With more than ten thousand participants, Challenge Taiwan is once again a massive spectacle this year, and Kieran Storch and Julie Derron have just won the Middle Distance. For Storch, it meant a title defense after he was also the strongest last year; for Derron, it was a fulfillment of her role as the favorite. Both athletes won by a wide margin.
Julie Derron in particular proved to be inimitable and simply far too strong for all her competitors, including her sister Nina Derron. Julie Derron already took the lead during the swim, with Rebecca Clarke initially staying with her, but she pulled away as early as the first transition. On the bike, Derron’s lead grew larger and larger, reaching 3:06 minutes after 45 kilometers of biking, while Nina Derron followed in third at 4:35 minutes. In the second lap, Julie Derron accelerated even further and managed to more than double her lead to 6:37 minutes over Derron and Clarke at T2, who had come together by then.
Essentially, the tension had already disappeared after the bike leg, allowing Julie Derron to run toward an apparently easy but beautiful victory. She did so in a time of 4:03:29, while Nina Derron finished second in 4:16:22 and Clarke third in 4:22:01. “I had a great time on the course,” said the winner. “I biked as hard as I could and stayed focused. It’s not an easy bike course and you have to push power constantly. I also didn’t know how my legs would be during the run and I needed a few kilometers to get into it, but eventually, it went well. It’s great to share the podium with my sister.”
In the men’s race, the win went to defending champion Storch, although it was the Frenchman Benjamin Zorgnotti who led the field after the swim thanks to a swim time of 25:40. Zorgnotti continued to ride strongly, while Storch tried to make up a gap of 2:33 minutes. He hardly succeeded, as once back in T2, only 33 seconds of the difference had vanished, leaving Storch still two minutes behind the French leader. The biggest move was made by Australian Rhys Corbishley during this phase, who moved up from ninth to third place, although that was more than ten minutes behind Zorgnotti.
During the run, Storch seemed ‘on fire’ and managed to quickly close his gap on Zorgnotti, taking over the lead of the race around the ten-kilometer mark. Ultimately, he won in a time of 3:42:08, well ahead of Zorgnotti who finished second in 3:45:59. Corbishley secured his first professional podium by finishing third in 3:55:58.
“I love coming here very much, it’s a beautiful event,” said Storch, who was also eligible to start at the T100 Singapore but specifically chose to defend his title at Challenge Taiwan. “It feels like a second home here. It was tough, but I enjoyed it.”
