With the first six months of racing in 2023 now complete, the Challenge Family Pro Athlete World Bonus has seen a number of changes in the men’s rankings but the women’s top three remains unchanged.
Tom Bishop (GBR) had overtaken Mathis Margirier (FRA) to claim the top spot in the men following his second place at the weekend’s Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee. Margirier is now tied in second with Australia’s Caleb Noble while Magnus Ditlev (DEN) and Patrick Lange’s (GER) performances at Roth put them in fourth and fifth respectively.
“It great to be leading the Challenge Family world bonus half-way through the season,” said Bishop. “It was my goal at the start of the year to place high up, and to be leading is fantastic. I know it will be hard to hold onto the top step, but I’m determined to fight for it!”
Lucy Byram’s (GBR) third place at Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee was enough to further extend her lead over tied second place athletes Anne Haug (GER) and Magda Nieuwoudt (RSA). Daniela Ryf (SUI) and Grace Thek (AUS) round out the top five, tied in fourth place.
“The Challenge bonus is definitely something I am aiming for this year,” said Byram. “I have already completed five Challenge races this year, all spectacular in their own way! One more race will mean I give myself the best chance of getting some good points. I will hopefully be finishing my season at Clash Daytona at the end of the year, but will try and squeeze one or two more races in Europe before then.”
With six months of racing still to go, the race for the US$125k Challenge Family Pro Athlete World Bonus is far from over with 15 eligible Challenge Family races still to take place with the next up being the inaugural Challenge London on 6 August.
Challenge Family’s World Bonus provides professional athletes with the opportunity to race for a share of a US$125,000 end-of-season bonus on top of the prize purses at races. With points available at both Challenge Family and selected Clash races, the World Bonus started with Challenge Wanaka in New Zealand in February and ends with Challenge Salinas in Ecuador on 10 December 2023.
The US$125k bonus pays five deep across both men and women with the top ranked pros taking home $25k, second will earn $16.5k and third will win $12k, fourth $6k and fifth $3k.
