NEWS

Early season points and prizes: indoor tri is here!

By Paul Groves | 01 Mar, 2019

All eyes will be on the Arena Stade Couvert Liévin this weekend as Elite and Junior athletes from all over Europe make their way to the North-Eastern town and a true triathlon spectacular.

We posted last night a short video showing the inside of the stadium and well, we were blown away. Looking back to those two events hosted by the French Triathlon Federation in the 1990’s and when Eurosport, who were so supportive of our sport, provided the TV coverage, it was exciting then but now, with triathlon so much more part of our lives, knowing who will be there but also shaking our heads at the number of athletes who are not on the start list and who will miss this golden opportunity, we can see that the sport has advanced so much.

€10,000 prize-money will be available along with important early-season points and on an indoor circuit, at an arena that is connected to the hotel next door by a covered walkway. A wonderfully self-contained venue.

Who will be racing then?

For the elite women, 13 nations will be on the start line and naturally, the French hosts have presented a talented field.

Sandra Dodet FRA. Consistently strong, part of the victorious U23 Grand Final mixed relay team and powerful over super-sprint distances, the home crowd will be supporting her along with Margot Garabedian and Justine Guérard.

These two athletes met in Valencia last year, with Garabedian having the stronger finish.


However, making the short trip over the border are the German athletes, Nina Eim, with an early season win in Troutbeck, showing powerful running and Lina Völker, who will be hoping to collect some points.

Not far to travel is the case for the northern neighbours, is the Belgian national junior champion Lara Swannet, whose junior gold medal in Ibiza in the Duathlon was a domination of the field from the very start. Powerful running and biking delivered her to the line way ahead of the challengers. The short swim will suit her here.

Probably leading them out of the water will be Rani Škrabanja. So strong in the water and with power on the bike, she could, over these distances, make the final podium. Her teammate, Quinty Schoens can be there to support her over the first two legs and if tactics come into play, the Dutch duo cold be a real threat to the host nation.

Great Britain’s Zoe Thomas can also be expected to push herself to the limit and with her strong swim and biking could also feature on the final podium. Don’t forget Romania’s Antoanela Manac, with a strong silver in the U23 Cross Triathlon and with the ETU U23 Aquathlon title, we know that she will be at the front of the pack.

11 nations will be represented in the Men’s race and the host nation has pulled out the big guns with Pierre Le Corre, Raphael Montoya, Anthony Pujades and the powerful swimmer, Raoul Shaw.

With a line-up as powerful as this and with the short, explosive distances to race over, this has to be the A Team.

As reigning European Champion, Le Corre comes to the race with proven ability but will have to work very hard to stay ahead of his teammates. Depending how the heats are shared, he could be on his own, or could face a real challenge.

Pujades raced well at the end of the 2018 season, with a closing bronze in Funchal. Montoya, U23 champion in Rotterdam will be wanting to show his power after a break from the start lines and Shaw, so strong in the water is powerful on two wheels and will no doubt push hard all the way to the line in this adrenaline-packed race.

With the swim being critical in this short event, Poland’s Michał Oliwa, who last year put in many hours’ training  on the bike and run, may well hold his position all the way to the line, making it uncomfortable for all those who try to stay with him.

The Hungarian Lehmann brothers will be there too; Bence a couple of years older than Csongor but both of them promising athletes. This course will be a good early season test for them.

Marco van der Stel has raced so often on the world circuit that it is always a delight to watch him race a European Cup. Last year’s victory in Melilla was a convincing one and a reminder that he has that final kick needed to win.

Lars Pfeifer will keep the German spectators focussed. As reigning World University Champion, he started this season with a spectacular closing run of 15:04 in Troutbeck to finish in 4th. The fatsest run by one minute, his pace is there.

But … isn’t there always a “but”, the Belgian team has sent Tim van Hemel the reigning double European Champion with victories at both the Cross Duathlon and Cross Triathlon in Ibiza.

Against all of them will be the Spanish athlete, Roberto Sánchez Mantecón. His U23 bronze in Eilat in intense heat, followed a silver in Alanya a couple of weeks earlier. Trying to be a top athlete in Spain is never easy but this young man has the talent that could deliver him to the top.

For full start lists, please click here.

Alongside the Elite race, will be a Junior European Cup; a fantastic chance for development and without doubt the coaches will be analysing every move of their athletes. For many, this will be their first outing onto the international circuit and for them a great chance to collect individual and team points.

For the full start lists, please click here.

We are hoping to get an update about the live-feed and as soon as we have that link, it will be published on the ETU Facebook and Twitter pages.

Related Event: 2019 Lievin ETU Indoor Triathlon European Cup
02 Mar, 2019 • event pageall results
Results: Rankings Only Male
1. Christopher Perham GBR 00:10:09
2. Csongor Lehmann HUN 00:10:12
3. Pierre Le Corre FRA 00:10:13
4. Arnaud Mengal BEL 00:10:17
5. Tim Van Hemel BEL 00:10:18
6. Ondrej Olsar CZE 00:10:22
7. Mathis Margirier FRA 00:10:22
8. Antonio Benito Lopez ESP 00:10:22
9. Marco Van Der Stel NED 00:10:24
10. Anthony Pujades FRA 00:10:28
Results: Rankings Only Female
1. Nina Eim GER 00:11:24
2. Sandra Dodet FRA 00:11:24
3. Valentina Riasova RUS 00:11:25
4. Alicja Ulatowska POL 00:11:26
5. Justine Guerard FRA 00:11:28
6. Alessia Orla ITA 00:11:30
7. Zoe Thomas GBR 00:11:39
8. Quinty Schoens NED 00:11:43
9. Alzbeta Hruskova CZE 00:11:45
10. Antoanela Manac ROU 00:11:48
Results: Qualifier 1 Elite Men
1. Tim Van Hemel BEL 00:10:39
2. Pierre Le Corre FRA 00:10:39
3. Mathis Margirier FRA 00:10:40
4. Jan Volar CZE 00:10:53
5. Radim Grebík CZE 00:11:01
6. Paul Voelker GER 00:11:17
7. Marc Trautmann GER 00:11:18
8. Sam Vanderjeugt Rojas CRC 00:11:48
9. Pim Venderbosch NED 00:12:24
10. Enric Joan Tejedor ESP 00:16:23
Results: Qualifier 2 Elite Men
1. Anthony Pujades FRA 00:10:42
2. Csongor Lehmann HUN 00:10:44
3. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon ESP 00:10:46
4. Valerio Patanè ITA 00:10:47
5. Tomas Zikmund CZE 00:10:51
6. Simon Duwat FRA 00:11:00
7. Lars Van Der Knaap NED 00:11:01
8. Sabian Kulczynski IRL 00:11:05
9. Stef Corthouts BEL 00:11:29
DSQ. Lennart Sievers GER DSQ
Results: Qualifier 3 Elite Men
1. Marco Van Der Stel NED 00:10:34
2. Igor Bellido Mikhailova ESP 00:10:34
3. Lukas Cervenka CZE 00:10:35
4. Bence Lehmann HUN 00:10:35
5. Arnaud Mengal BEL 00:10:40
6. Raoul Shaw FRA 00:10:48
7. Julien Ferandeau FRA 00:11:14
8. Stijn Jansen NED 00:11:15
9. Cedric Osterholt GER 00:11:18
10. Antoine Muller FRA 00:11:39
Results: Qualifier 4 Elite Men
1. Ondrej Olsar CZE 00:10:43
2. Philipp Wiewald GER 00:10:44
3. Antoine Legout FRA 00:10:45
4. Lars Pfeifer GER 00:10:47
5. Andrey Alypov RUS 00:10:49
6. Raphael Montoya FRA 00:10:58
7. Menno Koolhaas NED 00:11:04
8. Jesús Jimenez Gimeno ESP 00:11:05
9. Jesse Cuijpers NED 00:11:34
10. Thomas Verstraeten BEL 00:11:51