Henri Schoeman announces long-distance debut at “Tour de France” of triathlon

Henri Schoeman doesn’t do things by halves so it should not surprise anyone that he is choosing to make his long-distance debut in the Tour de France of triathlon.

Schoeman has been South African short-distance champion five times. He won Commonwealth Games gold in 2018. He also finished at the top of the podium at the Arena Games in 2023. And last year, he won his first 70.3 in the Philippines.

But the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist is now taking on a brand new challenge as he tackles the world famous DATEV Challenge Roth on 6 July.

“Bucket List race”

Schoeman took to Instagram to make the announcement, saying: “Guess what? It’s happening. My first long-distance triathlon. It’s going to be at Challenge Roth.

“Pretty excited about that one. It’s been a Bucket List race. An amazing course. To debut there, I couldn’t be more excited about that. I’m excited to see what I can do over the long distance.”

Challenge Roth, organised annually in and around the Roth area of Bavaria, Germany, markets itself as “the biggest long-distance triathlon in the world.”

Competitors complete a 3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle and 42.2 km run with a mythical swim start at the Main-Danube Canal, and a bike course through the legendary Solar Hills.

“Spectacular atmosphere”

Schoeman, who has experienced many highs and lows in the sport in recent years, told Challenge Roth: “I think the atmosphere is just spectacular, and it’s something truly special to be a part of – especially competing against the best professionals.

“I don’t have any specific expectations, but I really want to compete against the best and learn as much as possible from the race and about myself. If I manage to reach the podium, I will, of course, be very happy.”

Schoeman, who also won gold at the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final in Cozumel after Alistair Brownlee famously slowed to help his struggling brother Jonny over the line, won’t be the only Olympian suiting up in Bavaria.

For French short-course great Vincent Luis and Australian Aaron Royle have also announced they will be making their long-distance debuts at the event, which has been going since 2002.