Wednesday will see the mountain bikes wheeled out for the first of the cross action at the World Triathlon Multisport Championships Ibiza and it’s a spectacular off-road course that awaits in San Antonio.
The opening 5.8km run, in the cross duathlon, will take the athletes through the lower forest before coming out onto the rocky waterfront, providing some tricky trainer terrain requiring full attention as they head back along the coastal paths towards transition.
Onto the bikes, the climb takes in a variety of surfaces, obstacles and ramps before things take a turn into the upper forest where the contrast between snaking dirt tracks and rubble-strewn rocks will test the very best of them. Two laps and 20km later, there’s another rocky 3km run to the tape.
Carina Wasle will lead the line for the women’s race, the experienced Austrian who fell in love with the sport on this very island racing back in 2007. Since then she has hit countless major multisport titles including European and World at cross and winter, a testament to her nimble but gutsy racing style.
Slovakia’s Kristina Lapinova has also competed here before but in 2018 when she won the European title. Also with experience at winter and long distance triathlon, narrowly missing the podium in Targu Mures last year will certainly add fuel to her fire this time around.
Ukraine’s Sofiya Pryyma has shown versatility of a different kind with an Arena Games debut last month and U23 Aquathlon world silver in 2022, as well as U23 European Cross Triathlon gold here in 2018. She will face strong competition again from Portugal National Champion Pauline Vie and home favourite Eva Garcia Gonzalez.
Netherlands’ Diede Diedericks and the newly crowned Winter Duathlon World Champion Julie Meinicke (NOR) will also be sensing this could be their year.
Belgium’s Thibaut de Smet comes into the race as favourite after his impressive win in 2022 as an U23 athlete. Now 24, his bike power and ability to dig deep could be decisive on Wednesday. Teammate Sebastien Carabin finished in second in Targu Mures and will surely back his run if he can stay in touch with his compatriot over the 2-lap bike.
The Italian Alessandro Saravalle is another who successfully straddles winter and summer triathlon and duathlon with regularity and will relish the tougher bike segments, much like fellow Italian Giuseppe Lamastra.
Nicolas De Smet will want to try and get the measure of his brother, the U23 champion still very much breaking into the sport but has proven fearless on the bike and rapid on the run at Bilbao 2022.
For the full start lists, click here.
