Lucy Byram successfully defended her Challenge Wales crown with a brilliant performance in Fishguard, as fellow Brit Tom Bishop was unstoppable in the men’s race as he took his third podium finish of the season.
In the women’s field, Lizzie Rayner took second and Renee Kiley took third, whilst in the men’s race, Harry Palmer put together a strong performance for second as Liam Lloyd impressed on home soil with third to round out the podium.
Pro Men
In the men’s race, there was never any question over who would lead out of the water, as Andrew Horsfall-Turner, widely regarded as one of the best swimmers in the sport, came out in 25:20 with Bishop right on his heels after an excellent swim.
Behind, Palmer was out next, +1:29 behind Horsfall-Turner, with Lloyd, Finn Arentz and Kit Walker less than ten seconds behind.
Out of transition, Bishop quickly dispatched of Horsfall-Turner and started cranking the pedals, as the Derby born uber-cyclist destroyed the bike course, riding a 2:12:41 split to go over six minutes faster than anyone else in the field, entering T2 with a massive lead over Palmer and Lloyd.
On to the run, Lloyd, who had started the half marathon in second place, was reeled in by Palmer, who went on to have a tremendous run with the fastest split in the field of 1:16:07.
Up front all alone, Bishop looked comfortable throughout, winning by over seven minutes as Palmer came home second and Lloyd rounded out the podium in third.
After the race, Bishop shared that he had intended to push the bike all along, with his plan paying off as he decimated the competition on the rolling bike course.
“I just put my head down and went for it on the bike. I’d made around 90 seconds by the first turn on the bike and I just carried on at the same effort and then on the second lap I wanted to recover a bit to make sure I had a half marathon in my legs. I started to suffer at the end but the plan worked and I came first, super happy about that!”
Pro Women
In the women’s race, Britain’s Rosie Weston led out of the water, as she opened up a gap of 40 seconds back to defending champion Byram, who came out alongside Abigail Bedwell and Rayner.
Out on to the bike, Byram quickly reached the front of the field, as the Leeds based athlete made light work of the course and her competitors to ride an astounding 2:27:43 bike split, close to ten minutes quicker than her nearest competitor.
Into transition, Byram had a healthy lead and looked guaranteed to take home her second consecutive Challenge Wales title, as Rayner and Kiley of Australia came into T2 side by side, with the big battle looking to be between the pair for second place.
As Byram comfortably took the tape following a dominating performance, with the fastest bike and run split, Rayner pushed hard early on to shake Kiley, before eventually ending up comfortably taking second, with the Australian rounding out the podium in third.
Similarly to Bishop, Byram made it count on the bike, with the now two-time Challenge Wales champion sharing that it was a tough day out, despite making it look easy.
“It was a tough day! A few of us came out of the water together which was nice and then I put my head down on the bike and came off six or minutes ahead for the run and then I just built on that.”
Challenge Wales 2023 results
Saturday 11 June 2022 – 1.9km / 90km / 21.1km
Pro Men
- 1. Tom Bishop (GBR) – 3:56:28
- 2. Harry Palmer (GBR) – 4:03:50
- 3. Liam Lloyd (GBR) – 4:09:35
- 4. Alex Woodman (GBR) – 4:15:02
- 5. Andrew Horsfall-Turner (GBR) – 4:16:32
Pro Women
- 1. Lucy Byram (GBR) – 4:25:07
- 2. Lizzie Rayner (GBR) – 4:37:26
- 3. Renee Kiley (AUS) – 4:48:39
- 4. Abigail Bedwell (GBR) – 4:51:40
- 5. Rosie Weston (GBR) – 5:00:16
