Long sets himself up as St. George favourite with another win at Challenge Puerto Varas
Canadians Brent McMahon and Jason Pohl take fifth and sixth in Chilean event
Photo by:
Stef Hanson productions
After a big win at Clash Miami, Sam Long (USA) made the trip to Puerto Varas, Chile to compete at the inaugural Challenge event there, where he took another impressive win, while American Haley Chura dominated the swim and run to take the women’s race.
For the second week in a row Long was able to keep the swim deficit to around two minutes, coming out of the water alongside fellow American Matt Hanson as the two chased swim leaders Vincente Trewhela (CHL) and Balazs Csoke (HUN). Canada’s Brent McMahon was third out of the water about six-seconds behind the leaders, with fellow Olympian Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) on his heels. Long quickly rode to the front on the challenging bike course that included 1,000 m of climbing, posting the day’s fastest bike split to ride away from the rest of the field, hitting T2 with a lead of more than five minutes on a group that included Hanson, Luciano Taccone (ARG), Nicolas Saez (CHL), Fernando Toldi (BRA), along with McMahon and fellow Canadian Jason Pohl.
Long continued to lead the way right to the finish, hitting the finish line in 3:48:48, with Hanson taking second in 3:52:44 after the day’s fastest run (1:10:42) and Taccone rounding out the podium in 3:54:42. McMahon would take fifth in 3:57:29, while Pohl would take sixth in 3:59:29.
With a second big win in two weeks and notable signs that he appears to have improved in all three disciplines this year, Long seems to be setting himself up for a run a the podium in St. George in May.
Chura runs to the win
American Haley Chura led the way out of the water almost four minutes up on Macarena Salazar (CHL), Romina Palacio (ARG) and almost seven-minutes ahead of Laura Siddall (GBR), but the Brit was able to ride her way back to contention, hitting T2 just a minute behind Chura.
Chura was able to open up some time on Siddall during the run, though, hitting the finish line in 4:30:29, with Siddall taking second in 4:32:28 and Palacio hanging on for a distant third in 4:43:44.
You can find results from the race on the Professional Triathletes Organization’s website.
