{"id":682362,"date":"2026-07-09T13:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/682362\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:31:20","slug":"alanis-siffert-roth-win-results-bike-split-and-run-analysis-triathlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/682362\/","title":{"rendered":"Alanis Siffert Roth Win: Results, Bike Split, and Run Analysis \u2014 Triathlete"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published July 8, 2026 09:57AM<\/p>\n

Alanis Siffert<\/a> saw the number on her bike computer and decided she did not want to know.<\/p>\n

She was on the bike at Challenge Roth, riding herself into the front of the women\u2019s race, and the power was higher than expected. High enough that another athlete might have eased off.<\/p>\n

Siffert\u2019s solution was delightfully simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I saw it on my Garmin, I was like, Oh, that\u2019s really high,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, then I didn\u2019t really want to see it. I switched to the navigation page.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small detail, but maybe the most revealing one from her win at Roth<\/a>. Siffert did not ride by data. She caught Lucy Charles-Barclay earlier than expected, felt strong, saw the number, and chose to trust the feeling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my head, if I had started to think about it, I would have thought that I wouldn\u2019t be able to hold it or I\u2019m going to blow up,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut it felt right. So, I just went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a kind of innocence to that, though innocence is probably the wrong word. Siffert is not rash. She knew exactly what could happen. She had suffered late on the bike at Roth the year before. She knew Charles-Barclay and Kat Matthews were behind her<\/a>. She knew the second lap was windy and busy with amateur athletes. But she did not seem afraid of finding out where the limit was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to improve and reach the top level, so I have to try my best,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd if I blow up, then the next time I\u2019m going to blow up a bit later.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did not blow up. Instead, the 24-year-old Swiss athlete produced one of the most complete races of her young career. She finished in 8:09:09, with a 52:03 swim, a race-best 4:29:19 bike split and a 2:45:00 marathon \u2013 a run more than 19 minutes faster than the 3:04:30 she posted at Roth the year before. Charles-Barclay, the 2019 Roth champion and one of the pre-race favorites, finished second, 7:32 back. Daisy Davies rounded out the podium in third, and Matthews was fourth, more than 22 minutes behind.<\/p>\n

For most of the triathlon world, it looked like an upset. The pre-race conversation had centered largely on Charles-Barclay and Matthews. Siffert, despite finishing third at Roth last year, sat outside the main storyline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could feel that everyone thought it was going to be a head-to-head between them,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it didn\u2019t bother me. I thought, let\u2019s play my cards when I can. If I can enter the game and they\u2019re going to be a bit surprised, maybe they\u2019re not counting on me. I would say that\u2019s an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of the day, everyone had to count on her. But Siffert didn\u2019t win because she threw caution to the wind. She won because she was willing to race before letting caution talk her out of it.<\/p>\n

The athlete before the triathlete
\n\"AlanisAlanis Siffert runs to the win at Challenge Roth 2026. (Photo: Challenge Roth)<\/p>\n

Siffert grew up in Fribourg, Switzerland, in what she describes as a \u201cvery sporting family.\u201d Her first sport was swimming as her mother \u201cwanted me at first to just know how to swim,\u201d she recalls. There were other sports too: gymnastics, soccer, skiing. But even as a young child, Siffert figured out that she didn\u2019t want to divide herself between multiple commitments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always you have the soccer game, the ski competition, or the swimming competition all on the same day,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to do one third of each. If I\u2019m going to do it, I\u2019ll do it right, and I chose swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n

That decision built the foundation. Siffert attended a Swiss \u201cOlympic\u201d high school in Bern to focus on swimming. She still lived at home, which meant early mornings, long days and plenty of logistics. Her parents drove her to the pool at 5 a.m. and picked her up from the train station at night. At the time, it was just her life. Looking back, she understands what the experience gave her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like life school,\u201d she smiles. \u201cI learned so much. I learned discipline. You had to make sacrifices already at a young age. You learn so many things that you can take away. And then, of course, now it\u2019s nice that I can still use the swimming, so all the hours are not wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pools closed, and the triathlon door opened<\/p>\n

Siffert\u2019s pivot towards triathlon came during the pandemic. In 2020, her daily structure disappeared when COVID shut everything down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in super shape for swimming,\u201d she remembers. \u201cWe came back from training camp, and all the pools were shut down. I was like, what am I going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

She went outside. She started mountain biking with her brother and running with her parents. It wasn\u2019t a career move at first; it was simply exercise and fresh air. \u201cI really enjoyed myself,\u201d she says smiling, \u201cand when I came back to swimming, I found it a bit boring.\u201d Her progress in swimming had also stalled: \u201cI\u2019m really disciplined\u2026 but I\u2019m not really improving my times, and it\u2019s not satisfying anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Triathlon seemed obvious. She could swim. She liked riding. She liked running. Why not give triathlon a try? That led her to a summer camp with a local coach that was part of Brett Sutton\u2019s coaching network. The camp \u2013 a mixed group of age-groupers and younger athletes \u2013 was a low-pressure way to discover triathlon.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, Sutton was also in St. Moritz with his own squad. He had seen her in the pool and had heard about her interest in triathlon.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came up to me and said, \u2018I see something in you. If you want to give it a go, you can join my squad,\u2019\u201d Siffert recalls. \u201cTo be honest, I didn\u2019t even know who he was. I was new to the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Sutton saw was far from a complete triathlete. Siffert could swim, but she didn\u2019t even have a road bike and could not really run. \u201cHe said, it\u2019s the head,\u201d laughs Siffert. \u201cYou have the mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Sutton made it clear that if she joined the squad, \u201cit\u2019s to become a champion, not just play triathlon. So, you have to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

She made it. She put her university studies on hiatus and went all-in.<\/p>\n

Long distance without the fear
\n\"AlanisAlanis Siffert rallies the crowd while leaving T1 en route to a win at Challenge Roth. (Photo: Christoph Raithel\/Challenge Roth)<\/p>\n

Sutton knew she had a swimming background and a body unprepared for heavy run training. So, they built her up through the bike and long-distance racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did very little running,\u201d Siffert explains about her first year of training with Sutton. \u201cI started to do long-distance races because he said that\u2019s going to make you stronger. It\u2019s much more sustainable than doing these short races, which will break you or injure you.\u201d<\/p>\n

What began as development became Siffert\u2019s preference. \u201cI really enjoy long-distance racing, the mental side you have to have in these races,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s more where I see myself, and what I enjoy most and what I\u2019m best at.\u201d She prefers non-drafting because there is no hiding and no waiting for someone else to determine the shape of the race: \u201cyou just put the power down and go for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Roth, that was exactly what she did. She had finished third the previous year, but she did not arrive in Roth this year expecting a win or even a podium from herself. The field was strong, and her goal was to be ready, aggressive, and present enough to take the opportunity if it came.<\/p>\n

The key word here is \u201caggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siffert trains largely by feel<\/a>. Sutton gives intensity cues rather than strict numbers: easy, moderate, medium, mad. \u201cMedium\u201d is \u201ccomfortably uncomfortable.\u201d Mad is exactly what it sounds like: all-in for the requisite duration. She has a power meter, but only recently. She has pace on her watch when running. She uses the pace clock in the pool. She does not use heart rate data at all. Regardless, the data takes a backseat to how she feels. It\u2019s useful feedback, but it doesn\u2019t drive how she trains or races.<\/p>\n

At Roth, her feeling said \u201cgo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siffert exited the water about 90 seconds behind Charles-Barclay, then started to reduce the gap faster than expected. \u201cI caught her really early,\u201d she says, still sounding a little surprised by it. I was not expecting that.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, she kept pressing. The power was high. She hid it. The effort was hard, but it felt right. That\u2019s the simplest explanation for the day: Siffert trusted what felt right before she trusted what looked sensible.<\/p>\n

The duck runs 2:45:00<\/p>\n

When Siffert began triathlon<\/a>, the run was the glaring weakness. Sutton, naturally, had a nickname for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started running, he called me the duck,\u201d Siffert laughs. \u201cBecause I couldn\u2019t run.\u201d<\/p>\n

One leg goes a little to the side. But over the last few years, the work has started to sink in. First, she was hanging on to the slowest group in the Sutton squad. Then she moved up. Earlier this year in China, she noticed she was no longer surviving the front group. At times, she was leading it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t change the sessions,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt was the same again, again, again, again. You just improve. Consistency is key.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, no one knew what would happen when she got off the bike at Roth. She had ridden hard. Maybe too hard. Last year, she remembered feeling awful off the bike. This time, she felt differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to run, and it felt great,\u201d she says. \u201cI was just in the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked at her watch and saw 4:00 minutes per kilometer. At one point she saw 3:55 per kilometer. She knew that was fast. Maybe too fast. \u201cI thought, Don\u2019t look at it, because you feel good,\u201d she shrugs. \u201cSo just run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind her were women capable of running her down. Charles-Barclay and Matthews are proven athletes with bigger resumes. Siffert knew that, but at the first U-turn, she could see the gap was not shrinking. Indeed, it was growing.<\/p>\n

At around 20km, when she knew the gap was roughly three minutes, she finally let herself consider the possibility that she could win Challenge Roth. Then she pushed it away. \u201cIf I want to win, I just have to keep doing what I do,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was still a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her parents were on course, focused mostly on handing her nutrition. Normally, they would have given splits, but this time, they stayed quiet. Afterwards, Siffert asked why.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, you looked so composed,\u201d she recalls. \u201cYou looked controlled. Your body language \u2013 they saw I was in a good place. They said, you didn\u2019t need to know the split.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is telling. From the outside, her run pacing looked risky. From inside the race, Siffert was in control.<\/p>\n

The long (Kona?) view for Alanis Siffert
\n\"AlanisAlanis Siffert celebrates her win at Challenge Roth 2026. (Photo: Christoph Raithel\/Challenge Roth)<\/p>\n

Siffert\u2019s performance surprised even Sutton. After the race, he told her that he had expected improvement, but not this.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, I normally know what you\u2019re capable of,\u201d she says. \u201cHe said, I did the math, and it\u2019s already a big ask to think you\u2019re going to improve 10 minutes on your marathon. [Siffert\u2019s prior best was 2:57:48 at Challenge Almere in 2024]. That\u2019s already huge. He said he was really stressed. And then he said, you really impressed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siffert is careful about what the win means. \u201cI don\u2019t say that I beat Lucy one time and now I\u2019m at that level,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I did have that capability on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

She knows the media will see her differently now. She knows she will not be overlooked in quite the same way. But she does not want to start racing as a contender. She hopes to keep racing from the same place that won Roth. \u201cI don\u2019t feel the pressure,\u201d she confesses. \u201cIt\u2019s more that I feel I have the capability to be at this level, so it gives me confidence and motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temptation after a big win might be to seek the next big target. So, what is next? She is qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice. She also wants to return to the French races in the Alps \u2013 Embrunman, Alpe d\u2019Huez, G\u00e9rardmer XL \u2013 that Sutton has used as part of her development. Kona is also part of the vision, but she\u2019s willing to be patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, Kona is the goal,\u201d she smiles. \u201cBut if I go to Kona, I also want to be in the fight, be in the race, and not just say I was starting in Kona.\u201d<\/p>\n

That patience matters. Siffert sees room to improve everywhere, especially in the run. She has only been running for four years. She believes there is far more to come if she can stack consistent work not just for months, but for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like now I\u2019ve just started to get it together,\u201d Siffert admits. \u201cIf I can consistently do these training sessions, not only for three or four months, but a year, three years, where can I go?\u201d<\/p>\n

After such a decisive win at Challenge Roth, that question feels less hypothetical.<\/p>\n

Whatever comes next, Siffert is patient enough to know she does not need to rush to Kona. But inside a race, when the feeling is right, her patience dissipates. She is not willing to wait around for the numbers to give her permission.<\/p>\n