Lucy Byram is on a winning streak: after winning Clash Miami last week, she just won Challenge Puerto Varas. In doing so, she prevented Haley Chura, who eventually came in second, from prolonging her title from last year.
It was Chura who still got out of the water two minutes before Byram and thus laid a solid foundation for a possible second win at Challenge Puerto Varas, but then it was Byram who began to dominate on the bike, caught up and passed Chura, and proved faster during the run as well.
Byram won Challenge Puerto Varas in a time of 4:20:51. Just under four minutes later, it was Chura who crossed the line after 4:24:33. Laura Siddall completed the podium by finishing third. She did so in a time of 4:26:28.
Text continues below pictureThis time a win for Thomas Bishop
Last week he missed the victory when he led Clash Miami for a long time, only to be overtaken in the closing stages by Jason West, but now Thomas Bishop does had a golden race: he just won Challenge Puerto Varas. In Chile, he was overwhelmingly the strongest athlete.
Bishop eventually won the race in a time of 3:45:02 and determined the race mainly during the bike. During the run he saw the always strong running Matt Hanson get considerably closer – about four minutes – but because of the wide margin Bishop had already built up on the bike, his victory was no longer in danger. Hanson finished second in a time of 3:50:50, leaving him nearly six minutes behind the winner. Mitchell Cunningham took the bronze: he finished in a time of 3:52:34, leaving him thirty seconds ahead of number four, Luciano Taccone. This was undoubtedly a disappointment for Taccone; in fact, he ran three minutes faster than Cunningham, but just failed to close the gap and thus missed out on a podium finish.
