On Sunday 12 April, Powerman Alsdorf will take centre stage in the duathlon world for the tenth time. As in 2022 and 2024, the former mining town near Aachen will host the European Middle Distance Championships – just one year after the World Championships were held there for the first time.

 

The positive feedback from the athletes continues to resonate today. As a result, over 800 competitors from 25 nations will be heading to Alsdorf town centre for this year’s event. Among them are participants from eight non-European countries, who will compete in the Open Race or over the sprint distance.

 

As usual, the German Duathlon Champions will also be crowned at the event organised by the Marathon-Club Eschweiler with race director Patrick Thevis.

 

 

The cards have been reshuffled in the men’s elite field. The most recent three-time winner, Simon Jörn Hansen (Denmark), is absent as he has other priorities as a new father. This means that, in any case, the European champion will be someone who has never won the Powerman Alsdorf before. Possible candidates include the reigning long-distance world champion Baptiste Domanico (France) and the up-and-coming world championship runner-up Silas Plambaek (Denmark).

 

The two top finishers from last year’s Cross Duathlon World Championships, Thibaut De Smet and Sébastien Carabin from Belgium, are travelling to the Rhineland. Former World Championship silver medallist Jens Gossauer (Switzerland), Spain’s Gonzalo Fuentes and Simon Huckestein (Germany) bring a wealth of experience to the event, with Huckestein aiming to come out on top against Timo Schaffeld in the battle for the German title.

 

In the women’s event, five-time world champion Merle Brunnée would like to add the European Championship medal to her duathlon trophy collection. At the T100 event in Gold Coast, the doctor from Germany once again demonstrated her good form with the fifth-fastest bike split among the triathlon professionals.

 

Notable competition was expected from Marlene De Boer, who finished tenth in Hawaii, but the Dutch athlete withdrew from the race in Alsdorf due to a lack of training. As a result, the strong runner and World Championship silver medallist Rachel Brown (Great Britain) is now considered Brunnée’s biggest challenger.

 

Other athletes include former world silver medallists Nikola Corbova (Slovakia) and Maja Betz (Germany), as well as the ambitious young Belgian Friedel Cuypers.

More information about the weekend can be found here.