Large Pro Field on Hand for 2026 Edition of Challenge Sir Bani Yas

It’s been heralded as a truly unique triathlon destination, and the second running of Challenge Sir Bani Yas appears to be ready to deliver even more on the athlete-experience front in 2026. With a cruise ship on hand to get athletes to the race site on one of the largest natural islands in the UAE, athletes can enjoy the unique surroundings along with the course that runs through the wildlife reserve that’s home to roughly 17,000 animals. Last year’s last-minute cancellation of the cruise ship made for some logistical complications, but that didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm for the event, and this year’s race has attracted an even larger pro field to go along with the age group racing over the Olympic-, half- and full-distance races. (There’s lots of other running and other side events, too.)

Slowtwitch will be on hand for this year’s race again since I am heading over to work as the lead announcer of the event, so we’ll have more from on-site as the weekend progresses.

Another Big Pro Field

Last year’s logistical challenges haven’t dampened the enthusiasm from the pros for this year’s race as 57 men and 33 women have registered for the race and their share of the US$60,000 prize purse. (You can find the full pro lists below.) Part of the enthusiasm might be the new date – the race is roughly two months earlier this year, which should offer some cooler temperatures.

Wearing race #1 will be last year’s defending men’s champion, Switzerland’s Jonathan Guisolan, but he’ll be pressed to defend his title by the strong field on hand that includes Germany’s Jonas Schomburg and Andreas Dreitz, Belgium’s Pieter Heemeryck (BEL), South Africa’s Henri Schoeman, France’s Pierre Le Corre, Australia’s Caleb Noble and Brits Kieran Lindars, Thomas Bishop and Thomas Davies.

Lindars was third at last year’s race, while Schoeman ended up pulling out after leading the way out of the water. Guisolan dominated on the bike (hardly a surprise as he rode for a semi-professional cycling team in Switzerland before transitioning to triathlon in 2022), riding almost seven minutes faster than the next quickest rider (countryman Patrick Cometta) before cruising to the win in 3:54:23.

One would imagine that Guisolan will have a bit more of a challenge riding away from the rest of the field this year with the likes of Schomburg on hand – the German Olympian will likely be amongst the first out of the water and is a strong cyclist, as is Heemeryck. After winning the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships and IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne in 2022, Le Corre focused on the Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth. Much of last season was lost due to injury – if he’s healthy he’ll definitely be another man to watch on the weekend.

Vermeylen’s Debut

I was on hand to see Jolien Vermeylen beat Olympic champ Cassandre Beaugrand in her Supertri debut in Toronto last year, so I’m not the only one anxious to see how the Belgian fares in her half-distance opener this weekend. Vermeylen took two European titles over the sprint and Olympic distances last year and finished eighth in the World Triathlon ranking. There are more than a few middle-distance standouts who will be ready to test Vermeylen’s distance chops, though, led by Australia’s Ellie Salthouse, who rounded out her 2025 campaign with an impressive fourth-place finish at the T100 Triathlon World Championship Final in Qatar last month, and took the title at IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast on her home turf in September. Another Aussie, Natalie Van Coevorden, is arguably even more of a race favourite her impressive move to the half-distance since competing for Australia at the Olympics in Paris. Van Coevorden started her season off with three half-distance wins at the Husky Ultimate, 70.3 Geelong and 70.3 Port Macquarie, and round out her season with a pair of runner-up finishes at the IRONMAN 70.3 races Langkawi and Bahrain.

Other women who could factor in the race include Great Britain’s Fenella Langridge, Denmark’s Katrine Græsbøll Christensen and Germany’s Merle Brunnee.

Weekend Full of Racing

While the pros will be competing over the middle-distance, there’s also a long-distance race which kicks off at 7 am on Saturday morning. The middle-distance racing starts with the pro men at 10:30 am, while the pro women begin at 10:40 followed by the age-group athletes at 11 am local time. The Olympic distance race starts at 3:30 pm.

There are a number of community races as well, including swimming events on Saturday, along with running and cycling races, too. Last year the running events included large fields of locals who jumped at the opportunity to check out Sir Bani Yas Island and the game reserve.

Men’s Pro Start List

Women’s Pro Start List

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