The hotly anticipated 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series begins this weekend in the Japanese city of Yokohama, when Saturday sees the defending men’s World Champion Vincent Luis (FRA) get his pursuit of a third straight title underway in what is all set to be a huge Olympic year.
It was on this very standard-distance
course in 2019 that the Frenchman took the tape and what proved decisive points
on route to his first world title. The standalone World Championships in
Hamburg that marked the return to racing last August saw him retain that crown,
as well as continuing a win streak that started in 2019 in Banyoles and has
continued beyond Hamburg to Karlovy Vary, Arzachena and Valencia late last year.
There is little doubt that one of the
favourites for the 2021 title intends to do everything in his considerable
powers to continue that win streak right through the Tokyo Olympic Games to
August’s Championship Series Finals Edmonton.
So who can halt the Luis juggernaut
in Yokohama and who will be taking important strides towards Tokyo in the first
WTCS of the Olympic Qualification Period? Wearing the number two and already
assured of his Olympic starting place will be Fernando Alarza, silver medallist
here in 2017 and bronze in 2018. A regular feature in the top five over the
years, his remarkable consistency and trademark strong finish could help pile
on the pressure over the closing stages.
The pedal power of big names like
Marten van Riel (BEL), Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), Jonas Schomburg (GER) and
Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) will see them pushing hard on the bike to try and
break up the field, with the lack of race practice likely to make for a
fascinating middle segment.
Yokohama has some tight technical
sections and wider turns that will need to be attacked strategically over the 9
laps if there is to be a significant breakaway during the largely flat 40km
ride.
The position of key athletes as they
rack the bikes and emerge out of T2 will be another deciding factor on the
podium composition. There is little doubt of the potential for a rapid 10km run
from the likes of Jelle Geens (BEL), Gustav Iden (NOR) and Brownlee, who
delivered a devastating 29m 21s split to take the gold here back in 2013.
That was long before the likes of
compatriot Alex Yee and Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca were on the elite scene,
though, and both have proven their mettle at the very highest level. It was
Vilaca who was Luis’ nearest challenger in Hamburg and Karlovy Vary at the end of
2020, and his two silvers marked him out as last year’s major breakthrough
talent and undoubtedly one to watch in Yokohama.
Leo Bergere, Dorian Coninx and Pierre
le Corre go into the first race of the Olympic Qualification Period eager to
prove to the French selectors that they are the in-form choice to head to
Tokyo, while Matthew McElroy and Morgan Pearson are among the five US men who
know that a top eight finish should be enough to book them an Olympic spot.
Australia’s Jacob Birtwhistle will be
looking to reignite his excellent form from 2019 that saw victories in Hamburg
and Leeds, while Henri Schoeman (RSA) is another of the big names looking to
get a feel for where his race fitness is after an extended break from the blue
carpet.
Like Brownlee, Joao Silva (POR) is a
former champion on this course in both 2011 and 2012, while the recently
crowned Asian Champion Kenji Nener will hope to produce another big result on
home soil after finishing 33rd here in 2019. A top-16 result will almost
certainly guarantee Nener an Olympic start.
EVENT WEBSITE https://yokohama.triathlon.org/?mc_cid=51e3ff5bb0&mc_eid=6139649918
WHATCH IT ON TRIATHLONLIVE.TV
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic sport of triathlon and all related multisport
disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon
and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, with a
third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at Tokyo 2020,
while paratriathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016.
World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport worldwide,
with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our core as we
seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be extraordinary.
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