Europe Triathlon

Eğirdir has not seen international triathlon for a number of years but this weekend the Türkiye Triatlon Federasyonu has returned to this great venue where athletes will be racing for points and prize-money.
Prize money distribution. Elite men and women:
1st.  1,562,5 EUR
2nd. 1,250 EUR
3rd.  937,5 EUR
4th.  625 EUR
5th.  500 EUR
6th.  437,5 EUR
7th.  375 EUR
8th.  250 EUR
9th.  187,5 EUR
10th.  125 EUR

The points will be helpful too as we edge closer to the Final in Sochi where these Elite athletes will have a chance to a share of the €30,000 that is up for grabs. But, in order to get the cash and points they have to negotiate the two-lap 1500m swim in a freshwater lake, an 8-lap, fast and flat 40k bike course and a 4-lap flat and fast run of 10k.

The Organisers have tested the course this morning with an open race and it all kicks off tomorrow with the Elite.

A look back to the records show that one athlete racing here this weekend has won before. Ukraine’s Oleksiy Syutkin had a storming race last weekend in Riga and will be looking to exploit his current good form. He will be joined by his top-ranked fellow-Ukrainian, Danylo Sapunov who has been racing now on the international circuit for over 15 years. Alongside these two will be Yegor Martynenko and Ivan Ivanov to complete the blue and yellow line up. Andrea Secchiero had a solid performance last weekend in Tiszaújváros over the short and fast circuit and it will be interesting to see if he can translate that high-intensity racing to the more traditional standard distance.

Looking at the start lists and seeing Vladimir Turbaevskiy RUS on the start line we can expect the swim to be pulled along at some speed. Narrowly missing out on a podium last weekend he is beginning to show some good form. The swim is going to be exciting as the young Turkish athlete Gültigin Er will be keen to show his Federation and the supporters there that he can race with the best. Uxio Abuin Ares ESP, Madrid’s winner will also be there to ensure the run will be done at top tempo.

One to watch out for will be Brice Daubord FRA. Back in 2009 on this course he was narrowly beaten by Syutkin. A lot of swims, bikes and runs later let’s see how this weekend unfolds. He lies second at the moment in the Ranking Race and extra points here could easily take him into the lead.

17 nations and 43 athletes.

The full start list is here.
 

The women’s start list is small but strong.  Returning from injury and having shown great form last week in Riga, Ukraine’s Yuliya Yelistratova has a lot of work to do to catch up the points she lost out on in the ETU Rankings. Currently back in 19th place she has her work cut out to regain the lead. Having won the title in 2014 she will be keen to collect as many points as possible this weekend with her eyes firmly on Sochi.
She will have familiar faces to race against as she is joined by Arina Shulgina and Liubov Polyanskaya both from Russia. As in the men’s race, the athletes from Russia and Ukraine work together well over the winter months at their training camp in Cyprus and they will know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Shulgina’s recent fast pace on the run will be a threat to Yelistratova but over the 10k rather than the short and sharp Tiszaújváros course, things might be different.

Swiss U23 athlete Lisa Berger will be hoping to challenge the older athletes and local support will be strong for Ipek Öztosun who will be hoping to put behind her the crash last weekend in Riga.

The full start list is here.
 

See here for the archive of results