NEWS

Rimini prepares ...

By Paul Groves | 23 May, 2015

Rimini, with its 15km long sandy beach is not used to raging winds, big waves and torrential rain. In fact the last time such a tempest swept through was back in 2001. The Organisers of the ETU Challenge, European Middle Distance Championships, were faced with terrible conditions on Friday as the athletes registered. The sea, only a short distance from the finish area, roared, the wind howled, the athletes dressed for the occasion.

For Race Organiser, Alessandro Alessandri and his wife Romina Ridolfi, this weather was completely unexpected. For Alessandro, there may be memories going back to the World Duathlon Championships in 2003 in Affoltern, Switzerland. It was there that similar conditions struck. A bronze medal was his prize then as an Elite athlete. The Technical Officials, led by Vicente Sanchez Roz ESP, devised a contingency plan with the LOC to ensure that all the 1,600+ athletes from all over Europe would have a race, even if the swim was to be cancelled. The team would have to rely upon the water safety authorities and if they could not launch a safety boat, then the swim would have to be cancelled and replaced by a 10k run before the 93k bike and final 21k run.

The forecasts suggested that the worst weather would be after lunchtime on the Saturday and whilst still not ideal, Sunday would see improvements enough to allow the swim but it is always best to have a “Plan B”.

It was at the Elite Athlete Briefing that everyone had a chance to get together and see just who had braved the weather to come to accept the Challenge!

The contingency plan was explained to the athletes and around the room there were smiles as well as looks of consternation. For some, the extra run of 10k was welcome, for others the prospect of a cancelled swim was the last thing they wanted to hear.

With 20 women on the Elite start list, representing 13 nations, and with many names moving up from the standard distance, it promises to be a great race. Italian hopes must be with Sara Dossena , so far this year she has collected three silver medals on the international circuit. Running strong and hoping to put the mechanical failure that pushed her off the top of the podium in Alcobendas, she would welcome a duathlon tomorrow. Even with the swim, the course is one that will suit her with an open and flat opening section that will see the athletes exposed to strong winds, followed by a stiff climb up and up and up and then a fast descent with quite technical sections. With a top ten placing in last year’s ETU Challenge Middle Distance Championships in Paguera-Mallorca and a very vocal home crowd, this could be her day. Alongside her will be team-mate Margie Santimaria and long-distance specialist and Italian middle distance 2014 champion, Martina Dogana. So it is by no means a done deal for Dossena.

From Finland, the 2014 silver medallist, Kaisa Lehtonen has also moved up from Standard Distance racing. After a DNF in Paguera-Mallorca, she will be hoping to put the ghosts to sleep and have a good day in Rimini. Still running after all these years is the Hungarian athlete Erika Csomor and at the other end of the scale is the young Brit, Vanessa Raw who had a great 2nd place over this distance in Guadeloupe earlier this year. She was pipped by Jeanne Collonge FRA but coming from the North East of England this weather will surely give her an advantage.

Amongst the men we see the same strength and depth, with many familiar faces from the Standard Distance moving up to the middle distance. 38 men. 19 nations, including a brave US athlete who is racing the Challenge event but who will start with the European Elite. Leading the ranking and very much the local favourite, is Giulio Molinari.  Coming to the start line as favourite and defending champion the pressure is of course upon him. “I know that I am strong in the water and the bike course really suits me,” said Molinari after the briefing.

“The course is not an easy one and I hope to build up a good lead on the swim and bike. For me the run is not so good but if I am far enough ahead …” With great support from his employer, the Carabinieri, Molinari has high hopes for tomorrow and welcomes a tough swim. Looking at his bike split for Paguera-Mallorca when he was almost five minutes ahead of anyone else. With training over the winter months and racing on home soil, his greatest threat will be the Portuguese athlete Bruno Pais who took silver last year in Paguera-Mallorca. The two Russians, Nikolay Yaroshenko and Artem Parienko will look to take an early advantage if they can stay near Molinari on the swim. No stranger to this distance is Filip Ospalý CZE. With 39 years behind him he is still a major threat when it comes to a sprint to the finish line. From Switzerland and with recent great pace, comes Ruedi Wild. His winter preparation has included some reflection. Back in February, some wise words, “Not the day I was hoping for today at Challenge Dubai. Went OK until last 30k of the bike when I practically fell apart… Just do not have it yet at this early stage of the season what it takes to push through 4 hours. New lessons learned: 1. XC skiing prepares engine well for Olympic distance but for 90k you need more time to build on the bike 2: 21km run feels much harder when running slowly!” More recently, his domination in the national championships in Zofingen, prepared him for the season, “Nice location, competitive field and great organization make it the perfect preparation for the big races to come - Triathlon always feels easy afterwards I am ready!”

Former European Long Distance Champion, Andrej Vištica CRO has good support from his team mates and with two national titles over this middle distance is also in with a chance.

From GB comes Ritchie Nicholls. From Montrose, Scotland, he has shown tremendous pace and with previous victories at this distance, including a course that is recognised around the world as one of the toughest at this distance in Southern England, the conditions here, combined with the tough and technical bike course, could be all the factors that see him push for the podium.

This morning over breakfast, we caught up with Daniel Fontana ITA, who has had to pull out due to an Achilles injury. For him, the man to beat will be Molinari. He knows this course well and explained that the athletes will face a head wind all the way up to the turn point. Coming back to T2 they will be pushed along by the tail wind but we should not expect fast times due to that massive climb. The weather conditions were awful yesterday but a look at the forecast does suggest the seas will calm and that we will have a swim / bike / run tomorrow. Fontana, clearly wishing he was racing, has two Olympics behind him and, with an Italian Mum, being born in Patagonia, Argentina; he has represented both countries at the Olympics. He has settled in Italy now and has excelled at racing over this distance, using his powerful swim background to gain an early advantage. With his prediction of Molinari for the men, we asked him who he thought had the edge in the women’s race. Again his choice for the title was an Italian. Dossena may not have the strongest swim but on the bike she is impressive and on the run she is awesome. It would truly be a great result for Italian triathlon if both golds stayed here. His club has a strong junior section and a double gold here in Rimini tomorrow would be great inspiration for the developing junior and youth athletes.


As this is being written, the sun is dropping some welcome rays on the rain-soaked course here in Rimini as the open races are underway. Fingers, toes and everything else are crossed in the hope that the race goes ahead as planned tomorrow.

Don’t forget, follow the race live.

A final word goes to Renato Bertrandi, ETU President. For him the location is a wonderful opportunity for the LOC to show the world that once again they can organise a great event. “Rimini has been at centre stage in the past but this event, taking the athletes far into the hills and with such a great start list, is a great opportunity for European athletes to race at the highest level in Italy. There is not only the Elite race but also the huge race for the Age Groupers with athletes from all over Europe present in Rimini. The ParaTri community is also here and hoping for improved conditions so that they too can take on the Challenge.”