Spain’s Costa Daurada (Golden Coast) will host Challenge Salou this weekend and, along with the 500 age group athletes who will be able to compete in the event there will be 40 pro athletes from 14 different countries.
Highlighting the men’s field will be Germany’s Frederik Funk and New Zealand’s Kyle Smith. Smith won Challenge Wanaka earlier this year and was third at Ironman New Zealand, while Funk took third at the The Championship, blasting through a 1:54 bike split, and also took the wins at Challenge St. Polten and Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee. Other men to watch in the competitive race include American Collin Chartier, Spain’s own Pablo Dapena Gonzalez and Great Britain’s Thomas Davis.
The women’s winner of the The Championship, Great Britain’s Lucy Hall, and runner-up Sara Perez Sala (ESP), are both competing, as is Sweden’s Lisa Norden, who will no-doubt want to prove that without the wrong turn on The Championship course in Samorin she would have been in the mix for the title there. Others to watch include Switzerland’s Emma Bilham, although she typically prefers more hilly courses and Australian Chloe Lane.
Salou is renowned as a beach destination and the athletes will no-doubt enjoy both the beautiful Mediterranean coastline and the palm tree-lined run course. There will be live coverage of the race at challenge-family.live. The men start at 8 AM local time, with the women heading off 15 minutes later.
