Spain’s Mediterranean gem Valencia
welcomes 65 of the best male and female triathletes in the business for the
fifth World Cup of the year on Saturday afternoon, halfway into a 2022 circuit
that has already seen some incredible entertainment on outstanding courses
around the world.
That includes last weekend’s Bergen
debut as well as the preview of next year’s World Triathlon Championship Finals
course in Pontevedra in July, but this weekend we head back across Spain to the
port city of Valencia.
It was here that Beth Potter (GBR)
and Vincent Luis (FRA) were triumphant back in 2020, but this time around the
roll call of potential winners on start lists thick with talent and explosive
runners is even greater. Plenty of surprises and another almighty finale could
be in store then for the end of the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run across
this very fast, very flat sprint-distance course in the Spanish heat.
As ever, you can watch all the action
live and direct on TriathlonLive.tv, with the women's race starting at 4.45pm
CEST, the men at 6.45pm CEST.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Just as she did for last week's
immense Bergen throwdown, Kirsten Kasper will sport the number one cap and lead
the line in Valencia as she continues to search for her peak fitness
post-Covid. Tenth in Norway was a strong marker to build on going into the second
half of the season, and it would be unwise to discount the gutsy American from
a podium even if she does feel short of her maximum power.
Joining Kasper for only her second
World Cup appearance since a hot and humid 2019 victory in Huatulco will be Summer
Rappaport, a proven master of both sprint and standard distance at this level
and ready for another chance to put recent altitude training to the test after
what was a disappointing 26th at WTCS Hamburg by her own high standards.
Germany continues to turn out podium
potential at an impressive rate, Lisa Tertsch looking back in the form that
brought her bronze here in 2020 after taking a first WTCS podium with bronze in
Hamburg in July and silver in Pontevedra two weeks later. Still only 23 and
still with plenty of potential in the locker, it is surely only a matter of
time before a repeat of her 2019 gold in Antwerp.
Also in Germany’s talented 1998 gang
are the consistent challengers of Nina Eim and Lena Meissner, with 2021
Arzachena World Cup winner Marlene Gomez-Goggel and this year’s Huatulco
champion Annika Koch completing another impressive German delegation ready to
do battle.
Leonie Periault rocketed to silver in
WTCS Yokohama just as she did in Edmonton last year, but is only just returning
to full fitness after pulling out of WTCS Leeds, hitting the blue carpet after
two months for the European Championships and ready to see where her run form
is once more this weekend.
Brazil’s Luisa Baptista returns to
the short course after her fifth place at the Samorin Long Distance World
Championships, while Ecuadorian legend Elizabeth Bravo makes her first start
since finishing 15th in Pontevedra.
Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen was
involved in an almighty sprint finish in Bergen, eventually taking silver but also
a huge amount of confidence from that first World Cup podium and the
28-year-old will want to follow that performance up quickly in Valencia, while
compatriot Valerie Barthelemy is another with big medal potential offset by the
uncertainty of a Covid recovery still lurking in the background.
A strong Austrian trio of Julia
Hauser, Sara Vilic and Lisa Perterer are all likely to be up there and
challenging off the bike, while Simone Ackermann (RSA) will hope her
Commonwealth Games top 10 finish could be the impetus behind a fresh run of
World Cup form.
Representing the Asics World
Triathlon Team is Bermudian Erica Hawley, fresh from her Commonwealth Games
debut, as five members of the squad head to the second of three designated
supported races in 2022.
Women’s World Triathlon Cup Valencia
Full start list HERE https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2022_world_triathlon_cup_valencia/546966?mc_cid=09c4b3c002&mc_eid=6139649918
MEN'S PREVIEW
Wearing the number one is home
favourite Antonio Serrat Seoane. Hailing from 1000km across the country, the
27-year-old has made a big impact over the past two seasons including fifth
place here in 2020 with the fourth fastest run split behind that edition’s trio
of notable adversaries Alistair Brownlee, Vincent Luis and Jelle Geens. Second
in July’s Pontevedra race behind compatriot Sergio Baxter, his determination,
consistency and form all suggest that a precious first World Cup podium is
surely due.
Morocco’s Jawad Abdelmoula has been a
man on a mission since his remarkable World Cup triumph in Tongyeong last year,
only his second World Triathlon outing but a breakthrough performance that he
has swiftly followed up on with a top 10 at WTCS Montreal and bronze at WTCS
Hamburg in July. A signature long, smooth run stride has been the spark behind
the 28 year-old’s success but he has quickly established the swim and bike
prowess to be able to mix it with the best.
Japan’s Takumi Hojo was second in the
Haeundae World Cup that formed part of that World Cup season-closing South
Korean double-header last year, but has yet to find his very best so far this
year since scoring a European Cup triumph in March. It has also been a
rollercoaster of a year for Hungary’s Bence Bicsak who followed a fine top 10
at Tokyo 2020 with bronze at WTCS Abu Dhabi last November but has yet to quite
hit those heights again so far in 2022. Could Valencia be the race where the
26-year-old reignites his next Olympic campaign?
Tim Hellwig (GER) followed U23 Worlds
silver with WTCS Hamburg individual and Mixed Relay gold in 2021, and currently
sits just outside the Maurice Lacroix Ranking top 10. Teammate Henry Graf also
made a big splash 12 months ago at the Junior World Championships Quarteira
only to have his Algarve title charge derailed with stomach issues. A
career-first World Triathlon Cup will be the next big test for this exciting
20-year-old talent.
Proving his long journey back to full
power is nearly over in Norway last weekend was USA’s Matthew McElroy, the
fastest athlete over the final 5km run in Bergen and looking ready to rekindle
the fire that burned so brightly in 2019 as he scooped a trio of World Cup wins
in succession and a first Series podium in Leeds. Nothing has been
straightforward since then, with injuries hampering any consistency but with
the Paris 2024 start line his target, Valencia could be the race to firmly
underline that the Mac is well and truly back.
Three-time World Champion Mario Mola
starts only his second World Triathlon race sine Tokyo 2020 and the
Mallorca-born 32-year-old will want to give fans a reminder of what he is
capable of over 5km and could certainly be pushing for a crowd-pleasing podium
if still in touch with the front pack off the bike.
Also in the top 10 here two years ago
was Manoel Messias, the Brazilian bullet always capable of producing a
show-stopping run in the heat just as he did in Arzachena and WTCS Montreal
earlier in the year.
Canada’s former Junior Worlds runner
up Charles Paquet continues his pursuit of a first World Cup podium, while
Spain’s Genis Grau got his first taste of World Cup gold in Huatulco and will
be eager to reproduce that dramatic and successful sprint finish in front of a
home crowd this weekend.
Leading the French line is Paul
Georgenthum, who pushed Hellwig all the way to the line at last year’s WTCS
Hamburg and would love to register a first World Cup podium, while Grant
Sheldon is the top-ranked Brit, arriving with the wind in his sails after a
fifth-place finish at the Commonwealth Games.
Valencia will also be the second of
three supported events in 2022 for members of the ASICS World Triathlon Team
hailing from smaller and developing National Federations. Joining Jawad
Abdelmoula will be fellow Moroccan Badr Siwane, Estonia’s Henry Rappo and
Chilean Diego Moya, all looking to secure vital points in their hunt for a
place on the Paris 2024 start line.
Full start list HERE https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2022_world_triathlon_cup_valencia/546965?mc_cid=09c4b3c002&mc_eid=6139649918
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic 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 para triathlon 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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