The European calendar moves on to pastures new for the penultimate Junior European Cup of 2012 with a debut race in Aveiro, Portugal.

Aveiro, ‘The Portuguese Venice’ due to the number of canals and boats, has hosted a number of Triathlon races, including a Long Distance race and a stage of the Portuguese National Championships.

David Vaz, Director General of the Portuguese Triathlon Federation, believes the time is right for Aveiro to host an International race.

He said: “Aveiro is a place where we’ve been organizing events for the past 6 years. The local guys make a pretty good job and that’s the reason why we’ve decided to step up to an international level race.

“Additionally, for us, it’s a good opportunity to have quite a few of our Junior Athletes racing at international level.”

The course is set to be particularly scenic. The swim will take place in the lagoon and the run will follow alongside it. The bike course is mostly flat with some smooth hills.

The start lists of both races are dominated by Portuguese Junior athletes but there is a healthy International contingent amongst the fields.

In the Junior Women’s race, the three girls who made podium in Quarteira’s Junior Cup earlier this year will have a rematch (Melanie Santos, Luísa Condeço and Britain’s Sky Draper ).

Maddie Winzer (GBR) should also be in contention for a podium position as will Ivana Kuriačková (SVK), who exploded onto the scene with two wins in a week back in June.

In the Junior Men’s race, a strong British contingent will be a threat to Portuguese hopes of a win on home soil.

Cameron Milne, Marc Austin, Gordon Benson and Grant Sheldon represent the next generation of British triathletes and all bar Milne have made consistent podium finishes over the last 18 months.

Belgian duo Christophe de Keyser and Erwin Vanderplancke will be buoyed by last week’s one-two in Bled.

Francisco Machado, Pedro Gaspar and Filipe Azevedo represent the best hopes for Portuguese athletes but as David Vaz alluded too, this is a great opportunity for the development of their athletes.

RACE INFORMATION

Saturday 15th September 2012

Distance: 750m swim/ 20km bike/ 5km run

Junior Women Start List, 1245 local time (WEST)

Junior Men Start List, 1415 local time (WEST)

A full report and race results will appear on the ETU website in due course

Picture: The Pontoon during a Triathlon race in Aveiro. Courtesy David Vaz.