Stephen Bayliss of Great Britain and Martina Dogana of Italy won Challenge Vichy on a day where 100-plus Fahrenheit temperatures forced race organizers to cut the race to half distance for safety reasons.
Bayliss finished in 3:59:57 to top runner-up Per Bittner of Germany by a comfortable 3:52 margin and 3rd-place finisher Scott Defillippis of the U.S., Bayliss’s Team TBB teammate, by 4:38.
Bayliss was happy to have defended his title and wasn't bothered by the heat.
“Once I had got my head around the fact I was racing a half it was fine,” he told Challenge media. “I just had to push a lot harder than I would have done in the full distance and it turned out well!”
Dogana overcame a slow swim with race-best bike and run splits to finish in 4:35:27 with a 1:41 margin of victory over Carrie Lester of Australia and 21:54 over 3rd-place finisher Jana Candrova of the Czech Republic.
“I had a perfect race,” Dogana told Challenge media. “I thought I swam better than I actually did but I went out strong on bike. I was prepared for full so I had to push more on bike and run than I would have done in the full and I wasn’t sure if I could go faster. But I kept pushing and it worked!”
The Men
Brett Carter of Australia led the swim with a 23:59 split with Bayliss 3 seconds behind, Anthony Pannier of France 1:15 back, Sylvain Rota of France 2:15 down, Per Bittner of Germany 2:42 arrears, Petr Vabrousek 4:12 behind and Defillippis 4:33 in the hole.
Rota (2:14:09 bike split) and Pannier (2:14:51) rode to the lead of a tightly bunched group that included Carter (2:16:27), Bayliss (2:16:40), Bittner (2:17:02). Defillippis, not able to overcome his 28:32 swim, arrived 12th at T2 after a 2:17:46 bike split.
On the run, Bayliss took charge of the race with a 2nd-best 1:16:44 split. Bittner, 2:51 back of Bayliss after a 2:17:02 bike, gave up 32 more seconds to Bayliss with his 3rd-best 1:17:16 run to claim the runner-up slot. Defillippis unleashed a race-best 1:14:38 run to advance from 12th to 3rd.
The Women
Carrie Lester’s 28:14 swim gave her a 2 minute lead Lisbet de Schryver of Belgium and 3:07 on Dogana. By the end of the bike, Lester’s 2nd-best 2:34:19 bike maintained a 2 minute advantage of Dogana’s race-fastest 2:32:53 split. On the run, Dogana passed Lester at the 11k mark and finished off her Australian rival with a race-best 1:27:41 run to take the victory. Jana Candrova of the Czech Republic finished 11:54 back to take the final spot on the podium.
Half Challenge Vichy
Vichy, France
August 19, 2012
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 3:59:57
2. Per Bittner (GER) 4:03:49
3. Scott Defilippis (USA) 4:04:35
4. Brett Carter (AUS) 4:06:21
5. Sylvain Rota (FRA) 4:07:43
6. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 409:53
7. Anthony Pannier (FRA) 4:12:07
8. Andrej Vistica (HRZ) 4:12:22
9. Edouard Entraygues (FRA) 4:14:01
10. Thomas Leboucher (FRA) 4:14:38 *M30-34
Women
1. Martina Dogana (ITA) 4:35:27
2. Carrie Lester (AUS) 4:37:08
3. Jana Candrova (CZE) 4:57:21
4. Leunda Isaso (ESP) 4:58:47
5. Lisbet de Schryver (BEL) 4:59:53
