Challenge St Pölten 2025 results: Breakthrough win for up-and-coming British star

Chloe Sparrow (GBR) and Jannik Schaufler (GER) claimed impressive victories on a shortened Challenge St Pölten course in 4:25:51 and 3:44:30 respectively on Sunday.

Sparrow led the entire day but had to dig deep in the final stretch to hold off Anna Pabinger (AUT) and take the first professional middle-distance win of her career, with Gabriele Obmann (AUT) in third.

Meanwhile in the men’s race Schaufler dominated the run and built up a lead of several minutes, eventually crossing the line in 3:44:30, with Will Draper (GBR) almost exactly four minutes behind and Ondrej Kubo (SVK) rounding out the podium in third.

Even though it was cold early on – the swim had to be shortened to 1500 metres – Challenge St Pölten took place under beautiful conditions and here’s how the two races played out…

Women’s race – Sparrow digs deep

In the women’s race it was a wire-to-wire win for Sparrow, but that doesn’t quite tell the full story.

The Brit is a relative newcomer to the sport but this race will surely hold a special place in her heart as it was also the scene of her first podium 12 months ago when she was runner up to Laura Zimmermann after being overhauled late on the run.

Today she again took the lead during the swim and completed her 1500 metres in 23:00 minutes. Frenchwoman Maëla Moison followed 23 seconds later, while Austrian Tanja Stroschneider, Slovak Margaréta Bicanová, and fellow Austrian Anna Reiser were a minute and a half behind.

On the bike, Sparrow really kicked into gear and built a significant lead over the rest of the field. Fully focused and without looking back, she left everyone behind.

By the time she returned to T2, her lead over second-placed Danish athlete, Emely Ravn, had increased to 5:35, while Pabinger arrived in third, trailing by 7:53.

Midway through the run, Sparrow still held a lead of 3:48, although it was now Pabinger who had surged into second place, rapidly closing the gap. That trend continued, and with five kilometres to go, the gap between the two athletes was only a minute and a half, setting the stage for a real thriller in the final stages as they came within sight of each other.

Pabinger looked sure to pounce but Sparrow had other ideas and kicked in the closing stages which meant she was able to enjoy her run to the tape as she won by 30 seconds in a time of 4:25:51, with Obmann completing the podium.

Chloe Sparrow wins Challenge St Polten 2025 — Chloe Sparrow celebrates her first win as a pro [Photo credit: José Louis Hourcade]

“I was hurting all day off the back of racing The Championship last weekend,” said Sparrow after her victory.

“It was a total head game the whole race to beat this, plus I was on my own for so much of it and I had no idea where anyone else was, not even at the end as I only saw Anna when I turned into the finish line!

“It was so good to take the win after second last year and I’ll back for a third time next year!”

Men’s race – Schaufler too good on the run

During the swim, Hannes Butters (GER) took an early lead, just as he did in last week’s The Championship, taking the initiative and posting the fastest swim time of 20:23.

That was all the more impressive as he’d suffered a bad bike crash in training on Saturday.

His fellow countryman Schaufler followed just four seconds behind and we soon had a sizeable front group.

They were then joined by Jannik Stoll (GER) and he wasted little time in powering clear, with only Schaufler able to stick with him.

That remained the case until T2, when the two entered the transition area just 11 seconds apart.

During the half marathon it quickly became clear that Schaufler was untouchable, giving no one a chance to catch up. Stoll rapidly lost time, and Schaufler appeared to be heading toward a certain victory.

Draper, fourth at The Championship just seven days previously, would come through into second, while Slovakia’s Ondrej Kubo also finished strong to take third.