With just over a week to go to the Munich opener of the 2022 Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift, the start lists are closing, the Olympiapark venue is primed and the athletes are ready for a unique challenge ahead, one that bridges the gap between true endurance sport and eSport. The full series will be shown live, for free, on TriathlonLive.tv, starting on 9 April.

“It’s a very special kind of racing and, honestly, maybe one of the most painful things I’ve ever done,” said Belgium’s Marten Van Riel as he looked ahead to the curtain-raiser on the new World Triathlon Podcast. “I’d suggest everyone who sees a curved treadmill like that in the gym try to go all out on it… it’s super, super hard!’

The men’s winner last year in both Rotterdam and London, Van Riel will head into Munich among the favourites along with Britain’s Olympic gold medallists Alex Yee and Jessica Learmonth and their fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympians, Germany’s Justus Nieschlag and Annabel Knoll.

Two heats will get the action underway, with a pursuit start for the second. The format for the final will be over three stages, each featuring the same 200m pool swim, 4km virtual bike and 1km virtual run but with the order of disciplines shuffled for each round and the third stage getting underway with a pursuit start based on the times of the first two. Plus, the quicker they finish, the (marginally) more respite between the races.

The first ever Esports Triathlon World Championships will then touch down in London on April 23 and Singapore on May 7, where our inaugural Arena Games Triathlon World Champions will be crowned. Don’t forget you can watch all the action for free over on TriathlonLive.tv, and a preview of the full line ups will follow the week of the races.