Run bike run – the biggest event of the ETU year in terms of numbers comes this weekend to Kalkar in Germany.

As athletes from all over Europe descend on the ancient town of Kalkar, the weather was looking decidedly uninviting. Not much we can do about the weather but this will ensure that medals won this weekend are truly worth all the effort.

Where will they race? Well, at a Nuclear Reactor. Why not?

The history behind this lies in the not so recent desire for energy but with plans set and construction well underway, there was the terrible disaster in Chernobyl in April 1986. That one incident 30 years ago caused a massive rethink by the government and the site, never used for its intended purpose, was converted into an amusement park, the Kern-Wasser Wunderland.

The Parade of Nations is underway and the Opening Ceremony and pasta party will see the hundreds of athletes well hosted by the German Federation who have put a huge team onto the start lists.
Tomorrow will see the Age Group and Para-athletes battle for medals and glory over the Sprint and Standard distances, with the Elite, Juniors and U23 racing on Sunday.

• For a full schedule, please click here.
• For a full description of the courses please click here.

Who is racing? Well, Europe’s very best. The complete start lists are available here.
The Elite Women will see defending Champion, Sandra Levenez FRA face a challenge by Powerman athlete from Denmark, Susanna Svendsen. France’s European Champion, Benoît Nicolas will seek to defend his title.

The Age Group athletes’ ages range from 16 to over 80 and for this weekend the global capital for Duathlon will be Kalkar, Germany.

ETU wishes all athletes, coaches, managers, organisers, spectators and officials a great weekend of racing. Click this photo for the opening speech.

ETU President, Renato Bertrandi honoured the event by attending. In front of the packed crowds he thanked the city of Kalkar for hosting the event and welcomed all athletes to the city. The first medals of the competition were presented by him to the Mayor and to the DTU President. 17 National Federations will be racing. Team GB was once more the biggest contingent, with over 200 in the Sprint but the Irish Team were certainly louder and in high spirits. The German flags were raised high by their 154 athletes and with late spring sunshine above them, the ETU 2016 Duathlon Championships were declared open.