The Cross Duathlon world titles set
the tone in San Antonio on Wednesday, now the world’s best cross triathletes
get their chance to shine as the 2023 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Ibiza
continue on Friday.
The action will be non-stop. After a
1km swim in the emerald Balearic Sea it’s a long run up into transition before
two gruelling bike laps up into the hills that surround the famous town. Three
distinct sections present three different challenges, with gravel, rocks,
trails and tarmac at various points, scything switchbacks and rapid descents on
each of the 10km loops.
A 5km run wraps things up, combining
technical sections, beach passes and rocky headlands, before hitting the chute
for glory. Extended highlights will be available on TriathlonLive.tv.
Men’s preview
Four men have been vying for the
medals in recent years, the Forissier brother Felix and Arthur, Ruben Ruzafa
and the mighty Arthur Serrieres. Three Frenchmen, one Spaniard, and 32 rivals
looking to dethrone them on Friday.
Arthur Serrieres has been on a steady
march to the top of the sport since his first European U23 title back in 2015,
honing his craft at the World Championships and XTERRA to sit now at the very
top of the tree, looking to make it a hat-trick of world titles after an
imperious display in Targu Mures last year.
Serrieres is a powerhouse over all
three disciplines, but if Felix Forissier can put some extra pressure on in the
swim, that first bike climb could be crucial. It is there that sibling Arthur
Forissier will be looking to use his considerable handling skills, but in the
world of cross racing anything can happen, and it is how the best respond when
the unexpected happens that is often decisive.
Ruben Ruzafa is a four-time world
champion who will have been working hard to try and secure a fifth on home soil
after European Championship success in Bilbao. Being in touch out of the water
will be his first goal, but the rougher terrain of the upper bike course could
play to his strengths.
USA’s Eric Lagerstrom makes a rare
appearance in the Team USA suit, the former short-course athlete switched to
longer distance but has always kept off-road in his heart and arrives in Ibiza
fresh from a training camp with compatriot Seth Rider to sharpen his swim and
run in preparation.
Last year’s U23 World Champion was
Portugual’s Francois Vie is likely to be setting the pace once more in the
swim, while Belgium’s Cross Duathlon World Champion Sebastien Carabin will hope
that gap doesn’t go out too far and he can use the experience gained in race
conditions on Wednesday to do some damage over the 20km bike once again.
Women’s preview
The women’s title looks like being
another wide open affair by some of the toughest triathletes out there, led out
by defending champion Sandra Mairhofer (ITA) who is on a hot streak of form
that has straddled the worlds of winter and cross with equal success.
One of the few women on the start to
topple her when it matters most is Switzerland’s Loanne Duvoisin for whom the muddy but otherwise relatively
straightforward Extramadura course in 2021 proved the perfect ground for a
world title performance.
In Targu Mures, it was another
Italian, the rising talent Marta Menditto, who was able to push Mairhofer the
closest and take both elite silver and the U23 title. Just as at home in the
water or on the bike and just a minute off her compatriot last time out, this
could be the 23-year-old’s time to shine.
Switzerland’s Anna Zehnder scored the
Cross Duathlon silver and now knows the course inside out after delivering the
second fastest mountain bike time of the women’s field, while Johandri
Leicester goes out for South Africa for a first World Championship outing since
finishing 11th in Fyn seven years ago.
For the full start lists, click here.
https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2023_world_triathlon_cross_championships_ibiza/583948
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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