Andrés Carnevai and Liliana Veríssimo win the Doñana Challenge  

The Malaga Andrés Carnevali and the Portuguese Liliana Veríssimo have been proclaimed winners in the absolute category of the twelfth edition of the Doñana Challenge, which was held today in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, with a route of 80 kilometers by bicycle, 1,4 km. swimming at the mouth of the Guadalquivir and 20 kilometers of running on the beach on the shore of Doñana.

A total of 225 triathletes took the start at Bajo Guía avenue at 10.30 am, once the section neutralized by Sanlúcar was finished, the race officially began. And everything was normal, circulating in a platoon, until reaching the outskirts of Trebujena, where, on a steep incline, a strong attack to the head began, which made five runners leave, among whom were Emilio Martín, winner of three editions of the Challenge, Andrés Carnevali and Bernardo Rivero. These same triathletes arrived in Sanlúcar, finishing the cycling section with 1:52:51, Emilio being the first in that segment. The peloton arrived five minutes behind the head of the race.

But something happened to the Huelva duathlon world champion in the swimming segment (apparently he already came with cramps), because Andrés Carnevali arrived first at T2 to start the race on foot, with a slight advantage over the young man from Chiclana Rubén Candle.

Carnevali posted a spectacular 16:25 swim time, considering the strong currents in the river. Emilio was not among the first when he started to run.

At the finish line, the first to cross it was finally the triathlete from CT Benalmádena, with a time of 3:27:52.

In second position came the junior from Cádiz Rubén Vela, who scored 3:33:19 at the finish. And third, the Sevillian Bernardo Rivero, with 3:34:37.

The winner of the 2019 edition, Dani Pérez from Malaga, finished in fourth position. And fifth the Sevillian Sergio Cruz, who prevailed in the 2014 and 2015 editions. Emilio Martín reached the finish line in 29th place.

Carnevali showed his euphoria on arrival and the first thing he did was thank the rest of the escapees in the cycling segment "for the collaboration in all the moments that there has been during the escape, it is something that I also take with me."

The man from Malaga also referred to the cramps he had after crossing the mouth of the Guadalquivir, which made him doubt, but he finally recovered and completed an excellent foot race to reach Malandar first.

In women, the first to cross the finish line was the second classified in 2019, the Portuguese Liliana Veríssimo, who made up for that edition and set a time of 3:55:15.

Second was Mariola García, third in 2019, with 4:12:50; and Beatriz Jiménez, from Malaga from Alhaurín de la Torre, completed the women's podium in the Doñana Challenge, who crossed the finish line with a time of 4:18:46, arriving exhausted and having to be attended to.

Veríssimo was very tired but happy to achieve victory “in such a tough triathlon, but with a route that is unmatched. I recommend it, it is something that you should do sometime in your life ”.

After not holding the test in person in 2020, the event once again had a large audience following the competition, both at the start and in the different transitions, as well as around the finish line on Malandar beach .

The Challenge always attracts many family members of the triathletes and a special atmosphere and color is generated around it.

For more information and all the results of the test you can visit the official page of the competition: www.desafiodonana.com, or download the official app of the event.

The mayor of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Víctor Mora, and the president of the Andalusian Triathlon Federation, Pablo Castilla; and the Councilor for Sports of Sanlúcar, David Salazar.

The twelfth edition of the Doñana Challenge has been organized by the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía, through the Public Company for the Management of Tourism and Sports of Andalusia, with the technical support of the Andalusian Triathlon Federation, and the collaboration of the municipalities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Jerez de la Frontera and Trebujena and the Doñana Natural Area.