After a very busy Hamburg BG Triathlon World Champs weekend the triathlon goes on in Kedzierzyn Kozle, Poland on Sunday. The Polish city will host the next stop of the ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup series.
Over 150 triathletes from all over Europe are gathered for the ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup in Kedzierzyn Kozle. The defending champions Lenka Zemanova from Czech Republic and Andriy Gluschenko from Ukraine will do their best to repeat their victory. Anyway Gluschenko is still on the wait list, as he was registered two days ago… In Hamburg, Gluschenko did not finish the World Champs, Zemanova was 41st. Both of them would like to return with a remarkable performance this weekend.
In the men’s field the current leader of the European Ranking Igor Sysoev from Russia is one of the favourites who has a good chance for the gold medal. Syoev, Claude Eksteen (GER) and Helge Muetschard (GER) were on the podium at the Holten ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup two months ago. All of them will compete this weekend. The Austrian Simon Agoston and the British Richard Stannard are also among the rivals.
Last year Ewa Dederko and Maria Czesnik took the silver and the bronze medal just behind Lenka Zemanova. The home team will be well represented with them. The Hungarian Renata Koch claimed the bronze with her unbelievable run at the Hamburg BG U23 World Championships last Friday. We should take her into our consideration, shouldn’t we?
The Elite women’s race will start at 11.00 (CET) with the Elite Men’s starting at 13.40 on Sunday.
After the rainy week on Saturday morning the LOC had to change the venue of the swimming course, as the River Odra was too dangerous for swimming. The new swim course is located at Lake Debowa at the border of the city. The water temperature is 17 Celsius, it means wetsuit swim. Overnight the LOC has repaired 800 m long asphalt of the access road to the city.
The course follows the standard of a 2 lap swim, 7 lap bike and 4 lap run. The bike course is flat, but technical. The run course passes through the streets of downtown Kedzierzyn Kozle.
ITU European Ranking (TOP 10)
Men:
1. Igor Sysoev (RUS) 1365,5 points
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1147,5
3. Youri Severin (NED) 1047,5
4. Maik Petzold (GER) 1042,5
5. Didier Brocard (SUI) 1027
6. Andrey Gluschenko (UKR) 1026,6
7. Frederic Belaubre (FRA) 973,2
8. Andrea D’Aquino (ITA) 971
9. Martin Krnavek (CZE) 915,7
10. Charles Rusterholz (SUI) 901,1
Women:
1. Lenka Zemanova (CZE) 1992 points
2. Vanessa Fernandes (POR) 1544
3. Deniz Dimaki (GRE) 1503
4. Ewa Dederko (POL) 1279
5. Olesya Prystayko (UKR) 1223
6. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 1206
7. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 1053
8. Kaisa Lehtonen (FIN) 1003
9. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 980
10. Andrea Whitcombe (GBR) 950
2006 Kedzierzyn Kozle - Top 3
Men:
1. Andrej Glushchenko (UKR) 1:49:16
2. Christian Prochnow (GER) 1:49:27
3. Jan Raphael (GER) 1:49:38
Women:
1. Lenka Zemanova (CZE) 2:02:47
2. Ewa Dederko (POL) 2:03:22
3. Maria Czesnik (POL) 2:03:46
Kedzierzyn Kozle
Opole Voivodship
Established in 15th century
Received official town charter in 1281
Total area - 123,42 km²
Kdzierzyn-Kole is a city located in Opole Voivodship, Kdzierzyn-Kole District. Its present administrative shape was established in 1975 as a result of having linked the towns of: Kdzierzyn, Kole, Sawicice, Kodnica and nearby villages: Lenartowice, Cisowa and Miejsce Kodnickie. In Kole, there is one of the biggest Polish river ports. In Kdzierzyn-Kole there is also located one of the largest Polish chemical factories - “Kdzierzyn” S.A. Nitrogen Works. Kdzierzyn-Kole is the second largest town of the Opole Voivodeship in terms of population and the first in terms of total area. It is situated in the south – eastern part of the voivodship over the Odra river and the Gliwicki Canal.