After two 2nd places and a 4th place finish in previous races, Pablo Dapena Gonzales put together another excellent performance to take home 3rd place in Challenge Gdansk. The BMC athlete raced in front of the race all day long after a more than solid swim, bike and run performance to finish in a time 3:49:21. James Teagle (GBR; 3:46:14) won the race in front of Matt Trautman (RSA; 3:48:18). With yet another podium finish Gonzalez takes over the lead in the Challenge Family World Ranking.
Another strong performance from the Spaniard
With a beach start the race of Pablo Dapena Gonzales took off. After the 1.9k swim, he came back to shore in 3rd place. A fast transition saw Pablo jump on his BMC Timemachine with a deficit of 30 seconds over the leader. 16k into the bike, Dapena was accompanied as they formed a chase group of 6 athletes, 1’ back from leader Wojt. That disadvantage was reduced to nothing at the halfway mark. A leading group of 6 athletes, including Pablo Dapena, took form. No changes in the second half of the bike until the final kilometers. Pablo racked his bike and tied his running shoes in 3rd place, 20” back of leader Teagle, who broke away in the ultimate kilometers of the bike. Together with Trautman, Dapena battled for 2nd place in the first kilometers of the run. After 8k, Dapena had to settle for his own pace as Trautman opened up a small gap. For a long time, the BMC athlete kept Trautman in his sight, but couldn’t close the gap anymore. Pablo consolidated 3rd place to claim yet another podium finish this season.
Fantastic first half of the season
With two second places, a fourth place finish and now yet another podium finish, Gonzalez has had a fantastic first half of the season. Immediately affter the finish Pablo reflected on his performance: "It was incredible hot out there and unfortunately I am not a great runner in the heat. And of course I can't deny that the amount of racing I have been doing in a short time span has had an impact on my freshness today. But obviously I am very happy with the first half of my season, 2 x second, 3rd and 4th, very consistent. But of course everybody likes to win and today I think I had a good opportunity, but unfortunately I missed that little bit of freshness. But I am proud of my season so far, yet another podium and I am very pleased to take the lead in the Challenge Family World Ranking. Time for a break now and to start the build-up to the ITU Long Distance World Championship in Almere in September.
