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Joyce And Cunnama Win Challenge Roth

  • By Liz Hichens
  • Published July 8, 2012

For the first time in three years Challenge Roth did not see a world record broken, but it was still a fast day with South Africa’s James Cunnama squeezing out a sub-eight hour race. On the women’s side, Great Britain’s Rachel Joyce took home the women’s title in 8:45:04.

Men’s Race
France’s Benjamin Sanson led the men out of the canal with a swim time of 45:58. After several other pro men exited the water, pre-race favorites Timo Bracht (GER) and Cunnama came into T1 as part of a large chase group about 90 seconds back. Germany’s own Konstantin Bachor dominated the bike, coming into T2 at just over five hours into the race. Bracht and Cunnama reached the transition just over 10 minutes back of the super cyclist. The pair ran together in the early miles of the race. At about the midway point of the marathon Cunnama made a decision to try to break away from Bracht and built a slide lead on him. With Bachor struggling, Cunnama took the lead and ran his way to victory. Cunnama is now part of the esteemed sub-8 hour club, crossing the line at 7:59:59. Bracht easily earned second, with Switzerland’s Mike Aigroz taking the final podium spot in 8:08:28.

Women’s Race
Super swimmer Lucie Zelenkova-Reed led the women into T1 with a swim time of 47:31. Joyce followed six seconds later, with the other pre-race favorites, like Gina Crawford (NZL) and Belinda Granger (AUS), exiting the water about three minutes back. Joyce quickly went to work on the bike and built a lead over the entire women’s field. The strong swim coupled with a dominant bike performance gave Joyce a lead of 4:35 over the Netherlands’ Mirjam Weerd into T2. Joyce continued her dominant day, posting a 2:59:53 to earn the win at 8:45:04. Germany’s Sonja Tajsich earned second in 8:49:47. Another German, Julia Gajer, earned third at 8:57:02.

Challenge Roth
Results

Top 5 Men
1. James Cunnama (RSA) 7:59:59
2. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:03:28
3. Mike Aigroz (SUI) 8:08:01
4. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:10:05
5. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 8:13:01

Top 5 Women
1. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 8:45:04
2. Sonja Tajsich (GER) 8:49:47
3. Julia Gajer (GER) 8:57:02
4. Gina Crawford (NZL) 8:59:35
5. Britta Martin (GER) 9:01:10

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