The 3-times IRONMAN World Champion, Jan Frodeno, returned to racing great today, blasting away from the rest of the field at Challenge Miami Triathlon 2021! In the women’s race, it wasn’t pre-race favorites Lucy Charles-Barclay or Paula Findlay, but the consistent Great Britain’s Jodie Stimpson who took the top step.
It was a glorious day in Miami for Challenge Triathlon, one of the first pro races of the season, with some amazing performance of the world’s finest triathletes.
The shorter middle-distance style race takes place at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Athletes swim the 1.6 km in the lake near to the venue, while the 62.7 km bike leg begins at the Speedway before heading out on x-17 laps of a 3.5 km loop. Athletes finish with a 16.9 km run. Total distance for this unique PRO-race Challenge Miami Triathlon 2021 = consist 81.2 km.
Picture: © Challenge Miami
PRO Men’s Race
The men’s race set a frantic pace from the beginning, with Jan Frodeno, Tim O’Donnell, Ben Kanute, and Nicholas Kastelein coming out of the water together with a 25 second lead over a chasing pack that included Rudy Von Berg, Eric Lagerstrom, and Andrew Starykowicz.
Moving onto the bike course, Starykowicz started to turn the screws to the competition and made his way to the front. Meanwhile, Frodeno sat comfortably in the top part of the field. The multi-lap bike course claimed at least one victim, as O’Donnell miscounted the number of laps required to complete the course and dismounted one lap early and was left scrambling. After the bike, Starykowicz held a 24 second lead over Frodeno and 1:53 over Von Berg.
The fleet-footed Jan Frodeno moved his way quickly to the class of the field on the run, and pulled away to victory with a 53:48 run and a final finish time of 2:37:57. Lionel Sanders, unheard of until the run, unleashed a 53:24 run to run his way into second. Ben Kanute’s well-rounded performance earned him third place on the day. Von Berg took 5th; Starykowicz faded to 9th.
Photo: © Jan Frodeno / Challenge Miami
Challenge Miami Triathlon / Men’s Results / Friday 12th March 2021
1.6 km Swim / 62.7 km Bike / 16.9 km Run
1st – Jan Frodeno (GER) – 2:37:57
2nd – Lionel Sanders (CAN) – 2:40:28
3rd – Ben Kanute (USA) – 2:41:35
4th – Chris Leiferman (USA) – 2:41:46
5th – Rudy Von Berg (USA) – 2:42:11
Photo: © Challenge Miami
PRO Women’s Race
There was pre-race drama, as Anne Haug tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. She quarantined after the fact. No other athletes tested positive pre-race.
The women’s swim split apart early, with Lucy Charles-Barclay and Sara Perez Sala taking a 90 second lead on the chasing Jodie Stimpson and PTO Champion Findlay.
On the bike, Perez Sala and Charles-Barclay continued to work together to outpace the field. However, Charles-Barclay earned herself a position foul penalty and was forced to serve a time penalty. Findlay, Stimpson, and Skye Moench were all between two and four minutes back chasing.
Onto the run, Jodie Stimpson began a relentless march towards the front of the field, grinding time off left and right from Perez Sala. Charles-Barclay, after taking her penalty, fought with a gritty run performance. In the end, though, Stimpson used her race best 1:00:54 run to take victory over Charles-Barclay. Jackie Hering made a late pass on Perez Sala to earn the final spot on the podium. Findlay wound up in 7th after sliding throughout the run.
Challenge Miami Triathlon / Women’s Results / Friday 12th March 2021
1.6 km Swim / 62.7 km Bike / 16.9 km Run
1st – Jodie Stimpson (GBR) – 3:01:04
2nd – Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) – 3:02:26
3rd – Jackie Hering (USA) – 3:03:25
4th – Sara Perez Sala (ESP) – 3:03:31
5th – Skye Moech (USA) – 3:05:05
Photo: © Challenge Miami
About the CHALLENGE MIAMI
CHALLENGE MIAMI is the new triathlon event at Homestead-Miami Speedway! The race is a part of the global CHALLENGE FAMILY Triathlon Series and is set up as a triathlon festival for the whole family.
The CHALLENGE MIAMI Festival weekend is a wide array of events catering to athletes of all ages and abilities. The triathlon weekend hosted the following events:
• Middle Distance Triathlon & Duathlon
• Sprint Distance Triathlon & Duathlon
• Junior Challenge Kids Race
• PRO Am Relay Race
• 5K Run / Walk Event
• Relay Categories
• CHALLENGE MIAMI Professional race the «Miami Distance»
The top Middle Distance™ Triathlon age group athletes qualified for entry in THE CHAMPIONSHIP , to be held in May 2021 and May 2022 at the x-bionic sphere in Šamorín, Slovakia.
Photo: © Jan Frodeno / Challenge Miami
CHALLENGE MIAMI
Andrzej Waszkewicz – Sports Promoter
