Kyle Smith and Els Visser dominate Challenge Wanaka
Challenge Family series kicks off with long-running event in New Zealand
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Challenge Wanaka
As the second ever Challenge event, Challenge Wanaka has a long and storied history as one of the sport’s classic races. Featuring a spectacular course on New Zealand’s South Island, the race has attracted some of the sport’s biggest stars over the years. Today New Zealand’s Kyle Smith and The Netherlands’ Els Visser can add their names to the champions roll after convincing wins.
Visser powers clear on the bike
New Zealand’s Rebecca Clarke was first out of the water in 24:47, followed about a minute later by fellow Kiwi Alisha Wesley, with Visser hitting T1 in fifth, almost 4:30 down, with Great Britain’s Laura Siddall right behind.
Once on the bike, though, Visser powered toward the lead and was in front at the 60 km mark. By the time she started the run she was just over two minutes ahead of Clarke, with Wesley at 5:25 and Siddall almost 10 minutes back in fourth.
Visser would continue to open up time and took a convincing win in 3:43:46. Clarke hung on for second in 4:43:29, with Siddall crossing the line less than a minute later for third in 4:44:22.
Smith leads from start to finish
There was no touching Smith today as he finished the swim in 23:08, almost a minute ahead of a group that included Mike Phillips (NZL), Benjamin Zorgnotti (TAH), Valentino Agnelli (ARG), Jack Moody (NZL) and Nick Thompson (AUS). Smith continued to gain time on the rest of the field through the bike, hitting T2 2:30 up on Phillips and almost nine minutes up on Moody, the defending champion, and Zorgnotti.
Smith managed to open up more time on the tough trail run, crossing the line in 3:53:08. Phillips (3:58:11) took second, while Moody (4:00:21) rounded out the podium.
