffe – https://youtu.be/VLUcZO7nfiY

Caroline Pohle – https://youtu.be/dxZt35nvoVg