Swiss’ Nicola Spirig totally lived up to everyone’s expectations as she took a strong win today in Challenge Davos. From start to finish, she was in control and in the lead during this race that turned into a duathlon because of the bad weather. After 3:56:24 Spirig got to break the tape. She managed to stay ahead, among others, Germany’s Lena Berlinger (+9:55) and Italy’s Giorgia Priarone (+18:55) who finished second and third respectively. In the men’s race, it was Spain’s Roberto Sanchez who claimed the win in 3:33:47 hour. Especially on the run, he was strongest. Germany’s David Breinlinger (+1:22) and Germany’s Samuel Böttinger completed the podium (+3:37).
Spirig takes the lead right from the start
In the first four km of running, Spirig already ran to the front. With a time of 14:34 minutes, she managed to reach her bike fifteen seconds ahead of the second woman: Germany’s Franzi Reng. The third woman – Priarone – was three seconds behind her, and Berlinger reached her bike in fourth place with a 50-second deficit to Spirig. On the bike, Spirig rapidly increased her lead. She reached T2 with an advantage of approximately three minutes to her first chaser, that was Berlinger, who had moved up two spots during the bike leg. By running 1:21:59 on the half-marathon, Spirig was the one who got to cross the line in first place. Berlinger followed about ten minutes later in second place, and Hungary’s Anna Eberhardt took third.
Sanchez attacks during the run
Just like Spirig was, Sanchez was on fire during the first run. However, unlike Spirig, he had to give up his lead during the bike part. The Spanish athlete clocked a time of 12:31 minutes over four km of running, allowing him to start the bike part with a buffer of twelve seconds to the second man: Germany’s Fabian Eisenlauer. In 2:01:22 he completed 90 km of cycling, but that was not enough to stay ahead of all his competitors, because David Breinlinger passed him while in the saddle thanks to a fast time of 1:55:43. On the run, Sanchez continued what he had started, by re-claiming his leading position. In 1:14:42 hour, he covered the half-marathon and moved back to first place. He flew by Breinlinger and took the win. Breinlinger took home the silver medal and Böttinger earned bronze.
