Triathlon World Cup action moves to Tiszaujvaros, Hungary for the 10th round of the ITU Triathlon World Cup Series where athletes from 26 countries around the world have arrived for the week-long festival of multi-sport.
In the women’s event, 2 times World Cup winner, Emma Snowsill of Australia has to be the favourite going into the event. With decisive victories in Honolulu and Edmonton, Snowsill seems unstoppable and should be front and centre in all three segments of the event.
Team-mate Annabel Luxford has reached the podium each time she has competed this season, but is still looking for that all-important World Cup victory. Despite a tumble on the bike during last weekend’s Hamburg World Cup, Luxford appears hungry for that illusive top step on the podium.
Andrea Whitcombe, who proved she is more than a great runner by winning the challenging Corner Brook World Cup earlier this year, could be the one to spoil the Aussie women’s sweep of the podium. With a good swim, she could be a threat on the technically challenging Tiszaujvaros course.
Other women to watch are:
Sheila Taormina of the USA, the current ITU Triathlon World Champion is always a front-runner during the swim and bike sections, and depending on the gap she can build up by the run, is always a contender for the podium. Taormina is currently shifting to modern pentathlon and is hoping to become the only women in history to compete in 3 different sports in the Olympic Games. She was on the USAT swimming for the Atlanta Games and competed in triathlon in both Sydney and Athens.
Czech team-mates Lenka Radova and Renata Berkova are considered strong at all three disciplines and usually race well on the technically challenging course in Tiszaujvaros
Christiane Pilz from Germany, who just coming back from a bike accident that kept her out of the Athens Olympic Games.
2 time Junior World Champion Annaliese Heard of Great Britain, look anxious to take on all challengers.
In the men’s event, Australia’s Courtney Atkinson and Brad Kahlefeldt top the World Cup leaderboard going into the event, with the 2004 overall World Cup champion Volodomyr Polikarpenko of Ukraine also looking for his first victory of the season.
Germany’s Jan Frodeno, who just missed the podium in Mazatlan earlier this year, also looks hungry for a win here, after a broken pedal in his home-town event in Hamburg caused him to with draw from the event.
Craig Walton of Australia recorded 1 of his 5 World Cup wins on this course in Tiszaujvaros has to be the odds-on favourite to team up with France’s Benjamin Sanson and build up enough time to keep the strong runners in the field at bay.
Other men to watch are:
Kris Gemmell of New Zealand who just missed the podium last weekend in Hamburg is looking ready to post his first World Cup victory of the season,
Csaba Kuttor of Hungary will have the strong support of the 10’s of thousands of spectators that will line the course. Kuttor is a good swim-bike specialist and reportedly has made a big improvement in his run.
Martin Krnavek of the Czech Republic who has won on this course in the past is someone else to watch.
The ITU primes, a popular addition to this year’s men’s and women’s World Cup events will be offered for the 1st around the turn on the first lap of the swim, the 1st through lap 2 of the bike and the first through the 7th lap of 8 on the bike. The bike prime lines will be positioned directly in front of the stadium spectators to increase the intensity and interest of the event.
Live coverage from Tiszaujvaros on www.triathlon.org will start on Sunday August 14th at 10 am local time (8 am GMT, 9am London, 6pm Sydney, 1am Vancouver, 4 am New York). Live coverage includes live audio featuring the “voices of triathlon”, Jackie Fairweather and Barrie Shepley, a top 10 leader-board, a live photo gallery of the action, text updates, and complete results with splits.
ITUtv will produce a 52 minute television show that will be seen in 125 countries worldwide with a potential household reach of over 1 billion. Following the event www.triathlon.org will also host a first class photo gallery by spomedis photographer, Frank Weschel of Germany. High resolution photos will be available immediately after the event by contacting ituhdq@triathlon.org