Alanis Siffert recorded a stunning shock victory as the big-name pre-race favourites Lucy Charles-Barclay and Kat Matthews were put in the shade by the exuberant brilliance of the 24-year-old Swiss starlet.
Charles-Barclay had exited the swim in first place but was soon caught by the eventual winner as they set out on the bike, and it was a lead that the brilliant Siffert was determined to hold on to.
Last year, she had run the marathon in 3:04, but she cruised around the course to come home in a PB of 2:45:00 and a finishing time of 08:09:09.
LCB, who had only decided to race Roth a week ago, finished more than seven minutes behind in 08:16:41, while another youngster, Britain’s Daisy Davies, produced the performance of her short career to cross in third.
Matthews finished in fourth but was +22:26 behind the leader and needed medical attention as she crossed the line having been ill partway around the run.
Swim – Lucy Charles-Barclay powers away to dominate swim
Lucy Charles-Barclay dominated the swim as expected in the Danube-Main Canal as the British athlete took an early grip on the 2026 Challenge Roth.
As expected, the temperature of the water in Bavaria was not cold enough for officials to deem this a wetsuit swim, but that did not prevent LCB from powering away right from the moment the cannon sounded.
Almost immediately, she opened up a sizeable gap on her rivals, those big, strong arms slicing through the water, ensuring she was ahead of the pack early and in charge right from the outset – just as she was when winning her last Roth in 2019.
Powerful start puts LCB in control
Fellow Brits Fenella Langridge and Daisy Davies were closest to her, while Switzerland’s Alanis Siffert had also been able to stick with the chasers as the early stages saw a distinct thinning of the field.
Germany’s Caroline Pohle was also swimming well, but she had chosen a lone course, away from the main group and swimming almost on her own; it was a tactic that would serve her well as she continued to keep pace with the leaders.
Matthews was further back, but then again, she was never going to be able to keep up with the likes of LCB or Langridge and was keeping her energy in reserve for what she would hope was a big chase down on the bike and run.
Unsurprisingly, it was Charles-Barclay who exited the water first, although her time of 50:23 was much slower than expected – even taking into account that it was a non-wetsuit swim – and she did not seem to have the kind of lead that many would have expected.
Pohle sets her own path into second
Pohle was next out of the water, 1:36 behind the leader; Siffert was third (+1:40), Langridge in fourth (+1:43), and Davies was fifth (+1:45).
Matthews will have known that she was going to be in arrears coming out of T1, but she wasn’t perhaps expecting to be more than six minutes behind, coming out of the water in eighth spot and with +6:08 to catch up to a leader in LCB who was already well into her bike and looking in powerful form.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the swim was to see Germany’s Daniela Bleymehl, many people’s tip to challenge for a podium place, way down in ninth spot and sitting at +09:21 to Charles-Barclay. She would have to put in the bike and swim of her life if she were to have any chance of making up the time.
Click here for the swim as it happened
Bike – Siffert makes her move on the bike but LCB and Pohle in contention
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 Siffert, Pohle, and Charles-Barclay all arrived at T2 within a minute of one another, the pre-race favourite, Matthews, 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 Davies and 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.
Click here for the bike as it happened
Run – Siffert secures title with incredible performance
If anyone was expecting Siffert to blow up on the marathon, then they were in for something of a surprise as the 24-year-old – having set off with a smile on her face out of T2 – not only held her lead over the chasers but even extended it to keep her rivals at bay.
Charles-Barclay sprang something of a surprise at the transition as she disappeared into a portaloo cabin to change completely from her trisuit into a much lighter and more run-friendly outfit.
It meant that she initially dropped behind Pohle by a few minutes as they set off on the run, but in what was clearly a pre-arranged plan to make her feel more comfortable, she was soon hunting down the German and passing her with ease.
Such a clothing switch could even be part of the plan for her later in the season as LCB heads to Kona hoping for a better outcome than last year when she blew up in the extreme heat and humidity.
The gap on Siffert, however, had pushed out to two minutes as Charles-Barclay set about chasing the Swiss athlete down.
Matthews, who started the marathon needing something very special if she was to drag back her +12:27 deficit, initially looked to be eating into that gap, but as the race progressed, it became clear that this was not going to be her day.
LCB did push hard in her bid to overhaul Siffert, but no matter how hard the Briton pushed, she just could not challenge a leader who was looking more and more comfortable with her place at the front.
As they reached the final 10km, Siffert’s lead had extended to +04:39 and the athlete who has been nicknamed ‘the duck’, was showing no signs of sinking.
Pohle, having never competed at a full-distance race before, was unable to maintain her speed or position and was eventually caught by Davies, who moved into third place and never looked like losing it.
Siffert, however, was the athlete in pole position, and as she entered the stadium, she once again urged the crowd to cheer before then heading back out to do a well-deserved mini lap of honour, having crossed the line at 08:09:09.
LCB would end up coming home +7:32 back, while Davies – who kept looking behind herself, almost in disbelief that she was safely in third – came home for what is surely the greatest result of her young career to date. Not even a stumble over the line could overshadow her incredible performance.
Challenge Roth 2026 men’s results
Sunday 5 July 2026 – 3.8km / 180km / 42.2km
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Total time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alanis Siffert | SUI | 52:03 | 04:29:19 | 02:45:00 | 08:09:09 | +00:00 |
| 2 | Lucy Charles-Barclay | GBR | 50:23 | 04:31:51 | 02:50:43 | 08:16:41 | +07:32 |
| 3 | Daisy Davies | GBR | 52:08 | 04:35:51 | 02:56:35 | 08:27:19 | +18:10 |
| 4 | Kat Matthews | GBR | 56:31 | 04:37:27 | 02:54:42 | 08:31:35 | +22:26 |
| 5 | Caroline Pohle | GER | 51:59 | 04:30:18 | 03:07:13 | 08:32:49 | +23:40 |
