Here’s what happened in the swim in the women’s race at Challenge Roth… Watch the race live HERE.
Three women made their move on the bike to edge away from the chasing pack and put themselves into a strong position ahead of the decisive marathon.
However, while Alanis Siffert (SUI), Caroline Pohle (GER), and Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) all arrived at T2 within a minute of one another, the pre-race favourite, Kat Matthews (GBR), found herself more than 12 minutes behind the pace-setters and with a huge task on her hands to challenge for even a podium place.
Charles-Barclay was first out of T1 and quickly into her business on the bike; however, the chasing pack were not as far behind as perhaps many might have expected, with the British duo of Daisy Davies and Fenella Langridge joining Pohle and Siffert under two minutes back.
Siffert hunts down LCB and takes the lead
By the time they had reached the 16km mark, the gap had narrowed to just 30 seconds, with Siffert, Davies and Pohle edging away from Langridge and starting to put serious pressure on leader LCB.
Indeed, it didn’t take long for a new front rider to emerge as Siffert went into overdrive and powered her way past Charles-Barclay, who, while not looking in any serious trouble, had simply not been able to break away from those on her rear wheel.
Matthews had looked good further back in the field and by the 50km mark had managed to climb into sixth position, but she was still more than six minutes back and had seemingly made the call to conserve her energies for what was clearly going to be a huge marathon for an athlete regarded as the best runner in the field.
The gap between Siffert and LCB was by now more than a minute, and Pohle had also started to gain on the 2019 Roth winner.
Langridge starts to fade… but enjoys Solar Hill
Langridge, meanwhile, was finding the pace a little too hot for her liking, and she started to slip further back from the chasing group.
Pohle, competing in her first-ever full-distance race, flew past Charles-Barclay around the 63km mark, and it was the German who followed Siffert up the incredible Solar Hill for the first time as thousands of screaming fans cheered the athletes through one of the most famous stretches of road anywhere in the world of triathlon.
Siffert could be seen waving her arms in the air to encourage the crowd, but in truth, they really didn’t need an invitation to get raucous, and as the Swiss rider arrowed her way up through the crowds, you could see that she was clearly enjoying the experience.
Langridge, too, was punching the air as she navigated her way through the throng of cheering supporters in a sight not seen anywhere else in this sport.
As they reached the halfway point of the bike section, Siffert was still out in front, but for all her efforts, she had not managed to truly break away, and Pohle was still only a minute behind, with Charles-Barclay and Davies a matter of seconds further back.
Matthews up to fifth, but falling further behind
Matthews had made her way up to fifth, passing the clearly fading Langridge, but was now +8:36 behind Siffert and looking in serious danger of leaving herself with too much time to make up in the marathon.
Charles-Barclay and Pohle continued to trade blows in second and third place, while all the time making sure they stayed around a minute in arrears of the leader, Siffert.
By the time they arrived at Solar Hill for their second climb, Siffert, LCB and Pohle had pulled almost five minutes clear of fourth-placed Davies, with Matthews sitting 12 minutes back – which, while not insurmountable, was possibly more than she would have wanted on her Roth debut.
Siffert was able to hold her nearest rivals at bay for the remainder of the bike section, maintaining her lead of around a minute as she headed towards T2 and the start of the marathon.
She stumbled into the transition area – dropping her bike – having completed the course in a time of 5:23:12 and was followed by Pohle and LCB, who were in together at +00:57. Davies was a long way back in fourth (+06:18), and as Matthews came in fifth, she immediately set about trying to eat into the +12:27 gap to the leader.
Challenge Roth women’s bike results
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Overall time after the bike | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alanis Siffert | SUI | 05:23:12 | +00:00 |
| 2 | Caroline Pohle | GER | 05:24:09 | +00:57 |
| 3 | Lucy Charles-Barclay | GBR | 05:24:09 | +00:57 |
| 4 | Daisy Davies | GBR | 05:29:30 | +06:18 |
| 5 | Kat Matthews | GBR | 05:35:39 | +12:27 |
| 6 | Fenella Langridge | GBR | 05:48:19 | +25:07 |
| 7 | Chloe Hartnett | AUS | 05:48:38 | +25:26 |
| 8 | Jeanne Collonge | FRA | 05:49:43 | +26:31 |
| 9 | Jasmine Brown | AUS | 05:52:06 | +28:54 |
| 10 | Anna Pabinger | AUT | 05:59:47 | +36:35 |
READ MORE:
For the women’s swim report, go HERE.
For the men’s swim report, go HERE.
For the men’s bike report, go HERE.
