Surprise at the Anfi Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, with the first professional victories of Iestyn Harrett and Marta Lagownik

Surprise in the Anfi Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, the international triathlon that has opened the European season in Gran Canaria with an exciting race from start to finish, which has not decided its champions until its last kilometers.

This test has made Anfi del Mar vibrate, with more than 40 professional triathletes and 480 competitors, crowning the British Iestyn Harrett and the Polish athlete Martha Lagownik in a victory that they will never forget, being their first as a professional.

Iestyn Harrett and Marta Lagownik have debuted as champions for the first time as professionals with times of 3 hours, 44 minutes and 45 seconds (3h44'45”) and 4 hours, 15 minutes and 36 seconds (4h15'36”) respectively.

They have made a splash in a race in which all eyes were focused on veteran rivals like the Dane Kristian Høgenhaug and the Belgian Dieter Comhair, favorites for the title, but the strategy, talent, ambition and powerful performance of Harrett and Lagownik have won this time.

The men's race began with a first group of 10 that took the lead in the first swimming lap, but took an unexpected turn in the 90 kilometers of a demanding bicycle circuit, the true litmus test of the Anfi Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria .

The male leader, the Italian Fabian Alessandro He retired due to mechanical problems, which gave way to a race that was soon in the hands of the British Luke pollardthe Belgian Tom Vaelen and one of the strongest rivals, the Danish Kristian Høgenhaug.

Despite the demanding 1.400 m gradient on the bike course, Høgenhaug, remembering that he was a long-distance world champion and after recovering from an injury, took the lead on the last lap, preparing the ground for an intense foot race. He arrived strong at the race circuit, but nothing was decided yet in Anfi del Mar.

A new turn triggered the excitement in this first test of the season, with Iestyn Harrett closing the gap and overtaking Høgenhaug solidly and totally focused in a heart-stopping duel of titans in Gran Canaria.

Everything was decided in the last kilometers, with emotion running high in a great triathlon spectacle in which the Briton managed to scratch a 20-second lead to secure victory.

Høgenhaug finished second with a time of 3:45:29, followed by the national favorite, Mikel Ugarte, who flew into the finish line to complete the podium with a time of 3 hours 46 minutes and 36 seconds.

As Harrett has related, the bicycle was quite a challenge, but “I knew I had good chances in the running race,” so he focused on “reducing distances little by little to get there quickly – to the transition – and open a gap for myself.” great as quickly as possible.”

The women's race was just as exciting, with a very united group in the lead coming out of the swim, led by the British Chloe Sparrow followed by the Polish Lagownik, who took control on the bike, solid and unbeatable, maintaining control in the run.

Her rivals did not make it easy for her, Lagownik had the German triathlete hot on her heels Rebecca Robisch, the Italian Margi Santimaria and the French athlete Justin Guerard, with the German Carolin Lehrieder out of competition due to a puncture. They arrived at T2 together, leaving the title in the hands of the foot race.

The German four-time Ironman champion was also very dangerous Svenja Thoes, known for her talent as a runner, who landed on the running circuit in sixth position.

Totally focused and determined, there was no one to stop Lagownik, and she took the lead from the beginning, widening the gap kilometer by kilometer.

Lagownik, with a brilliant career, has assured that “she did not expect it”, so this first professional victory has a very special flavor for her.

With a time of 4 hours 15 minutes and 36 seconds, she was accompanied on the podium in second position by the German Rebecca Robisch with a total time of 4 hours, 19 minutes and 21 seconds (4h19'21”) ahead of her German teammate. Leonie Konzalla, which took third place with a time of 4 hours, 20 minutes and 26 seconds (4h20'26”).

Moganero Willy García and Italian Emma Sensoli crown the short distance

The title stays at home. The most frenetic and fastest modality of the Anfi Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, the short distance, leaves victory on Mogán soil with the local athlete Willy Garcia, who after several years on the podium has won the medal and the ribbon as the first to reach the finish line.

In girls, the Italian Emma Sensoli She has been the female leader, solid on the bike and on foot to the title.

Willy García, a regular in triathlons on the island, has won the short distance with a time of 2 hours 32 minutes and 21 seconds (2h32'21”), followed by Adrian Nuez Ramos with 2 hours 34 minutes and 51 seconds (2h34'51”) and the Swiss triathlete Alexandre Di Giuseppe with 2 hours 36 minutes and 1 second (2h36'01”).

The Italian triathlete has closed this short distance of the Anfi Challenge Mogán with a victory with a brilliant time of 2 hours 57 minutes and 15 seconds (2h57'15”), after cutting seconds on the circuit by bike and in the race, which consolidated her position in the highest with a minute and a half advantage over his toughest rival.

The Spanish Lucía Pérez Almeida He followed her very closely throughout the race, taking the lead with the fastest swim and guaranteeing the podium by staying in the lead throughout the circuit.

With a total time of 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds (2h58'50”), the winner of the last edition has returned to the podium, which was also closed by the national triathlete Marta Luna Uroz of the Church with a final time of 3 hours 9 minutes and 12 seconds (3h09'12”).

The short distance was the first to cross the finish line after a 1,9 kilometer swim, 42 kilometer bike ride and 12 kilometer run, as the most popular and most frenetic modality of the day.

The Anfi Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria is organized by the Challenge Gran Canaria team, with the collaboration of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria in its Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Anfi del Mar Group and Anfi Sports Academy, the Mogán City Council and the Canarian Federation of Triathlon, among others.