The 2023 edition of the World Triathlon Powerman Long Distance Duathlon Championships Zofingen rings in the changes this weekend, as the course has received significant tweaks to make it even more exciting for athletes and spectators alike right from the outset on Sunday morning.
Now starting on General Guisan Street, the opening run course has been extended to 10.5km and takes in two laps and a 192m climb of the beautiful Heitere plateau, before the athletes transition onto two wheels for the slightly longer, 3 x 49km lap bike, each packing a 590m height difference.
Once the bikes are racked once again, it’s back into the shoes for 4 x 6.75km run laps - one more than previous editions - and a slightly reduced total climb of 488m with a small forest loop additional to run one.
The winning times in 2022 were just over six hours for the men, just over 6¾ hours for the women, but with these course changes the challenge is on for Matthieu Bourgeois and Melanie Maurer to reproduce those displays to defend their titles. You can watch all the action over on TriathlonLive.tv from 8am CEST.
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Maurer was back in style after a difficult race in 2021, making the decisive move against Belgium’s Lotte Claes at the five-hour mark and then attacking the first stage of the run to take the win. Germany’s Merle Brunee was the 2021 winner as Maurer suffered from hypothermia and abandoned the race, and it looks likely that the trio will be the main challengers again this year.
The Swiss two-time bronze medallist Sarah Noemi Frieden will be eager for a big performance on home soil, and Japan’s Ai Ueda makes the logical bridge from her recent duathlon and long distance triathlon successes with a debut in this famous format.
In the men’s race, Bourgeois leads a 22-deep field, the Frenchman having put together three impressive segments 12 months ago to hold off the challenge of Seppe Odeyn (BEL). Netherlands’ Dan de Groot was a bronze medallist here back in 2019 and the versatile racer will want to forget his DSQ from last year and make another big push for the medals.
Germany’s Fabian Holbach returns after making a big impact on debut last year, knowing that a better pace over the opening run segment could see him challenging for the title this time around in one of the most stunning race settings imaginable.
Full start lists can be found here.
