There is a mighty White Isle challenge awaiting the 80 athletes lining up on Sunday morning as the 2023 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Ibiza come to a close with the Long Distance Triathlon World Championships..
It’s a 3km swim around Isla Ratas that gets the action underway, heading into a 116km bike and then a 30km run through the Old Town rounding off at the Port d’Eivissa. The course looks like a classic, the fields are stacked, and you can watch it all play out on TriathlonLive.tv from 8am local time.
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Women’s preview
Britain’s Kat Matthews arrives as a firm favourite to podium on her first taste of blue carpet action since taking the European Middle Distance title in 2019. Winning silver at the 2021 Ironman World Championships was an enormous performance on debut, but a horrific training accident just weeks before the 2022 championships left her future in the sport looking anything but certain.
Fast forward to this year and a remarkable recovery means that the 32-year-old heads into Ibiza off the back of a brilliant win in Texas and ready to stake her claim on the world title. Standing in her way is a cast of talent that includes rising French star Marjolaine Pierre (FRA), just 23-years-old but with the 70.3 Bahrain title and recent win in Cannes to head into Ibiza full of confidence.
She is a Duathlon World Champion, ten-time World Cup winner, has transitioned successfully to long-course racing and few would bet against Japan’s Ai Ueda pulling out something extraordinary on Sunday if she can keep the leaders in sight out of the swim.
A Kona Age Group champion-turned-pro, Ruth Astle (GBR) was fifth in the 2021 IM World Championships and won her first IM in nearby Mallorca in 2021, and Danish legend Camilla Pedersen returns to challenge for the title she won back in 2014.
Men’s preview
With his 70.3 titles into double figures, Australia’s Joshua Amberger touches down in Ibiza looking to go one better than his silver at the Penticton championships back in 2017. An exceptional swimmer, he will hope to stretch things out during the swim to try and blunt the impact of Joe Skipper’s impressive bike power that will surely suit this course.
Richard Varga (SVK) could also dictate the early pace with his swim, as could the silver medallist in 2021 Jesper Svensson (SWE) who was also fastest in the water in Almere.
Belgian Christophe de Keyser continues to bridge well into longer distance racing after a long short-course career, Canada’s Cody Beals could utilise his remarkable run power to golden effect if he finds himself close enough to the front off the bike to deploy it.
For the home nation, Antonio Benito Lopez will be eyeing what would be a popular podium, last year’s European Middle Distance champion will have had a taste of racing in Ibiza from his duathlon world championships appearance last Saturday, national champion Victor Arroyo Bugallo likewise could feed off the crowd and deliver a career-defining display.
For the full start list, click here.
