Filip Ospaly from the Czech Republic and Michelle Vesterby from Denmark have taken out the inaugural Challenge Family event in Tønsberg, Norway.
40-year-old Ospaly was a major factor throughout the entire race leading from the early stages, battling with Jesper Svensson from Sweden, Thomas Strange from Denmark, Horst Reichel from Germany and Inaki Baldellou from Spain.
The group of five was close during most of the stunning bike course to the “World´s End”, but out of T2 the veteran Ospaly provided what a potent runner he still is as he left the rest of the field in his wake to win the title in a time of 4 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds. Horst Reichel and Inaki Baldellou finished second and third respectively.
“It was a surprisingly tough course. Especially the bike to the World´s End was demanding. There were not any significant mountains, but it sure wasn´t flat,” Ospaly says.
On the run course participants had to climb Slottsfjellet (Castle Mountain) twice. The climb included 100 stairs.
In the women’s pro race it was the flying Dane Michelle Vesterby who was the class of the field to win the inaugural CHALLENGETONSBERG title with a time 4 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds. Second and third place respectively were Danish Birgitte Krogsgaard and Polish Olga Kowalska .
“It was a tough fight with the other girls prancing behind me all the way , and the trail was hard . Much harder than I had imagined,” says Vesterby
The best-placed Norweigan triathlete was Marius Elvedal from Drammen, who finished 11th in the professional division.
FEMALE PROFESSIONAL RESULTS
1 Michelle Vesterby 04:39:35
2 Birgitte Krogsgaard 04:42:55
3 Olda Kowalska 04:46:46
4 Heini Hartikainen 04:52:11
5 Filipa Santos 04:55:11
MALE PROFESSIONAL RESULTS
1 Filip Ospaly 04:03:02
2 Horst Reichel 04:05:44
3 Inaka Baidellou 04:06:20
4 Jesper Svensson 04:08:59
5 Thomas Strange 04:09:17