The wait was long, but it will have
all been worth it when the men line up on the edge of Yokohama harbour to get
this year’s World Triathlon Championship Series action underway on Saturday.
The two first races of the new season - albeit at the end of last year - WTCS
Hamburg and WTCS Abu Dhabi suddenly feel like a lifetime ago but could still
have a big impact on the race to become 2022 World Champion. Jelle Geens and
Vincent Luis’ one-two in the UAE felt like familiar territory after the rising
German talents Tim Hellwig and Lasse Nygaard Priester had taken Hamburg by
storm. The world title will be awarded in Abu Dhabi in November, but the points
amassed and the markers laid down in Japan this weekend could prove vital. As
always, you can follow every moment as it happens and watch back on demand over
on TriathlonLive.tv.
Thanks to the consistency shown by
his fifth-place finishes in 2021, wearing the number one on Saturday will be
Spain’s Antonio Serrat Seoane, emerging from the shadows of Javier Gomez and
Mario Mola with a point to prove and the skills to do it. Third fastest run in
the season’s first races, if the bike packs come together over the 40km, Serrat
will again be a big threat.
Eager to dictate the outcome from the
outset will be French star Vincent Luis. Two-time World Champion, Olympic Mixed
Relay bronze medallist, Luis looked back to his best in Abu Dhabi, despite
being shaded by Jelle Geens over the closing stages. The flying Belgian sadly
won’t be on the start line this time around, however, so the 2019 winner here
will know that another gold could set the tone for his third title push.
Other notable absentees include
Johnny Brownlee, Morgan Pearson, Mario Mola and Kristian Blummenfelt, but
Marten Van Riel is not the kind of athlete who only worries about what is in
front of him, not who. So close to his first WTCS golds in 2021, the Belgian
has shown he is just as at home over 70.3 and Arena Games distances as sprint
and Olympic, and will relish this next shot at that as-yet elusive top spot on
the podium.
Way down the start list wearing the
#29 is Britain’s Alex Yee, recently crowned the first-ever Arena Games
Triathlon Esport World Champion. The experience will have certainly sharpened
his edge, but his place on the pontoon could see him need to summon every drop
of the hard work he has put into the swim over the close season if he is to
stay in close enough contention to deploy that potent 10km run power.
Another favourite will be New
Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, Olympic bronze in Tokyo behind Yee, eighth in Abu Dhabi
in November and winner of Arena Games Singapore a week ago, he will take his
usual fearless attitude onto the start line and it will be fascinating to see
where it gets him on a course he has raced just once before back in 2019.
But the list of podium potential is
long. A two-time WTCS winner in 2019, Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) knows all too
well how to close out a race as does Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), with both hunting
for signs that they are back to their best form this weekend.
Add in names like Kevin McDowell and
Matt McElroy (USA), Vasco Vilaça (POR), Kenji Nener (JPN), Dorian Coninx and
Leo Bergere (FRA) and the list of potential medallists starts to look very long
and the race even more wide open. Get ready for some outstanding entertainment.
The full start list is here.
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.
www.triathlon.org
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