UNESCO World Heritage listed scenery and architecture sets a stunning backdrop for another high octane weekend of middle distance racing at Challenge Samarkand with a new bike course ramping up the speed, and the scenery, even more for 2025.
Uzbekistan’s second largest city, Samarkand has a rich history with the race perfectly showcasing the modern day union of old meets new. And while Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden won’t be returning to repeat their Norwegian 1-2 from last year, the start list certainly isn’t lacking fire power.
From T100 wildcard racers to athletes with multiple middle distance podiums to their names already this season, it’s all to play for. Read on to find out who the key contenders are – and how to follow the action.
Challenge Samarkand date, start time and how to follow
Race weekend is jam packed with a kids triathlon, sprint distance racing and a women’s run taking place on Saturday 23rd August before the flagship middle distance triathlon on Sunday 24th August.
The PRO racing gets underway from 7am local time (03:00 UK time, 04:00 CET and 22:00 on Saturday evening for those on Eastern time). The PRO men are off first, with the PRO women starting 5 minutes later.
You’ll be able to follow all the action at live.challenge-family.com
Men’s start list and ones to watch
British athlete Will Draper, who I recently spoke to alongside partner and fellow pro triathlete Chloe Sparrow on our podcast with Challenge Family, steps up to the start line wearing bib #1. It’s been a strong year for Draper so far, taking the win at Challenge Gran Canaria and 2nd place at Challenge St Polten, plus a podium finish at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships. All that got him noticed by the T100, getting 2 wildcard call ups so far this year and he heads to Samarkand fresh off an 11th place finish at London T100. The bike is where Draper really shines, and with the made for speed course in Samarkand expect to see him making his way through the field after the swim to drive things from the front.
Draper will have strong competition though, including the likes of Ognjen Stojanović with two Challenge Family podium finishes to his name already this season. And Max Stapley who’s been mixing up the longer distance with short course racing – finishing 13th at Singapore T100 earlier in the year and 7th at WTCS Hamburg. Stapley could bring some short course-style fireworks to proceedings so keep an eye on him!
Olympian Henri Schoeman has had a tough year so far, opening up on his socials about feeling lost after injury and setbacks. But judging by his recent posts, and the fresh boost of inspiration that being part of the pro field at Challenge Roth (his full distance debut) – it looks like Schoeman is fired up once more and getting back to good form.
I also think Marcel Bolbat could be someone who shakes things up a bit. He’s got three 1st place finishes and most recently a 2nd place at Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee on his scorecard for the year so 2025 is shaping up to be a bit of a breakthrough year for the German athlete.
Full men’s start list
- Will Draper (Great Britain)
- Ognjen Stojanović (Serbia)
- Max Stapley (Great Britain)
- Marcel Bolbat (Germany)
- Henri Schoeman (South Africa)
- Rostislav Pevtsov (Ukraine)
- Bogdan Kovalenko (Kazahkstan)
- Yoann Colin (Australia)
- Sebastian Fuchs (Austria)
Women’s start list and key contenders
Amelia Watkinson is top seed for the women’s race, another athlete who’s been mixing it up on the T100 circuit as a wildcard with an 8th place finish in brutal conditions at Singapore T100. Watkinson also boasts a 2nd place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Port Macquarie and most recently took the win at 70.3 Lapu Lapu this season so expect to see her pushing for the win in Samarkand.
Amelia will have competition from last year’s 2nd place finisher Marta Łagownik, another athlete who’s had some strong performances this year including 1st place at Challenge Gran Canaria and 2nd place at the WT long distance champs. Sara Perez, one of the top swimmers in the sport, will also be one to watch. She might have DNF’d at The Championship, but her 2nd place finish at Challenge Sir Bani Yas shows how well she can perform in hot conditions.
Chloe Sparrow could also be a strong contender here – she’s had an up and down year and recently detailed a tendinopathy injury on her Instagram page. But her performance at Challenge St Polten where she took the win shows that when she’s in good health, she can take a race by storm. Finally don’t count out Milen Agnew either – that 3rd place finish at 70.3 Krakow recently has got to have boosted her confidence coming into this race.
Full women’s start list
- Amelia Watkinson (New Zealand)
- Marta Łagownik (Poland)
- Sara Perez (Spain)
- Anna Bergsten (Sweden)
- Chloe Sparrow (Great Britain)
- Milan Agnew (Australia)
- Lilli Gelmini (Italy)
- Bridget Theunissen (South Africa)
- Ekaterina Shabalina (Kazakhstan)
Course and conditions – which athletes will Challenge Samarkand favour?
Challenge Samarkand is centred around the ultra-modern Silk Road Samarkand complex, but this is a race course that also gives athletes the opportunity to take in the incredibly historic surroundings of this ancient city. The swim takes place in a purpose-built rowing lake which is fed by a mountain river. It’s a 1-lap course with a super simple format which could mean that where the stronger swimmers would usually be able to break away at turn buoys or by coping better with chop or swell – here we could see the athletes exiting the water fairly close together. Weaker swimmers will be able to find fast feet and try to hang on.
That’ll make for an exciting dynamic on the bike. The course has been redesigned for 2025, switching the old 2-lap 86km course for a single lap 88km ride. Taking athletes beyond the city limits, past ancient monuments and architecture, out into the Uzbekistan countyside. It’s a fast course – but by no means flat. There’s just shy of 650m of climbing, so it falls nicely into the ‘rolling’ course profile category. There’s a couple of kickers at the start, before a long downhill stretch. This is where the powerhouse and the confident descenders will be able to make a mark. But at around the 52km mark, there’s a long uphill for around 20km. Any athletes who’ve overcooked the first half of the bike are sure to suffer here and we could see some of the athletes who’ve been patient and paced to perfection coming through to take charge of the race.
The run course is back at the Silk Road Samarkand complex. It’s fast and it’s flat. But with temperatures predicted to be around 33C (91F), this is where the blazing sun could really start to make an impact on the racing. We could see some epic blow ups as the heat takes hold. And it’ll be the athletes who’ve nailed their pacing, managed their hydration and taken a proactive approach to keeping cool who’ll come out on top.
With a strong breadth of contenders, this is a race where anything could happen.
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