The Brits once again cluttered the top-10, with Rachel Joyce finishing second, Jodie Swallow third, Tim Don fourth and Jodie Stimpson eighth in her first half-distance race.
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At time of writing, 220 is waiting to speak to the podium sextet, but we managed to grab Don and Stimpson before the recovery tent came a calling’…
With his luggage only turning up at 10.30pm the night before the race, Don had spent his ‘taper’ buying new kit. Further still, he was recovering from a calf injury, which had seen him reduce his run training to just 30km a week.
Nonetheless, the now-seasoned middle-distance podium botherer and 220 columnist would have a strong day in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
“It was a tough race. The swim wasn’t too fast, got in a good position, and then the first 30k of the bike I was like ‘where’s this tailwind that everyone’s talking about?!’ And then Sebastian [Kienle] went past us, he was just crazy fast.
“But on a course like that we were spread out so early, so I just rode my own race. I ended up with Nils Frommhold and Luke Bell.
“I wasn’t sure how my run was going to go, I’ve had a pulled calf. So I’m really happy with fourth.”
Athletes were treated to a safari on the half-marathon run course as it weaved its way through the Al Areen Wildife Park.
“I saw camels, gazelle and two ostrich ran in front of me! Ha ha!” exclaimed a delighted Don. “This kind of event is so unique and is done so well, so to be a part of it is fantastic. I hope this kind of event stays, cause they’re great for the sport, great for Bahrain and great for the athletes.”
Bahrain was Don’s last race of the year, rounding off a successful season for the former ITU world champ.
“I’ve podiumed in every race I’ve done this year except for this one, so I can’t complain. With that kind of field, those kind of high stakes, everyone was coming here to win.”
NEW KID ON THE HALF-DISTANCE BLOCK
Stimpson, meanwhile, was trying on the half-iron distance for size, a challenge set her by her coach Darren Smith as a pre-Christmas hit-out and before knuckling down for what will hopefully be her Rio Olympics qualifying year.
“It was quite nice not to have to fight so much in the swim, like you do in the ITU field,” enthused Stimpson at the finish line. “It started really fast so it took me a bit to get on feet. I think I was with Rachel Joyce, which I was happy with. But I was quite happy to just come out as I know how fast the other girls are.
“On the bike, all I had in my head was [coach] Darren [Smith] saying ‘pace, pace, pace’. So I just had to concentrate. I think knowing the field was a bit of an error, as I was sat behind Mary Beth Ellis and that’s when the front four got away. But I was feeling fine, I just couldn’t do anything about it at that point. They’d gone. And then as the bike went on, obviously the leg’s started to hurt. I got to 60k and I was like, ‘okay, now I’m hurting a bit. I just can’t cope, just hold on now.’
“I got onto the run and I felt okay, and I pulled in Caroline [Steffen] and ran with her. I couldn’t have done any faster anyway. The pace was as fast as I could go. And then I got to just before 20k, and me and Caroline shook hands and said ‘good job’. We’d pushed each other through. At 20k, though, she had more legs than me and I started to get a stitch, and cramp up. Oh I was in all sorts of trouble that last k!
“When Darren first set this challenge I just wanted to finish the bloody thing! Maybe get top 10. But these girls, they’ve done numerous ones of these, they now how to pace, they know the field. To come into this field, I’m lining up next to my idols really. They’re people who I watch Kona in awe of.
“But I won’t be leaving the ITU circuit anytime soon. This was a challenge, this was something new. I’ve got Rio to focus on. It was a good hit out before Christmas. And now I’m so excited to go home!”
Scotland’s David McNamee finished seventh in last year’s Commonwealth Games and looked a genuine contender to make the British team for next year’s Olympic Games.
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Yet the 26 year old has taken the decision to abandon the Rio goal and the lottery funding that accompanies it to turn his attention to Ironman racing and qualifying for the 2015 World Championships.
What makes the switch more surprising is McNamee’s 2014 results suggest he has not yet peaked. His 14th place in the ITU Grand Final was set against a bike crash at the start of the year that meant he missed critical months of training and left him with a permanently damaged wrist.
In his first in depth interview since the decision, 220 columnist Tim Heming caught up with him to find out why….
220: Hi David, good to catch up. How’s the training going?
I’m currently in Spain avoiding the cold weather. Scottish Triathlon come out here every year and I’ve tagged along with them for a couple of weeks. I fly to Mallorca on Sunday and join Joel [Filliol’s] squad. I also won the 10k Boxing Day Ayrodynamic Turkey Trot in Ayr in 31:39, which is ok.
If we rewind to winter training last year, describe what happened with the crash in February and the rehabilitation that followed?
There was a touch of wheels and it was just unfortunate the way I landed. I managed to snap and dislocate both my radius and ulna and also damaged the joints. I had a follow-up operation in September and all the bones have healed now.
I’ll never have proper range of motion in my wrist again but it’s something I’ve adapted to. I don’t have the same strength and range of motion for the catch when swimming, and for biking the saving grace is electronic gears. I can use mechanical shifters a little but after a while it hurts too much, so now I just use Di2.
Despite the setback, your 2014 results were not a disaster. Talk us through the racing…
The European Championships in Kitzbühel was my first proper race back and I came sixth, the best result I’ve had at the Europeans and that was off just two months of training. I came seventh in the Commonwealth Games, which wasn’t the result I wanted back in January, but [given the crash] I was happy with it.
Regarding that race in Glasgow, when you reached T2, the Brownlees were away and clear but did you feel you had a chance in the race for bronze [South African Richard Murray who came third is a training partner of David’s]?
I suppose, knowing the run course and how good Richard is when it comes to running up short hard climbs – which isn’t my strength whatsoever – I realised that I’d always struggle. I also knew the shape Richard was in. It was still a tremendous experience, even if the result wasn’t what I dreamt about.
From there you finished 44th in Stockholm and 14th in the ITU World Series Grand Final in Edmonton…
After Glasgow, my aim was Edmonton. Stockholm was the week before and sprint distance races have never been my strength. I went into that race mentally defeated.
The result in the Grand Final, in the highest quality race of the year, wasn’t bad having missed key months when I should have been ramping up the training.
Then came the bombshell to abandon your Olympic dream. At 26, is that not a premature decision?
I’ve been racking my brains over why and there are 100 different little reasons combined. I waited until the Olympic selection policy came out, read through it and asked people I trust to look at it objectively.
From my viewpoint it was going to be extremely difficult to make the Games in my own right. I would never want to go as… I think it’s called a ‘pilot’ now, not a domestique to the Olympic Games, but the underlying issue is I no longer have the excitement and drive to go to to Olympics that I used to. I realised I needed to look elsewhere and see what drives me.
Spain’s Mario Mola and South Africa’s Richard Murray are in your training group under Joel Filliol. As two of the quickest runners in the sport, did you find it hard to match up, and did this influence your decision?
At times it is hard to train with some of the best athletes in the world, but in training I do pretty damn well. It’s not as if I’m going to track sessions and getting my arse kicked by them. It’s maybe not translated as much – especially during this last year – to racing, but when I see the excitement they had for the new ITU calendar, it was an infectious enthusiasm that was missing for me.
Training was still going well, but if you don’t have the same drive, something is going to be missing. Ultimately, when you get to 7km on the run and everything aches and everybody around you aches, nobody is enjoying themselves. But that’s where races are won and lost.
I could easily blag it for another season or two, get my UK Sport lottery funding, still go and get respectable results, still get some top 10s in the World Series, but I know I’m capable of doing better. No-one else would though, and that would haunt me.
To continue reading click here
Our interview with Scottish triathlete David McNamee (part one here) continues…
So if you have lost the spark for draft-legal racing, why do you have more passion for Ironman?
Going long, I could look back in two or three years and say “that was a disaster,” but at least I’ll have tried whilst I’ve got passion. Change is always good. I was a swimmer as a youngster and I knew what Ironman was before I knew what triathlon was.
I remember being 12 years old watching crazy men on TV in the early hours on Transworld Sport before I went to do my early morning swim training. I’ve always said I wanted to do long course at some point. It’s something that intrigues me.
But rather than take a gradual step with a year or two of middle distance racing, you’ve jumped straight in to try and qualify for Hawaii this year?
I sat down with Joel in Portugal after I decided I didn’t have the motivation for another year of ITU. I said I’d probably do 70.3s and try Hawaii in a couple of years. It seemed the sensible option. Joel asked me what I wanted to achieve and felt if my dream was to get on to the podium in Hawaii, that’s the dream I had to chase.
Most people advise becoming used to 70.3 racing and then go up again, but having the faith of Joel made me think: ‘Why not try it?’ And if I want to go to Hawaii and perform I need to get there this year to find out what it’s all about.
So starting from scratch to qualify, how do you propose to do it?
I’m going to get my WTC licence and do Ironman South Africa [African Championships] on March 29. I need points and that’s the best place to get them early on. I chose it because I know it will be a good field and I want to know how I stack up, can move on and improve.
I’m not going to be the best prepared on the start-line, but I have been training full time for six years so won’t be unfit. I’m not going to be used to a time-trial bike, or know whether my nutrition strategy or pacing will work, but if I blow up and have to walk for 20km on the run, next time I can produce better.
I’ll hopefully make Hawaii this year and aim to be at competitive by the end of next year. I’ve always been someone who does well off a lot of high volume training. The 180km doesn’t faze me, but 180km in a TT position holding a fixed pace is completely different and I have no idea how my legs will cope over the marathon.
Have you been running long in preparation?
I ran 32km last week, that wasn’t too bad, but doing it fresh on a Sunday morning is one thing, it’s quite another after racing for five hours. That’s what excites me about South Africa. Anything can happen.
Have you built in any warm-up races?
I’ll probably do Challenge Dubai next month. The organisers said they’d give me a start. Then I’ll fly straight to South Africa for four weeks, so there is some sort of progression there.
Dubai will give me the chance to see whether I’ve thought of all I need for non-drafting racing and a taste of running off the bike after 90km in a time trial position. I’m assuming my swim will be fine; 3.8km is absolutely fine for me.
Another of Joel’s athletes is Uplace-BMC team member Helle Frederiksen, a former ITU racer who won the big money races of Hy-Vee and Challenge Bahrain last year. Has her success given you a boost?
A little. It’s good to see you can leave the draft-legal racing and transfer, but Helle has her own training set-up.
Most of Filliol’s group are short course racers, will this alter your training structure?
It’s quite a nomadic existence. I go to Mallorca then come home for a few days before I’m off to Dubai then South Africa for a month. I’ll swim with the guys in Joel’s group and do some running and riding.
When I’m back in Stirling, Fraser Cartmell has a spare room he rents to me. I think he’s racing Dubai and South Africa and it’s good to have someone to race and train with.
Do you think you’ll finally be able to help British men challenge for honours in Hawaii?
We seem to do embarrassingly badly at Kona every year, but looking at Tim [Don] and Will [Clarke] doing it [in 2015] it has to change. The girls have done so well and there is no reason that the guys cannot step up and deliver. We’ll soon find out. If we have three or four high quality athletes competing, somebody is going to crack it.
How well do you handle the heat?
I’ll find out in Dubai. I’ve never had a problem with heat or humidity, but then I’ve never been out and raced for eight-and-a-half hours in it either.
This decision means you will no longer be a funded triathlete. Is that liberating or frightening?
Before I made anything public, I contacted the federation and let them know I no longer wished to be considered for the programme. It is scary but if you back yourself and have confidence, you should be fine.
It’s nice having some guaranteed money in the bank every month because you do not have to worry if you are injured or sick, but hell, I’m 26, and it’s time to fend for myself.
Finally, would you ever rule out a return to ITU short course racing?
Maybe after two or three years of Ironman, ITU will seem exciting again. The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are in 2018 and we’ve seen Chris McCormack come back and try for an Olympics. I know he ultimately failed to make the Australian team but he gave it a good effort and enjoyed the process.
It’s not unimaginable for me to step back down again. A lot of people say it’s a one-way street but I think it just takes someone to come along to challenge that thinking and we’ll see that maybe it was a load of b******* all these years.
A new team has been launched to raise awareness of tri in the Middle East and North Africa and develop future champions.
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The Alameda ON Team features four-time World Champion Leanda Cave, Laurence Fanous, Arab triathlon champion and Jordanian no.1, Egyptian pro Omar Nour and Irish multiple Ironman and 70.3 winner Eimear Mullan.
Plans include nurturing 10 young talents from across the region who will be supported in taking part in events and training camps. Longer term, the hope is to set up triathlon academies in different countries to encourage people into the sport, as well as improve triathlon’s status in the region.
There are no Arab women in the pro side, because of the dearth of female Arab pro triathletes – something the team is hoping to help change.
“It is a team formed to make a difference, not just to reward its pros. So it is a way of developing tri in less well off regions, which is something that I have always been interested in doing,” says Laurence Fanous. “I just didn’t expect to still be racing while doing it – I thought it would be something I could do when I was done, so it is great all round!”
GB elite Aaron Harris has been rewarded for his 2014 performances, including sixth at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with a move into British Triathlon’s Podium squad.
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Harris, 26, joins the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan and regular World Triathlon Series top-ten finisher Adam Bowden on the men’s top-tier team, while there are no surprises for the women’s Podium squad: Jodie Stimpson, Non Stanford, Helen Jenkins and Vicky Holland.
With qualification for Rio 2016 in their sights, British Triathlon has picked a further 14 athletes for its Podium Potential squad, though Scotland David McNamee and England’s Katie Hewison aren’t included, having both retired from international triathlon.
Hewison’s departure makes way for Jessica Learmonth to join the squad, after taking bronze at the Madrid ETU European Cup last September. Speaking to 220 recently, McNamee said that he chose to quit ITU racing as qualifying for Kona 2015 is “the dream I had to chase”.
British Triathlon’s 2015 World Class Programme is as follows:
Podium
Adam Bowden, 32, Loughborough Alistair Brownlee, 26, Leeds Jonathan Brownlee, 24, Leeds Aaron Harris, 26, Loughborough
Vicky Holland, 29, Leeds Helen Jenkins, 30, Bridgend Non Stanford, 26, Leeds Jodie Stimpson, 25, Oldbury
Podium Potential
Marc Austin, 20, Stirling Gordon Benson, 20, Leeds Tom Bishop, 23, Leeds Mark Buckingham, 29, Leeds Miles Burton, 18, Bath Morgan Davies, 20, Loughborough Matt Sharp, 25, Bath Grant Sheldon, 20, Stirling
This year’s World Triathlon Series gets underway in just seven weeks’ time with its first-ever visit to Abu Dhabi on March 6-7, and the World Cup gets going with a trip to Mooloolaba, Australia on March 14. For the complete race calendar head to the ITU website.
We’ll be covering all the WTS action right here on the 220 website and Twitter – don’t miss it!
This year’s Challenge Wanaka has attracted its strongest-ever pro field of 27 athletes who’ll be racing next month (22 February), with Britain’s Joel Jameson among them.
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Jameson, whose career highlights include victory at the Outlaw (2011) and bronze at Challenge Henley (2013), will be facing competition from defending champion Dylan McNeice (NZL), Jose Jeuland (FRA) who placed third at Challenge Vichy 2014, and Braden Currie (NZL) making his long-course debut.
In the women’s pro field, Gina Crawford (NZL) returns for a crack at her sixth Wanaka win, and is joined on the start line by three American athletes, Kristin Lemos, Charisa Wernick and Katya Meyers, all Wanaka first timers.
Challenge Wanaka is New Zealand’s largest triathlon festival and starts with a 3.8km swim in the crystal clear waters of the South Island’s Lake Wanaka (wetsuit compulsory), followed by a two-lap 180km bike along two alpine lakes in the Southern Lakes region, finishing with a 42.km run along the Clutha River to finish in Albert Town.
Redefining ‘brave’, Travel Channel presenter Rob Bell is planning to run seven marathons in seven days across all seven of the world’s continents, starting in Antarctica today (January 19th).
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“I’ve done endurance events before, but nothing like this,” says Bell, who is doing the challenge with five friends. “The running itself will of course be a challenge but having any sleep confined to the few hours I can grab on planes between locations adds a whole new element. And I like my sleep.
“We are doing this in order to raise money for charity. We have selected: KEEN London (UK) and The John Maclean Foundation (Australia). These charities provide access to sport for disabled children as well as helping them lead normal lives. This adventure is self-funded and all donations go directly to the charities.”
Bell and chums start today on Antarctica’s King George Island then fly up to Punta Arenas in Chile for tomorrow’s instalment. From there they head to Houston in the US, then London for the European leg, flying on to Cairo in Egypt to tick off Africa, then Singapore for the Asia stopover, before finishing in Sydney, Australia on 25th January.
The total distance they’ll cover on foot will be 295km, and they expect to be running for around 42hrs. Total flying time will be 52hrs, and the total distance covered (including running and flying) will be 43,500km.
We’re all here together!! @777epic @travelchannel @fly1above We fly to Antarctica first thing tomo. Night night. pic.twitter.com/BRjlv0kfHi
— Rob Bell (@MrRobBell) January 18, 2015
“I am unbelievably excited to take part in such a mammoth endurance sports challenge. Not only am I eager to push my body to its absolute limits, my key motivation is the two amazing charities that the boys and I are doing this for.”
Rob has kindly agreed to share his kit list for this mammoth challenge with us:
– 7 x 2XU running tops – mix of vests and tees – 1 pair Nike & 1 pair Umbro general sports shorts – anything with pockets I like – Range of running and generic sports socks – 3 pairs 2XU compression tights (cold weather running & recovery) – 2 pairs 2XU compression socks for flights recovery – 1 x headsweats running visor for sunny / hot climes – Ronhill hat & gloves set for cold climes – 1 x Garmin Forerunner 620 & heart rate monitor – Many hours worth of 1Above flight drink – to remain hydrated in the air and help prevent DVT – 2 x 2XU polo shirts for travel – 1 x 2XU hoody for travel – 1 x 2XU down jacket for warmth & comfort in cold climes – Therabands for mobilising and conditioning muscles
Rob Bell’s 777 marathon challenge will feature this April on Travel Channel, Virgin Media 288, Sky channel 249 and 251 and on Freesat, channel 151.
In order to donate anyone can go to the website: www.1above777.com.
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On a scale of one to ten, how hard do you rate this challenge? Let us know in the comments!
The International Triathlon Union plans to combine four World Championship races into the biggest multisport festival yet – and they are looking for a host city.
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Bidding is now open to host the 2017 ITU Multisport World Championship Festival, an inaugural 10-day event featuring World Championship events in Duathlon, Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Long Distance Triathlon.
“Combining all of these World Championship events into one festival will serve to further strengthen and evolve them, and will be very attractive to cities wishing to attract thousands of active visitors,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado.
The host city can benefit from a significant boost in tourism and global media exposure. Previous world championships in triathlon have attracted at least 45,000 visitors per day and generated over $8m (£5.3m) worth of local spending on accommodation, transport, retail shopping and food and beverage.
The ITU Multisport World Championship Festival will also include both elite and mass participation races and is expected to draw 2,500 to 3,000 athletes, not including their support teams and families.
Interested cities must submit their bid packages to [email protected] by March 27, 2015. The winning cities will be announced on May 15, 2015.
Henley is back on the triathlon map with the launch of the Henley Highwayman, an inaugural multisport event happening on June 5 to 7. Organisers touted a brand new format in which competitors can mix and match distances according to their abilities – and promised there will be no road closures this time around.
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Henley was home to the Challenge UK triathlon from 2011 to 2013, until race organisers moved the event to Weymouth in 2014.
While Challenge Henley had grown in participation over its three years, Just Racing UK had also faced criticism from the local community, including Henley’s MP and mayor, for road closures that lasted up to 12 hours.
But the Henley Highwayman won’t be closing any roads, race organiser Jeremy Laming told The Henley Standard at the event launch on January 15.
In fact, the Henley Highwayman isn’t your standard tri at all. Instead of a single race, it will spread out the three disciplines over three days, and a “sportive”, point-based format will provide competitors with plenty of opportunities to smash personal records in events of their choosing.
There are four individual categories, which are as follows:
Full: 4km swim / 182km bike / 25km run Mid: 2km swim / 120km bike / 17km run Sprint: 1km swim / 62km bike / 9km run Pick & Mix: participants can play to their strengths and opt for any distance in each discipline. This option also allows an entrant to join a single event only.
Two group categories are also available: Team, in which all three members compete in all three disciplines, and Relay, in which each team member completes a designated leg.
The swim leg comprises a 1km loop in the Upper Thames along the Mill Meadows. In a “sportive” format, swimmers choose their own start times and can opt to complete one, two or four laps.
Whether competitors are gunning for a 62km, 120km or 182km bike leg, the ride begins at Henley’s marketplace, and offers the challenge of cycling the rolling Chiltern Hills before finishing back in the town centre.
Finally, the run is a scenic mix of road, trail and hills, taking competitors from the town hall to a loop up and down No Man’s Hill. Runners can target either 9km, 17km or 25km.
Winners will be determined by a scoring system which assigns equal weight to all three disciplines and takes both distance and performance into account. For example, while more points are available for longer distances, you’ll be better rewarded for a superb performance in a shorter distance than a poor showing in a longer distance.
Organisers are still ironing out the scoring system. It will be published in full detail at the end of February.
For the complete event details, visit henleyhighwayman.co.uk.
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What do you think of the Pick & Mix race format? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to race with reigning world champ Sebastian Kienle? Book a ticket to Cannes, southern France.
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The Kona 2014 winner, who also has two Ironman 70.3 world titles under his belt, is headed to the Cannes International Triathlon on April 19, 2015.
Joining Kienle in Cannes are Jan Frodeno, who bagged the men’s tri gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and M-dot titleholders like European champ Bart Aernouts and IM Lanzarote 2014 first-placer Romain Guillaume.
@SebastianKienle @CannesTriathlon and I was looking forward to a nice ride in the beautiful mountains…
— Jan Frodeno (@janfrodeno) January 18, 2015
Meanwhile, the pro women set to compete in Cannes include Jenny Fletcher (the triathlon’s ambassador), Leanda Cave (2012 IM and IM 70.3 world champ) and Charlotte Morel (2013 Cannes International Triathlon winner).
Cannes International Triathlon offers two courses, the L (2km swim / 80km bike / 16km run) and M (1km swim / 40km bike / 8km run), as well as a 10km run race.
The triathlon will be contested over a swim off Palm Beach, a bike leg from Cannes up nearly 800 metres to Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey and back, and a run through the southern stretch of the Boulevard de la Croisette.
For more information about Cannes International Triathlon, visit www.cannes-international-triathlon.com.
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How do you think Kienle will get on in Cannes? Let us know in the comments below!
The inaugural Challenge Dubai triathlon on February 27will be a star-studded affair, at least as far as pro competitors are concerned, and Spain’s Javier Gomez is the latest to join the party.
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The competition just heated up even further @challenge_dubai on 27 Feb with the addition of @Jgomeznoya to the field! #WeAreTriathlon!
— Challenge Family (@Challenge_Famil) January 19, 2015
Gomez was an unstoppable force in 2014, bagging the Ironman 70.3 World Championship title in Mont Tremblant just a week after being crowned ITU World Triathlon series champ for the fourth time. Challenge Dubai will be his first race in 2015.
“I like half distances races and I really look forward to racing against the best triathletes in this distance. I expect Challenge Dubai is going to be a very tough and fast race because of the highest pro field level,” Gomez said.
With a prize pot of $300k (£198k) and a route dotted with sand dunes and world-famous landmarks, Challenge Dubai has already attracted pro triathletes from around the world, including Germany’s Jan Frodeno and Michael Raelert, New Zealand’s Terenzo Bozzone, and Australia’s Luke McKenzie, Tim Reed, Brad Kahlefeldt and Pete Jacobs.
Not to be outdone, the women’s field includes Switzerland’s Daniela Rfy and Caroline Steffen, Britain’s Jodie Swallow and Leanda Cave, and USA’s Meredith Kessler.
Challenge Dubai is the first race in the Challenge Triple Crown series, which also includes the recently announced Challenge Oman. Challenge Bahrain, whose debut in December 2014 was a tremendous success, will be the final race in the 2015 series, with a $1m (£660k) prize purse up for grabs.
“I’m happy to see how triathlon is growing in the Middle East countries. I’m sure it is something very good for the people, especially for the kids, and it is definitely very positive for our sport,” said Gomez.
Registration for Challenge Dubai is ongoing until January 31. Visit www.challenge-dubai.com for more information.
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Do you think Gomez is a shoe-in to win Dubai? Let us know in the comments below!