After a five year gap, the Winter Triathlon World Championships return to Italy this weekend with the biggest prize in Winter Triathlon on the line.
After two years in Jamijarvi, athletes from around the globe will descend on Cogne, in the Aosta Valley, with Elite, U23, Junior, Para-triathlon titles and Age Group World titles up for grabs.
The Winter Triathlon World Championships were last held in Italy in 2007, when Arne Post (NOR) and Sigrid Mutscheller (GER) took home the Elite titles.
Sarka Grabmullerova (CZE) finished 7th in Flassin and she lines up in her 10th Elite Women World Championship. Her best finish was 2nd place in Jamijarvi in 2011 and a similar position may be the best the experienced athlete can hope for given the form of the race favourite, Helena Erbenova (CZE).
Erbenova was in imperious form in Vimperk last week, winning the race by almost six minutes. She burst onto the Winter Triathlon scene in 2012 to win both the European and World titles but was upset by Borghild Løvset (NOR) in Tartu to lose her European title. As a result, she will be even more determined to keep hold of this title.
Elisabeth Sveum (NOR) could well be a podium contender here. The 2009 U23 World Champion has progressed to Elite level and finished 3rd in the European Championships last month.
Russian duo Tatiana Charochkina and Yulia Surikova will also be in contention for a podium place.
In the Elite Men’s race, Pavel Andreev is the name on everyone’s lips. The Russian has two wins from two races in 2013 and is gunning for his third World Championship title in a row.
Arne Post (NOR), has won the World Championship twice on Italian soil (Brusson 2002, Flassin 2007) and it would be a sensational result if were to repeat the feat here in Cogne for what would be his 4th World title.
The competition for podium places behind Andreev is wide open with Russian duo Evgeny Kirillov and Maxim Kuzmin capable of mounting a threat and Kristian Monsen (NOR) can also be dangerous on his day.
In the U23 Women’s race, Tatiana Bregeda (RUS) leads a small but competitive field. She pipped Margarita Ovsyannikva in Tartu to become European Champion and the two should battle for gold again.
Russia should also dominate in the U23 Men’s race. The top three from Tartu of Viktor Kuznetsov, Pavel Yakimov and Dmitry Koltsov will challenge for podium places once again but the final order is far from certain. 2012 World Junior Champion Pavel Eliseev makes the step up this year to add to the mix.
In the Junior races, European Champion Stefania Shamshurina will start as favourite but Estonia’s Sandra Schmidt impressed at Tartu and could play a prominent role here along with Natalie Grabmullerova (CZE).
With Eliseev progressing to the U23 competition, a new Junior Men’s World Champion will be crowned and there will be great support for Italian trio Marco Liporace, Alessandro Saravalle and Nehuen Truc.
In the Para-Tri 4 category, European Champion Rob Noordzij will have to do battle with Dmitry Shevchenko (RUS) if he is to do the double and claim the World crown.
Over 150 Age Group athletes from 16-76 will compete for their World titles. Former ETU President Philip Schaedler (LIE) will compete in the Male 50-54 category alongside his brother Michael.
So many great races to look forward to and with a Team relay event also included it promises to be a fantastic weekend of Winter Triathlon action.
The Italian Triathlon Federation will be running a live feed of the race on their website. Follow this link for instant race updates.
We will bring you all the race reports and results in due course.
