It’s a new event which has really captured the imagination and it will come to life this weekend as two top pro fields race the middle-distance event on the stunning Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, while many lucky age-groupers take part in the first ever long-distance triathlon in the Middle East.
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There are also Olympic-distance and Community Races on offer but our focus in this preview is on the professionals who will tackle a 1.9km swim, 96km bike and 21.1km run amid a dramatic landscape that is home to some stunning wildlife.
The reigning IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow is there as are a host of established and up-and-coming names – read on to find out more…
Start times and how to follow live
Challenge Sir Bani Yas takes place on Saturday, April 5 2025.
The pro men start at 10:30 local time, which corresponds to 07:30 in the UK, 08:30 CET and 02:30 Eastern time (23:30 PST Friday on the West Coast). The pro women start 10 minutes later at 10:40.
The full schedule for all age-group events can be found here.
The Challenge Family website will provide timing data, leaderboards, text updates, images and more so is the ideal way to follow it all unfold.
The course
In terms of the course, it can be summed up in one word – breathtaking.
Located off the coast of Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas is one of the eight Al Dhafra desert islands but it’s not just about the sweeping beaches and azure-blue waters.
For there’s also lush greenery, imposing salt dome mountains and ancient archaeological sites. And over half of the island is home to one of the region’s largest wildlife reserves, where Arabian oryx, gazelles, giraffes, hyenas and cheetahs roam.
The swim takes place in a protected location on the southeast of the Island, with calm waters and little in the way of swell and it’s one lap for the pros.
The bike course is arguably a bit more than “rolling” with a total elevation gain of 654 metres over the two laps but the run course is fast and flat, with the two laps taking athletes through the heart of the race village and along the coastal road before heading out towards the tranquillity of the lagoon.
Pro Men
There’s no doubt that former IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow (FRA) is the headline name but equally it remains to be seen how much of a part he plays given his well-documented health issues this year.
Britain’s Kieran Lindars had a breakthrough season last year, taking a brilliant second behind Kristian Blummenfelt at IRONMAN Frankfurt before proving that was no fluke with a top 10 spot at the IMWC in Kona.
Another long-course star looking to shine at middle distance is Jesper Svensson (SWE) who followed in Lindars’ footsteps by becoming a winner of Challenge Almere last season.
At the other end of the distance spectrum we have some fascinating contenders stepping up from a mostly short-course background, headed by Henri Schoeman (RSA) and Jonas Schomburg (GER).
On this weekend two years ago Olympic medal winner Schoeman got back to winning ways at arguably the shortest and sharpest format of the sport when he was crowned the Esports World Champion in London but has already announced that he will make his full-distance debut at the iconic Challenge Roth later this year.
Schomburg meanwhile made a stunning long-course bow of his own when third behind big guns Magnus Ditlev and Marten Van Riel at IRONMAN South Africa last weekend – but how will the legs be just six days later?
Ognjen Stojanović (SER) had no less than five Challenge Family podiums in 2024 so has to be respected too, indeed he’s one of the three that our detailed predictions piece suggest will be on the final podium.
Pro Women
Again we’ve looked at the field in detail here and those we think strongly in contention for a top-three spot include 2022 The Championship winner Sara Pérez Sala (ESP).
She was third at Challenge Turku last year and a big highlight came at the Paralympics in Paris when she was a guide for Susanna Rodriguez in the PTVI race – where the duo won gold.
It will be a major surprise if she doesn’t lead out of the water but others to watch out for later in the race include Aurelia Boulanger (FRA) who hit the ground running in 2024 with three Challenge Family victories in a row which would ultimately help her to second place in the year-end Challenge world rankings.
Aussie Milan Agnew, winner of Challenge Turku, Diede Diederiks (NED) and Giorgia Priarone (ITA) are others for the shortlist as are British duo Chloe Sparrow and Rosie Wild.
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is EUR 25,000.
As a Challenge Family event, there’s also another potential source of earnings for athletes too, courtesy of the Challenge Family World Bonus.
