Lucy Byram crossed the finish line in 2nd place, just 20 seconds shy of the win, at the first edition of the non-drafting Olympic Distance Challenge Beijing. Lucy needed 1:56:56 to complete the 1.5k swim, 45k bike and 10k run. Paula Findlay (CAN; 1:56:36) broke the tape with Julie Derron (SUI; 1:59:57) taking the final podium spot.
Lucy Byram started the race with a decent swim. She exited the water 30 seconds down from the lead. On the bike, Lucy pushed hard to close down the gap and together with Findlay, she opened up a gap over the rest of the field. Halfway through the bike, they build up a lead of a little under a minute. Byram kept her pace as high as possible and reached T2, still accompanied by Findlay, with an advantage of 1’36 over Salthouse in third.
During the first kilometers of the run, Lucy was able to match the pace of Findlay. But ever so slightly the BMC athlete had to settle for her own pace. She passed the halfway mark just six seconds down on Findlay. Byram gave all she had in the closing stages of the run, but had to settle for silver as she crossed the line only 20 seconds behind winner Findlay.
Afterwards Lucy Byram admitted she pushed hard on the bike to have room on the run.
“I am really happy to get on the podium with such a strong field of girls. I had to ride really hard on the bike to make sure I had a good gap on the run over the fast runners. I am glad it all worked out today.”
Thor Bendix Madsen runs his way to 5th place at Challenge Samarkand
Thor Bendix Madsen took 5th place after a perfectly paced run at Challenge Samarkand. The BMC athlete came home in a time of 3:39:28. The podium consisted of three IM70.3 World Champions as Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR; 3:31:42) reigned victorious in front of Gustav Iden (NOR; 3:34:26) and Rico Bogen (GER; 3:35:35).
Only seven days after his race in IM70.3 Zell Am See, Thor Bendix Madsen toed the line in Uzbekistan to compete in a strong field at Challenge Samarkand. Coming out of the water in 7th place, Thor was trailing the leading quintet by 1’30.
On the bike, Bendix Madsen quickly took over 6th place in pursuit of the athletes in front.
Unfortunately for him, the five competitors in front worked really well together and kept extending their lead. Thor kept riding his own pace on his own for almost the entire bike leg to reach T2 5 minutes behind top 5. Just as on the bike, the BMC athlete was chasing the athletes in front of him on his own, but he managed to close down the gap towards 5th place to 1’20 at the halfway point of the run. Bendix Madsen moving up a position was still possible and gave his all towards the line. In a time of 3:39:28, he reached the finish, claiming 5th position in the end.
Looking back at the race, Thor Bendix Madsen felt confident towards Kona: “I actually felt really good on the bike and run today. I have posted good numbers, so I am happy with that. Unfortunately, it was just so difficult to make up any time on the bike as the leaders were accompanied by a lot of motorcycles. Anyway, my race was a confidence boost going into the last training block towards Kona.”
