The second stop in the 2023 Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift featured close battles in both the women’s and the men’s races in Sursee, Switzerland. Both fields were completely different than the first race of the series that was held in Montreal at the end of February. That is with the exception of Henri Schoeman from South Africa in the men’s race.
Schoeman finished second to American Chase McQueen in Montreal by a margin of 14 seconds. Because the Arena Games Triathlon series is decided on points, Schoeman traveled to Sursee to equal McQueen’s victory in Montreal and displace an additional point earner in Sursee.
This tactic proved to play out in Schoeman’s favor as he took a commanding victory in Sursee by a margin of 16 seconds. Double points will be on offer at the final in London in the beginning of April, which will be added to highest score from Montreal or Sursee. This scenario leaves McQueen and Schoeman tied in points at 250 and set up for a storybook rematch in London.
In the women’s field, Zsanett Bragmayer of Hungary drew on her experiences as a former Arena Games winner to take a commanding lead from start to finish. Bragmayer won by a margin of 22 seconds and is poised to battle for the top step on the podium in London against American Gina Sereno who won in Montreal by a margin of 53 seconds over friend and collegiate teammate Sophie Linn of Australia. Though Sereno is not as experienced as Bragmayer at the Arena Games format, she did finish ahead of Bragmayer in Munich in 2022.
Format
If you are relatively new to the Arena Games like I am, you will be impressed by how demanding the three stages are on the triathletes. Essentially, everyone is pegged at their anerobic power and heart rate thresholds with minimal recovery. And the recovery primarily serves as a very brief opportunity to reset equipment for the next stage. The races are held in pool arenas with the cycling and running legs held on Zwift in Crit City. At one end of the pool, the triathlete’s bicycles are mounted on Garmin Tacx trainers near their assigned self-powered treadmill.
The race format consists of three stages:
Stage 1: Swim 200m, Bike 4km, Run 1km
2-minute rest
Stage 2: Run 1km, Bike 4km, Swim 200m
2-minute rest, followed by pursuit start
Stage 3: Swim 200m, Bike 4km, Run 1km
The format is particularly well suited for online viewing to see how the racers manage the number of variables and logistics. Precious seconds can be lost getting the bike or treadmill up to speed on Zwift or in the turns in the pool. The pool in Montreal is 50m, but the one in Sursee is 25m, which favors the pool specialists with crisp turns. The final in London features a 50m pool.
Fanni the Phenom
Fifteen-year-old Fanni Szalai of Hungary stole the show as the youngest athlete ever to contest the Arena Games, as she joined her countrywoman Bragmayer on the podium. Fanni narrowly missed out on nipping Olivia Mathias of England at the line for second.
In Stage 1, Fanni exited the pool in 5th, 9 seconds behind Mathias, who was leading. Bragmayer took the lead on the bike stage and held on to that lead during the run to win the stage by 10 seconds. Fanni made up as many as five places during the run to narrow her margin to Mathias by less than a second.
After quickly resetting their shoes with rubber bands on their bikes and dealing with the intrusive commentators looking for a sound bite, Stage 2 started off with Fanni taking a commanding lead in the run putting 5 seconds into Bragmayer and 9 seconds into Mathias. On the bike, Bragmayer took back that advantage gapping Fanni by more that 5 seconds, while Mathias fell to 8th with a 20-second deficit. Fanni had a rough transition into the pool, and Mathias made up several places in the pool. The combined times of Stage 1 and Stage 2 had Bragmayer in the lead by 30 seconds and Fanni and Mathias only separated by a second.
Stage 3 has a pursuit start with each competitor starting the swim after the combined time deficit of Stage 1 and Stage 2 elapsed. This meant Fanni and Mathias were entering the pool only a second apart, but 30 seconds behind Bragmayer. Bragmayer maintained this lead to take the overall victory. Mathias and Fanni exited the pool together, but then Mathias put down a strong bike leg to gap Fanni by 11 seconds. Fanni ran in pursuit of Mathias, narrowly missing beating her by a half of a second.
Hueber-Moosbrugger’s Late Charge
Max Hueber-Moosbrugger wasn’t one of the favorites the commentators were lauding at the beginning of the men’s race, but the Frechman gradually made progress across the stages to finish second overall.
In Stage 1, while the favorites Justus Nieschlag of Germany, Fabian Meeeusen and Simon Westermann of Switzerland, and Henri Schoeman of South Africa were battling at the front, Max started the run in last with a 15-second gap to Nieschlag who was leading. However, during the run Max reduced this deficit to only 5 seconds, while Westermann took a narrow win of Stage 1 over Schoeman.
Stage 2 was quite the reversal beginning with Max taking a commanding lead in the run and transitioning to the bike with a 3-second lead. Max held on to the front of the race during the bike, entering the pool in the lead. Max finished the swim in second behind Schoeman by 4 seconds. This set up for an exciting finale with Schoeman in the combined time lead and Westermann, Priester, Max, and Nieschlag all within 9 seconds.
Max struggled in the swim during Stage 3 dropping to 6th with a 14 second deficit to Schoeman. He didn’t fare much better on the bike dropping to 7th with an 18 second deficit to Schoeman. However, once the run started Max wasted no time mounting his comeback. Max clawed his way up to third and made a hard charge at Westermann who was in second. Max passed Westermann within the last 200m to take second reducing his overall deficit to winner Schoeman to 8 seconds.
The Stage is Set for London
The finale in London will be a barn burner with potentially deep fields for both men and women. Though the announcement has not been made on who all will be lining up in London, the post-race interviews with those on the podium in Montreal and Sursee lead us to believe that the top contenders will be there. Most will have their eye on the battle between Bragmayer and Sereno, as well as the rematch between Schoeman and McQueen. However, I will have my eye on Fanni and Max. I hope they both are able to make the trip to London and make the finale as exciting as they did in Sursee.
Women’s Combined Results
Men’s Combined Results
