Henning, Lidbury win Half Challenge Fuerteventura
Rasmus Henning used a home court advantage of sorts and stormed to the win at the 2012 Half Challenge Fuerteventura in 3:57:16 and thus successfully defended his title. Brit Emma-Kate Lidbury grabbed the women's title in 4:32:41.
While 2012 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon champion Rasmus Henning is from Denmark, he resides most of the year at the Playitas resort on Fuerteventura, so this Challenge Fueteventura is pretty much in his backyard and he knows all the roads and trails quite well.
Henning swam fast as expected and came out of the water in 22:10, with Daniel Halksworth right on his heels. But once on the bike, Henning recorded the fastest bike split of 2:19:20 and had opened up his advantage over the Brit.
Once on the run Henning really put on the afterburners and completely distanced Halksworth with a 1:15:46 run and a finish time of 3:57:16 to defend his title at this Half Challenge Fuerteventura event. Halksworth held on to second place in 4:01:09 and a hard charging Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales stormed with a race best 1:14:05 run onto third place and final time of 4:01:41.
"It's very special for me to win here at home soil at Playitas, surrounded by my family and a ton of friends – both locals and from back north. I had a lot of confidence going into this 'must win' race, and it was great that I was able to control things throughout the race and get a comfortable win," said Henning.
Emma-Kate Lidbury started her day on the Canary Islands with a quick 25:03 swim, followed it up with a sold 2:39:56 effort on the bike and then held off fellow Brit Lucy Gossage on the run with a 1:27:42 split. When Lidbury crossed the finish line in 4:32:41 she actually still had almost 3 minutes in the bank over the closest competitor and managed to finish in the top twenty overall.
Lucy Gossage finished in second position in 4:35:25 and Swede Eva Nystrom, who is also no stranger to Fuerteventura, rounded out the podium in 4:37:11.
Half Challenge Fuerteventura 2012
Canary Islands / April 14, 2012
Top men
1. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 3:57:16
2. Daniel Halksworth (GBR) 4:01:09
3. Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales (ESP) 4:01:41
4. Per Bittner (GER) 4:04:18
5. Erik-Simon Strijk (NED) 4:04:34
6. Mikel Elgezabal Fernandes (ESP) 4:05:50
7. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 4:06:49
8. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 4:09:43
9. Nikolay Yaroshenko (RUS) 4:13:18
10. Luke Dragstra (CAN) 4:13:46
Top women
1. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:32:41
2. Lucy Gossage (GBR) 4:35:25
3. Eva Nystrom (SWE) 4:37:11
4. Erica Csomor (HUN) 4:37:53
5. Daniela Sammler (GER) 4:38:09
6. Bella Bayliss (GBR) 4:45:40
7. Edith Niederfriniger (ITA) 4:47:44
