Poland’s Kacper Stepniak won his second consecutive race on home turf at Challenge Gdansk, having triumphed at IRONMAN 70.3 Warsaw last weekend as well. Behind the Pole, Ognjen Stojanovic of Serbia took second place, just ahead of Marcel Bolbat of Germany.
In the women’s race, German Anne Reichsmann dominated as expected, as home favourite Agnieszka Jerzyk finished just ahead of another German Daniela Kleiser in the battle for second place.
Pro Men – Stepniak unstoppable on home turf
Having won last weekend at IRONMAN 70.3 Warsaw, Stepniak was one of the clear favourites for the win in the North of Poland, but faced stiff competition from Dutchman Menno Koolhaas, who was looking for his third consecutive Challenge Family win.
Whilst Koolhaas led out of the water alongside Stepniak, with Stojanovic and Bolbat close behind, there was no stopping the home favourite once he got on to the bike, as he put minutes into a chase pack that now contained Australian Nicholas Chase, with a gap of three minutes at the halfway mark.
As Stepniak surged on over the final stages of the bike, it looked like it would be an impossible mission to catch him, no matter how strong your run legs were, as he entered T2 with a lead of +5:44 back to the rest of the field, with Koolhaas, Free, Stojanovic and Bolbat left to fight it out for the minor positions.
Holding it together over the half marathon, Stepniak, despite losing some time to the chasers, took his second consecutive victory on home turf, as Stojanovic claimed his second consecutive runner-up slot after finishing behind Koolhaas last weekend in Geraardsbergen. Bolbat of Germany rounded out the podium in third.
After the race, Stepniak shared that despite his big lead of the bike, things did get a little close for comfort after the chasers had almost halved his lead over the first stage of the run.
“That was tough! The run was so hard! They were getting closer and closer and at the halfway point the gap had already halved. It was very scary but in the second half I ran a little bit faster and I made it!”
Pro Women – Reichsmann in league of her own
In the women’s race, two Brits, Rosie Weston and Megan McDonald, were first out of the water, as the duo led out with a gap over next best Marta Lagownik, who was +2:05 behind the leaders coming into transition.
Out on to the bike, McDonald quickly began to put the power down, dropping Weston and building a +1:55 lead over the first lap, as Poland’s Jerzyk and Lagownik moved up into second and third, with Reichsmann of Germany close behind.
By the end of the second lap, Reichsmann had taken the lead and continued to push on at the front, coming into transition with a sizeable gap over Jerzyk, who had blown past McDonald to relegate the Brit into third, +3:23 behind the German leader.
On to the run, the result never seemed to be in doubt, as Reichsmann comfortably took the win by 90 seconds, with the exciting battle going on behind. Jerzyk just held on to second, as a fast moving Kleiser stormed through the field and just ran out of real estate in the hunt for second place.
After the race, Reichsmann shared that she had been aiming for the win all along and whilst that brought a lot of self-induced pressure, she held strong to accomplish her goal.
“I had a very lonely swim in the middle of the field. On the bike I just tried to catch up and get to the front which was my plan. I came here with the goal to win so I put some pressure on myself. I got to the front but I had to dig really deep.
“I loved the bike, it was really well organised and I don’t think I have ever seen such a fair pro race with men and women racing together so really well done to the organisation. On the run the first two laps were fine but then I started to break down and it got really hard at the end. The run course is tough, it’s flat but it’s not easy!”
Lotto Challenge Gdańsk 2023 results
Sunday 18 June 2023 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
Gdańsk, Poland
Pro Men
- 1. Kacper Stepniak (POL) – 3:44:25
- 2. Ognjen Stojanovic (SER) – 3:45:11
- 3. Marcel Bolbat (GER) – 3:45:18
Pro Women
- 1. Anne Reichsmann (GER) – 4:12:58
- 2. Agnieszka Jerzyk (POL) – 4:14:32
- 3. Daniela Kleiser (GER) – 4:14:51
