In the first full-distance triathlon held in the historic and beautiful tourist magnet of Venice, Erika Csomor of Hungary and Dirk Wijnalda of Netherlands prevailed at Challenge Venice.

Men

Wijnalda emerged from the water in 57:24, 3 minutes behind German swim leaders Malte Bruns and Sebastian Bleisteiner, and equal to Sergio Marques of Portugal. After a race-best 4:20:34 bike split, Wijnalda arrived at T2 virtually tied with Bruns, 1 minute ahead of Bleisteiner, and 2 minutes ahead of Sergio Marques of Portugal.

Wijnalda took control on the run, posting a 2:46:49 marathon which was 8 minutes better than his nearest rival, Marques. Wijnalda finished in 8:09:14, 10:14 ahead of runner-up Marques (2:54:44 marathon) and 11:04 better than 3rd-place Malte Bruns (2:56:L47 run).

“This morning’s start was incredible because the backdrop is absolutely unique in the world,” said Wijnalda. “I didn’t have any trouble in the swimming stage but the cycling one was grueling. I felt fine despite the sun and heat. [On the run] I waited for the final 24 km before I really started to push hard.”

Women

As usual, multiple World Champion duathlete Erika Csomor emerged from the swim well back of the swim leader. On this day, Martina Dogana’s fastest 59:49 split earned the Italian a 2:01 lead on Yvette Grice of Great Britain, 4:32 on Csomor, and 5:42 on Vanessa Pereira of Portugal.

Csomor got moving on the bike and finished in 4:47:52, erasing Dogana’s lead and earning the Hungarian a half minute lead at T2, while the rest of the field faded further back. Csomor held off Dogana’s run – 3:06:16 to 3:06:30 – and finished in 9:04:00, with a 42 seconds margin of victory on Dogana and 29:03 on 3rd-place Carla Van Rooijen of Netherlands, whose high point was a 4:55:37 bike split.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have won the first edition of this competition and on my first official outing this season, too,” said Csomor. “I managed to take the lead almost immediately and then I was able to control it from there on. I knew that Martina was a strong runner and so I couldn’t relax for a single second during the race. She also had a fantastic turnout of people cheering her on her home ground so staying out in front until the very end was really tough.”

Challenge Venice
Venice, Italy
June 5, 2016
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Dirk Wijnalda (NED) 8:09:14
2. Sergio Marques (POR) 8:19:28
3. Malte Bruns (GER) 8:20:18
4. Sebastian Bleisteiner (GER) 8:25:15
5. Teemu Lemmettykä (FIN) 8:30:02

Women

1. Erika Csomor (HUN) 9:04:00
2. Martina Dogana (ITA) 9:04:42
3. Carla Van Roiijen (NED) 9:33:03
4. Yvette Grice (GBR) 9:43:56
5. Vanessa Pereira (POR) 9:44:15