What’s on this weekend?
Well, for those heading to Holten, your race is now a Sprint. Due to excessive heat the local authorities, along with the LOCs, have cancelled all triathlon events in the Low Lands. This step has been taken regrettably, to protect the thousands of Age Group athletes who were planning to swim, bike and run this weekend. As ever, your health and safety is the primary concern.
But … does this mean the ETU European Cup for Elite and Junior athletes is cancelled? No is the answer.
The LOC in Holten, easily one of the most experienced teams of organisers, has changed everything to make sure all their hard work does have some return. Chairman, Martin Pieters announced, “We accept that international athletes are well-conditioned and can cope with extreme weather conditions. We have taken advice about moving the start times to later in the day and have chosen to start the races in the early evening. If we had started the races earlier then they would have ended at the hottest part of the day.”
The races are reduced now to a Sprint Distance format and will take place later in the day to ensure that the heat is not so bad.
Here is the revised schedule:
- 17:00 Junior Male
- 17:30 Junior Female
- 18:30 Elite Male
- 19:30 Elite Female
- 21:00 Award Ceremony
It is not just the athletes that are the concern of the LOC. The Mayor of Holten, Arco Hofland, said, “I consider that the organisation form Triathlon Holten have taken a brave decision to cancel all races apart from those for the Elite and Junior athletes. This is of course a great disappointment for all athletes, volunteers and spectators and by this action the LOC have shown that their primary concern is the health of all. It is a great shame that due to extreme weather they have had to do this but once again Triathlon Holten has shown how very professional they are and how they have guaranteed continuity for the future.”
If you are making your way there, you will still be welcomed by the small town and its 950 keen volunteers. Festivities will be held on both the 3rd and 4th of July.
Free water will be provided for all visitors and extra First-Aid staff will be in attendance. On Friday the party begins at 20:00 and the LOC has a great line-up of music for you.
Oh, and of course, there is a triathlon.
Who will be there and who will be looking for points, prize-money and medals?
Well, for the Women’s Elite and headlining the cast, is Rachel Klamer. She delighted the home fans last year with a runaway victory at the ETU Premium European Cup in Holten. It was the 2013 European Champion’s third victory at Holten, a win she described as a “dream come true”. With a silver medal from Baku at home now, she is in excellent form. She will face stiff competition from US athlete, Renee Tomlin who has an impressive global portfolio with wins this year in Chengdu and Habana and a silver in New Plymouth.
From Russia comes Anastasia Abrosimova who placed 8th here last year and who comes fresh from Istanbul where she also placed 8th. One to watch will be Italy’s Sara Dossena. So far this year she has displayed an impressive ability to race with silver medals at Horst (Long Distance), Alcobendas (Standard Distance, with a massive technical problem on her bike), in Madrid and then in Rimini (Middle Distance). With her ability to push high watts over all distances, the others had better watch out.
With 14 nations taking part spectators will be treated to a great race.
For a full start list, please click here.
For the Junior Women ten nations will be represented. None of 2014’s medal winners are there and so it will be a new set of names that will be entered into Holten’s impressive record book. Highest ranked and with a Junior Cup gold already in her hands from Monroe, is Tamara Gorman USA. She has the points edge on fellow US athlete Taylor Knibb but will have to watch out for home favourite, Kirsten Nuyes. She is on form with a silver in Burgas only a couple weeks ago after her top ten in Melilla. From France comes Celia Bremond. She had top ten places in Quarteira and Vienna and a top 5 in Alcobendas. These conditions may well suit her.
For a full start list, please click here.
Moving to the Elite Men, defending champion, Dmitry Polyanskiy RUS will be absent following his DNF in Baku. However, Christophe Hettich GER will be there. His silver medal in 2014 was followed by a silver in Wollongong earlier this year. In that race, over the Sprint Distance, his swim did not take him to the front of the pack but tactical riding took him all the way up from 23rd to the podium. Highest-ranked is Zimbabwe-born Kiwi, Ryan Sissons. Ranked 3rd is Kyiv-born Vladimir Turbaevskiy RUS. He rested last weekend while his partner, Yuliya Yelistratova was racing but ended up probably more stressed out than if he had been racing due to her serious crash and subsequent injuries. He has performed well so far this season, with a top ten in Antalya and a bronze in Burgas.
If there is any work to be done on the bike then Holtenberg will be the domain for Kristian Blummenfelt NOR. If Lukas Verzbicas USA has a clear run and can find his form from a couple of years ago, this race could be his chance to boost his points. Watch out too for Canadian Alexis Lepage who took bronze last week in Kyiv. 5 nations are represented in this race.
For a full start list, please click here.
Amongst the Junior Men there are athletes from 16 nations and from as far afield as Japan, Uruguay and Bermuda. Top-ranked is last year’s bronze medal winner, Gustav Iden NOR. He will be up against Seth Rider USA who just lost out to the race for bronze in Vienna a short while ago. From Belgium comes Noah Servais who has placed in the top ten in each of his last three outings; Alanya, Quarteira and Vienna.
For a full start list, please click here.
Moving northwards and to slightly cooler weather, we have the annual festival of triathlon in Tartu, Estonia, hosted by the Estonian Triathlon Federation. Yes, it is the same great team that organised the superb Winter Triathlon and here they are staging a summer version. It is here that the ETU Development Team will be taking athletes from Slovenia, Belarus, Latvia & Lithuania. They will be under the coaching surveillance of our Slovenian friend Miloš Petelin. As part of its continuing commitment to developing athletes, federations, coaches and officials, ETU has provided funding to support a selected team of athletes. They raced last weekend in Istanbul and came away with very positive experiences and, of course, ETU points.
Last year it was Russian gold for both men and women, with a further bronze for the women going to Russia. Silver went to Germany, while for the men the silver wen to Australia and the bronze to Kazakhstan. This year, with some athletes returning to see if they can grab some points, improve on their previous performances or simply because they love Estonia, the highest-ranked athlete is Mariya Shorets RUS. She will face Ukrainian winner of the Kyiv race, Inna Ryzhykh who took gold after narrowly missing the podium in Burgas. Against South African, Anel Radford who came 5th last year, just behind Ryzhykh. Julie Nivoix FRA has arrived having left school before “Les grandes vacances”. She is not a pupil or student but in fact a teacher, still managing to mix her profession with training to enable her to race internationally. She won bronze last year in Loutraki at the end of the season and had a top ten place in Burgas. With no homework to mark and the thought of those long summer holidays, perhaps this weekend she will have a stress-free race. The home crowds will be cheering for Kaidi Kivioja EST who, as a junior, took gold in Kupiškis in 2012.
For a full start list, click here.
The Men’s Race will see 20 nations racing. It is amazing to see that athletes from Australia, Taipei, Morocco, Canada and New Zealand have made the trip to this Baltic gem.
Continuing with his quest for points and playing very much the strategic game is Italian Daniel Hofer. His plan is working well as he takes the top place in the ranking. He will be joined by fellow Italian, Massimo De Ponti. He lost out last week in Istanbul to Felix Duchampt FRA, who took gold in Istanbul. The battle between these two athletes will be one to watch.
Duchampt has settled in well already. 'Apparently if you stay with the best people ever in Tartu @liisojokas & @silvermikk for the triathlon, you have to take this picture! Glad to keep the tradition alive!'
Patrick Rhyner SUI had a good swim and posted a good run on a tough course last week in Kyiv. He will be keen to try and improve on his 4th place as well as trying for some of the prize-money, which goes down ten places in Tartu. It is good to see Sergiy Kurochkin UKR back on the circuit after his quite shocking accident last year in Mamaia-Constanta. With his toe securely fastened to his foot, after the successful operation, he has shown good form by taking bronze at the ETU Aquathlon Championships last weekend in Köln. Local support will be for Henry Räppo EST who paalced 8th recently in Kupiškis.
Below you will find the maps for the swim, bike and run course as well as a plan for transition.
