For many athletes who have been racing over the years, there is one place in Hungary that they know so well but can never quite get the name right; Tiszaújváros has established itself as the place to be for many reasons. Tiszy – as the city is affectionately known, now has a challenger.
Székesfehérvár “shay kesh fey hevar”, is almost right and will at least get a nod from the discerning Hungarian, who will then grant you a couple more chances of getting it right, before smiling, with their usual sympathy for anyone trying to work out their language.
Located in central Hungary and not far from the capital, so nice and easy to get to, this city will host its first international triathlon and has thrown open a welcome to you all.
Dr Béla Bátorfi, President of the Hungarian Triathlon Federation, Magyar Triatlon Szövetség, took time to welcome everyone to this new event. Click here to read his welcome.
Hungary has been working hard with both ITU and ETU to develop the sport and last year held the ETU U23 Championships not far from Székesfehérvár.
The Mayor of the City, András Cser – Palkovics, is one of Hungary’s younger politicians and has been in place as mayor now since 2010. His welcome and close work with the organisers adds weight to the determination of the local organising committee to deliver a great first event.
Oliver Laaber from Austria, has been appointed as Technical Delegate and has been working closely with the LOC and the Hungarian Federation to ensure that in the months building up to the event, everything is in place. Together with the LOC, he has produced the Athletes' Guide.
The swim is in a secure boating lake that has undergone refurbishment. The one-lap 750m course will see the athlete exit to the bike course;
a 6-lap 20k around the city, with technical and fast sections to make it challenging enough and to enable any stronger cyclists to try and make a break.
The final 4-lap run is flat and fast.
All this has attracted a large field.
Available is €10,000 and a bundle of points and the local press are already delighted that the race is coming.
Let’s have a look and see who is racing.
For the Elite Women, a strong field, with 15 nations will be led out by Austria’s Sara Vilic. A 6th place in Malmö after an 11th in the World Cup in Antwerp and a 3rd place at the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi is a snapshot of her ability but she will face the strong junior athlete, also from Austria, Magdalena Früh. Silver in the Juniors at the ETU Championships in Tartu, gold in Riga her season has seen her getting stronger and stronger. The Hungarian team is fielding some seasoned athletes. Led by Margit Vanek who has so much experience in international racing, some of the younger athletes will benefit from her wisdom. Dorka Putnóczki and Noemi Sárszegi will both benefit from the support of the local crowds. Welsh athlete Zoe Thomas GBR celcbrates her birthday on race day - a podium would be a real treat for her.
Watch out too for Israel’s Raz Poradosu. A silver at the Dnipro Junior race earlier this year was not followed up with a good result in Tartu and she will now be hoping to use this race to tune up for a season’s finale later this year. Great Britain’s Chloe Pollard, with her swim / run pace, proven in Penticton where she took the World U23 title, and then again in Fyn where she had to settle for silver. But race favourite could well be Germany’s Lena Meißner. Twice she missed out on the podium in recent races; in Weert and in Tartu when she raced against the Elite, this could well be her chance to get onto the podium and bring valuable points to the table.
For the full Women’s start list, please click here.
Amongst the men, the start list is massive and there are some big names there too.
Over 70 men, representing 20 federations, one racing under the ITU flag and included in that group, athletes from Argentina, Australia and Bermuda will take to the start. Once again, our European races attract athletes from far away; always a great advert for racing in Europe!
Leading them out will be a man they will cheer loudly, Márk Dévay. His trunks might not be funky anymore but he is still racing strong and very much one of the fastest in the water. A top ten in Glasgow after an 111th in Tartu, he was the bronze medal-winner last year in Velence for the U23 Championships. With the Lehman brothers; Bence and Csongor along with István Király, the Hungarian fans could well see fireworks on this sprint course.
A 4th in Malmö after a bronze in Olsztyn for Sweden’s Gabriel Sandör gave him confidence but a knock back in Glasgow might make him more determined this weekend. From the Czech Republic comes the mighty Jan Volár. So very powerful on the bike, he will be expected to take his share in the pack out there on the city streets but we have seen him use that power to break away and run to gold as he did in Dnipro against some tough athletes.
World silver in Rotterdam and the ETU Junior title in 2017 made last year a special one for Vasco Vilaça POR but since then he has not managed to repeat his 2016 & 2017 successes. Perhaps now his form will return. Morgan Davies GBR is a man to watch out for. His storming run of 15:06 at the end of the race in Malmö blew aside any challenge.
For the full start list, please click here.
