The first World Triathlon Para racing of 2024 heads to the UAE on Friday 8 March, with the Para Cup Abu Dhabi getting the ball rolling on a huge Paralympic year on the blue carpet.

Past the halfway stage of the qualification period and with precious points once again on the line, the first of eight Para Cups for 2024 will see the athletes hitting the famous Yas Marina F1 circuit for the 20km bike and 5km run portions, all off the back of a 750m swim. With the majority of US athletes focussed on the auto-qualification event in Miami, athletes on the cusp of the all-important top-9 qualification spots will be wanting to maximise their opportunity this weekend.

It will be the second edition of the event here in Abu Dhabi, but the first appearance for Frenchman Jules Ribstein. The reigning PTS2 World Champion will be a hot favourite for Paralympic gold at the start of September, and with his starting berth all but guaranteed, this will be an excellent opportunity to test his big-race readiness against Spain’s Lionel Morales and Paris Test Event runner-up Geoffrey Wersy. The women’s race will see Rakel Mateo Uriarte go head to head with India’s Shashruti Vinayak Nakade.

In the men’s PTS3, Para Series and Cup podium regular Michael Herter (FRA) leads the line, the experienced head of last year’s Long Beach winner Kini Carrasco (ESP) and Britain’s Henry Urand among his medal rivals this weekend, Elise Marc the sole PTS3 female.

After finishing just off the World Championships podium in Pontevedra last year, Nil Riudavets Victory (ESP) will be hungry for a medal, South Africa’s Mhlengi Gwala chases the points that can help him realise his Paris dreams along with British Champion Finley Jakes, currently ranked 10th. Marta Frances Gomez and Carmen Gonzalez Sanchez will continue their battle for a women’s PTS4 Paris start for Spain, Israel’s Atalia Nevo also seeking a result that could launch her into contention.

A 14-deep men’s PTS5 start list shows the depth of the class, Hungary’s Bence Mocsari among the favourites, Antoine Besse on the cusp of confirming his place at a home Games currently at 9th in the rankings, India’s Atharv Patil and Binu Gnanadhasan make their World Triathlon debuts. Ukraine’s Alisa Kolpakchy narrowly missed out on the podium last year and will have her work cut out to hold off Britain’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Champion Lauren Steadman, on a mission to find the form to successfully defend her title in Paris.

The hotly contested women’s PTVI will be led out by Annouck Curzillat B1, bronze medallist at both Tokyo 2020 and the 2023 world championships, eager to keep the champion in Pontevedra Anja Renner B3 and the upcoming Irish twins Chloe and Judith Maccombe at bay for the season opener. The men’s race sees Spain’s former World Champion Héctor Catalá Laparra B2 take on the reigning European Champion Antoine Perel B1 of France.

Heading up the women’s PTWC race will be another Euro champion, Eva María Moral Pedrero H1, taking on Taranto Para Cup winner Melissa Nicholls H1 (GBR) and Margret Ijdema H1 (NED), while the winner here last year, Florian Brungraber H2 will defend his title against the experienced Giovanni Achenza H1 and Tunisia’s Fathi Zwoukhi H1.

Watch the action on TriathlonLive.tv from 11am local time (GMT +4).