The city of St. Pölten, the capital of the State of Lower Austria has been hosting major international triathlon events for two decades now.
On Sunday, the fourth edition of Challenge St. Pölten took place, a race which saw a repeat winner from 2023 in the men’s race, Tom Hug, joined by five first-time visitors to a Challenge Family professional podium.
Germany’s Laura Zimmermann took the title for the Pro Women in what was a very tight battle, just holding off Great Britain’s Chloe Sparrow, who was making only her second professional start. She wasn’t the only Brit who reached the podium either… check out how it all played out below.
A regular on these pages, photographer José Luis Hourcade (www.joseluishourcade.com) was on hand to capture the race in pictures, as well as some of the amazing scenery that this region has to offer
Challenge St. Pölten Gallery 2024
Pre-race focus
The Pro Women start the day off in St. Pölten
Early battles in this ‘two lake’ swim course
The Pro Men start 20 minutes later
This is NOT transition! Athletes run 200m between the Viehofner See and Ratzersdorfer See as part of this ‘two lake’ course
Diving in for the second part of the swim
Chloe Sparrow (GBR) and Hannes Butters (GER) built big leads during the opening discipline, leaving their chasers with plenty of work to do
The bike course starts with a flat and fast motorway section
Defending champion, Tom Hug (GER) had to overcome a bike crash this year, losing most of his nutrition in the process
Germany’s Maurice Clavel was initially part of the chasing group
Athletes were soon off of the motorway and into some amazing surrounds
Passing through one of the many wineries and vineyards of the region
Two minutes up after the swim, Hannes Butters started to catch the Pro Women out on the 90km bike course
Chloe Sparrow maintained her swim lead throughout the bike leg, reaching T2 around half a minute clear
Laura Zimmerman in chase of Great Britain’s Chloe Sparrow
Sarah Schönfelder (GER) was the fastest on the bike, reducing that gap to the Brit and moving into second place at T2
Much of the bike course is with the World Heritage are of Wachau
Defending champion Daniela Kleiser would take fourth place this time around
Tom Hug quickly passed Hannes Butters to take a decisive lead early in the run
Ondrej Kubo (SVK) ran his was to second place
After 11th (2022) and 5th (2023) here previously, Will Draper ran strongly to a first career Challenge Family podium finish
The two-lap run course takes athletes past the finish straight and transition area
It took until later in the run for Laura Zimmermann to finally pass Chloe Sparrow who almost went gun-to-tape
Chloe Sparrow ran strongly to hold second place at the finish
Back-to-back Challenge St .Pölten titles for Tom Hug
A first challenge family victory for Zimmermann – her winning margin was just 30 seconds over Sparrow
Challenge St. Pölten Results 2024
Sunday 26 May 2024 – 1.9 km / 92 km / 21.1 km
ELITE WOMEN
1. Laura Zimmermann (GER) – 4:27:06
2. Chloe Sparrow (GBR) – 4:27:46
3. Sarah Schönfelder (GER) – 4:28:57
Women’s Pro Podium
ELITE MEN
1. Tom Hug (GER) – 3:52:48
2. Ondrej Kubo (SVK) – 3:54:59
3. Will Draper (GBR) – 3:55:28
Men’s Pro Podium
Written by
John Levison
TRI247’s Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
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