It is considered the “second oldest race in the world”, and this weekend Almere-Amsterdam, in the Netherlands will get ready to once again host the world’s best long distance athletes, this time vying for the World Triathlon Long Distance crowns. Strong fields of elite athletes will take the start this Sunday for the 2021 World Triathlon Long Distance Championships for a 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run on a course that is below sea level, flat and where the wind can strike mercilessly. Whatever it takes to crown the next World Champion, now that the previous titleholder, Spanish legend Javier Gomez Noya, is not competing.
The elite men will take the stage at
7am on Sunday, with the Elite women following up 5 minutes later and then
leaving the floor for the Para triathlon and Age Group World Championships. All
of them will have to cover two laps on the Weerwater Lake to then cycle 180
kilometres along the former seabed between dykes and windmills, before six laps
of seven kilometres each through the city of Almere on their way to the finish.
Men’s race
After a two-year hiatus forced by the
pandemic, taking the start will be a mix of athletes with previous successful
records in Challenge - Almere, and with a great knowledge of the course and
some of the World Triathlon Long Distance experts, willing to take a shot at
this year’s event, slightly longer format than the last time that the event was
held, in Pontevedra 2019.
And it is in fact the silver
medallist in Pontevedra Long Distance World Championships, Pablo Dapena, who
will be one to watch this Sunday. The Spaniard, who won the World title at Fyn
2018, knows that this flat course is not the best for his skills, but is hoping
that an excellent run will get him again on the podium.
The task won’t be an easy one. Also
lining up in Almere-Amsterdam will be USA’s Andrew Starykowicz, who represented
Team USA at the Collins Cup only two weeks ago, and is looking to prove that
the course fits him perfectly. Starykowicz, one of the strongest cyclists of
the professional field, has already announced multiple times that he wants to
break the record over the 180km distance, and this might just be his chance.
Another strong cyclist, Kristian Hogenhaug, was a runner-up in Almere 2019, and
is quite experienced in coping with the more than likely strong winds that will
surely make a difference in the bike segment.
Dirk Wijnalda and Eric-Simon Strijk
will be proudly representing the Dutch team, and along with the likes of Thomas
Steger (AUT) or Tomas Renc (CZE) will be trying their best to make it to the
top positions.
Women’s race
With none of the top five finishers
from the 2019 World Championships taking the start in Almere, it will be one of
the most open races ever coming up on Sunday. A world title is up for grabs, and
there are quite a few women ready to take it home!
Long Distance World Champion in 2014
and silver medallist in 2012, 2013 & 2015, Camila Pedersen (DEN) will be
the one to beat when the race kicks off this Sunday. The Dane, who was the
first ever female to go under nine hours on the Ironman distance, will line up
in Almere this Sunday ready to grab her 5th medal in the World Triathlon Long
Distance Championships, knowing that the flat and technical bike course fits
her extremely well.
On a mission this Sunday will be a
handful of Dutch triathletes: Sarissa De Vries, Ilona Everdisjk and Janien
Lubben, who will have the extra support of racing at home when vying for a
world title.
Marta Bernardi (ITA) already knows
what it is to stand on the podium this season, after grabbing the bronze medal
at the Middle Distance European Championships in Walchsee last June, and with
many other middle and long-distance races under her belt.
Probably one of the more experienced
athletes in the start list will be Simona Krivankova (CZE), who has raced in
Almere in 2019 and 2017, always finishing in the top 6 places and used to deal
with the windy bike circuit, which can be hard to manage for some athletes more
used to hilly courses. Spaniard Saleta Castro will be one of the ones who will
miss some hard hills to push on the bike, but she has proven to be one always
to consider when it comes to long-distance races.
The Men’s race will get underway at
7am, with the elite women taking the start five minutes after. Both races will be
available live on triathlonlive.tv
Age-Group Long Distance World
Championships
Over 345 triathletes from 27
different countries will line up for the 2021 Almere-Amsterdam Age-Group World
Triathlon Long Distance Championships, with each wave taking the start every
ten minutes, starting at 7.35am. The first wave will be for the Para athletes
vying for the Long Distance world titles.
The Long Distance race will start
with two swim laps of 1.9 kilometres each in the Weerwater, counterclockwise,
to then head to the first transition on the Esplanade. The bike course has two
laps, each of 90km, on a flat course (the same as the Elites) that will take
athletes through dikes, polders, windmills, and a lot of green areas. The long,
windy dikes and the open polders will be challenging and tough, both mentally
and physically. After the demanding bike course, a full marathon (42.2km) run
course through the modern architecture of the city centre to cross the finish
line on the Esplanade of Almere.
Long Distance Aquabike
Almere will play host as well this
year to the World Triathlon Long Distance Aquabike Age-Group Championships,
with 160 athletes from 15 countries competing over a 3.8km swim to then do
180km on their bikes. The men will take the start at 8.32 am, with the women
toeing the start line ten minutes later, at 8.42am.
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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