Challenge Sanremo once again delivered a spectacle along the Italian Riviera this weekend, with Leonard Arnold of Germany and France’s Justine Guerard taking hard-fought victories in testing late-summer conditions.
With air temperatures climbing from 20°C at the start to nearly 28°C on the run, and a non-wetsuit swim in the 25°C Mediterranean, the field faced one of the more demanding editions of Sanremo in recent years.
Arnold Controls the Men’s Race
The men’s contest opened with Justus Töpper setting the pace in the water, exiting in 25:18 with a strong group just seconds behind. The early bike belonged to David Breinlinger, but once Arnold surged to the front after 20 km, the race began to tilt decisively in his favor.
By T2, Arnold had carved out more than three minutes on Italy’s Michele Sarzilla and fellow Germans Jannik Stoll and Breinlinger. On the run, Sarzilla gave chase and whittled the deficit down to 90 seconds, but Arnold’s composure never faltered. A late surge sealed the win in 3:55:49, with Sarzilla second in 3:58:57. France’s Thomas Navarro completed the podium in 4:00:50, running clear of Dutch athlete Joost Friderichs in the final kilometers.
Guerard Breaks Free on the Bike
The women’s race unfolded in similar fashion: tight in the water, decisive on the climbs. Maëla Moison and Italy’s Luisa Iogna-Prat were first into T1, but Guerard wasted no time asserting herself on the bike. She climbed strongly to gap Johanna Ahrens, Iogna-Prat, and Spain’s Sofia Aguayo, and by the technical inland sections had a clear advantage.
Arriving in T2 with a 1:55 buffer over Austria’s Lisa-Maria Dornauer, Guerard looked in control. On the run, Gabriella Zelinka of Hungary powered into second, with South Africa’s Magda Nieuwoudt moving into third before fading late. Guerard, however, never looked back, extending her lead to nearly two minutes by 15 km and crossing the line in 4:32:38. Zelinka secured runner-up in 4:35:13, with Iogna-Prat surging in the closing stages to claim third in 4:36:39.