The 2017 ITU World Cup season begins this weekend where it will debut our biggest calendar yet to date, hitting 16 cities spanned across all six continents. Beloved as our first series, the World Cup circuit is a chance for returning and rising talent to bridge the gap into elite success while also making a way for development and growth in the sport. So as we gear up to get back on the course, here is what is new for 2017:

Schedule

While debuting on the World Cup calendar, Cape Town is a familiar site to the ITU calendar having hosted various World Triathlon Series races. After kicking off the World Cup circuit in Africa, the tour heads to Oceania to the Australian coastal city of Mooloolaba for the 13th time. The race will be immediately followed up with another stop in Oceania with the return of New Plymouth in New Zealand.

China is slated to host two World Cup races, beginning with the return of Chengdu. While Weihai has hosted many ITU triathlon races, it will welcome a World Cup for the first time. Other races to touch down in Asia include Miyazaki, Japan and Tongyeong, Korea for a total of four races on the continent. The 2017 season will mark the 10th time Tongyeong has welcomed a World Cup, while just the second for Miyazaki, but will be one of the final World Cup races of the year.

Europe will also enjoy five events within its borders with two of the five cities hosting a World Cup for the first time in Huelva, Spain and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The races in Huelva and Madrid make Spain one of two countries that will organize more than one World Cup. Madrid returns to the World Cup calendar for the first time in nine years after having hosted several ITU events in the years since it was a world Cup in 2008. Tiszaujvaros will welcome athletes for the 21st time, while Cagliari returns for its sophomore turn on the tour.

The Americas will feature four World Cups in four countries with three cities debuting on the World Cup calendar. Salinas, Ecuador will return for its second-time hosting an event. Mexico adds Merida to the list of first-timers in the World Cup family. While other first-time World Cups in the Americas include Sarasota, USA and Buenos Aires, Argentina, the latter of which will serve as the final World Cup race in 2017.

For the full lineup click here

Formats

Six cities will see sprint-distance courses this season: Cape Town, New Plymouth, Cagliari, Merida, Tongyeong and Buenos Aires. For the third straight year Tiszaujvaros will once again offer up a semifinals-finals format, but this year Chengdu is also joining the two-race format. All other races will be Olympic distance.

Team ITU

This year, the World Cup series has teamed up with Team ITU to offer more opportunities for developmental athletes. Partnering with seven different events, Team ITU is set to race across three different distance courses. In Madrid (ESP), Salinas (ECU) and Miyazaki (JPN) the athletes will see the standard-distance, they will race a sprint-distance course in Buenos Aires (ARG) and Tongyeong (KOR) and then will see a super sprint-distance course in Chengdu (CHN) and Tiszaujvaros (HUN) in relation to the semifinals-finals format.

For more information on Team ITU click here