After an epic battle that lasted until the final kilometers and in which the two leaders did not give each other any ground, Valerie Barthelemy has just won the first edition of Challenge Cap Québec. In a race described by all the professional athletes as ‘epic’ and ‘spectacular’, the Belgian athlete stayed just ahead of Jodie Stimpson. In the men’s race, the win went to an unleashed Jack Moody, who managed to win by a huge margin.
That all the professional athletes were so lyrical about Challenge Cap Québec afterwards should really come as no surprise, because in Canada it was clear that in North America they know how triathlons should be organized. The swim took place in a harbor and was notable for the no less than fourteen turns the athletes had to make, the bike course took four laps on a flat highway and the run course went through the old city center of Quebec, including some tough cobblestone climbs. No matter where you looked; the crowd was lined up and frenzied with enthusiasm. Athletes were almost literally carried by all the cheering.
Barthelemy and Stimpson needed it too, because early in the race it became clear that they would fight the battle for victory in pairs; no one could stay near them, but at the same time the two fastest women thus gave each other no space to get away. The pace was fast and the race was hard fought both in the water, on the bike and while running. While the women consistently went side by side, Barthelemy struggled especially during the run, she noted afterwards. “The first 15 kilometers I had trouble getting into a rhythm and tried to stay mostly with Jodie. I tried to tick off one kilometer at a time: kilometer by kilometer. Only in the last few kilometers did I notice that I was stronger.”
She was correct in that, as only in the last three kilometers Barthelemy created a small gap, which eventually grew very quickly to more than a minute. Barthelemy won the race in 4:12:13, Stimpson was second in 4:13:21 and Canada’s Dominika Jamnicky was third in 4:21:09.
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The men’s race was dominated by an unleashed Jack Moody. The athlete from New-Zealand took the lead in the race early on during the bike and despite several chasing men behind him, his lead kept growing. Even during the run, he only ran further away from his competitors.
Moody won the race in 3:40:14, Nicholas Gilbert was second in 3:49:26 and Brennen Smith third in 3:53:33.
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