Antalya opens its doors to triathletes over the May Weekend.
Now a well-established event on the international calendar, Antalya is offering even more. A weekend full of racing for Age Groups going for the middle distance and of course the main media focus of the weekend on the ETU Triathlon European Cup. The Turkish Federation has seen some changes over the winter months and with new leads in the roles of Technical Official Development and Management the first big test for them will be this weekend.
The course remains unchanged from last year and will offer the athletes a pan-flat 8-lap bike and 4-lap run. Now, if there is any wind out there it will be tough on the exposed bike course but we can expect to see the strong swimmers forming a lead group and some battles from any chase groups where athletes hoping for extra points may have been stranded. €12,500 prize-money is in the purse for the top ten athletes, male and female.
Fresh from their winter training camp in Cyprus, a strong contingent from Russia and Ukraine (yes they train together in a remarkable show of solidarity) will be up against an equally strong team of 5 women and 8 men from Great Britain who will be using this race as a selection for the Rio test event. There are two slots for the women and four for the men. Perhaps we will see a more of a fight than usual for positions from the very moment the swim starts. On the federation website, British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell, explained: “We place a great emphasis on the ability to perform under pressure on a given day, so we hope to see some great racing this weekend with the big incentive of going to Rio in August.” He added: “In previous test events the results have given a strong indication of who might feature at the Olympic Games a year later. It’s an exciting opportunity to be part of that, and I’m looking forward to seeing who puts their hands up this weekend.”
Who will be racing in the women’s event? Well, athletes from 8 nations are on the start list.
Leading the rankings for this event will be Russian athlete, Alexandra Razarenova. Top ten finishes in two ITU World Cups show that she has the pace but a disappointing performance in Abu Dhabi earlier this year will have seen her putting in a lot of work to iron out the wrinkles. Britain’s Emma Pallant, got a strong 10th last weekend in the Cape Town event, but that was a short and cold swim. The extra 750m here in Antalya may well change that. Her previous top ten finishes in 2014 once again show that at the top of these rankings we have some very fast athletes.
Heather Sellars GBR took a bronze earlier this year in Quarteira and is coming to the event rested and fast. Ece Bakıcı, racing on home soil and ranked high for this event, will be hoping to find some pace and boost her ETU points. The home crowds will of course be cheering her all the way to the finish on this spectator-friendly course. Further down the ranking is Margot Garabedian FRA. With a gold in the Holten race last year as a junior, she moves up and away from the Sprint Distance and has already managed top ten finish in Madrid. Her 35:57 10k earlier this year shows she can push hard in the final section of the race.
The Men’s race will see a massive 65-man beach start. If you are anywhere near Antalya this weekend then make sure you get down there to see it. After only a few steps the water is deep, blue, clean and usually without any current. 18 nations are represented and at the top end there will be fierce competition not only for the prize-money, but also for the points and for the Brits, for those guaranteed spots in the Rio Test Event that takes place in August.
Leading the ranking is Britain’s Adam Bowden. His 7th place in Chicago last year was followed by a disappointing race in Abu Dhabi. Tom Bishop provides solid support wearing number 2. Having popped in a couple of top 20 finishes in the World Triathlon series down under he will be race fit and ready for Antalya. Next up and one to watch for his blistering pace is Russian, Vladimir Turbaevskiy. Last year he placed 7th but ran through the pack from quite some way back. His gold medals in the 2014 Jiayuguan ITU Triathlon World Cup and 2014 Tartu ETU Sprint Triathlon European Cup were both won with the fastest run of the day.
Former World Junior Champion (2004) Valentin Meshcheryakov will be wanting a good result after last year’s ITU Triathlon World Cup in Tongyeong but still has the experience to push the pace on the bike. Without big brother, Sasha, there could be a chance too for Andrey Bryukhankov who will be hoping to improve on last year’s 6th place.
The Elite Women start at 10:40 and the Elite Men, in the afternoon at 14:00. The weather looks superb at 22C and north-east winds coming in at about 8km per hour.
Under the watchful eye of Italian Technical Delegate, Aldo Basola this race is a great one to watch. Good luck to all.
Related Event: 2015 Antalya ETU Triathlon European Cup
Results: Elite Men | |||
---|---|---|---|
1. | Mark Buckingham | GBR | 01:44:20 |
2. | Adam Bowden | GBR | 01:44:41 |
3. | Grant Sheldon | GBR | 01:44:56 |
4. | Maximilian Schwetz | GER | 01:45:20 |
5. | Andrey Bryukhankov | RUS | 01:45:33 |
6. | Ilya Prasolov | AIN | 01:45:49 |
7. | David Bishop | GBR | 01:45:57 |
8. | Viacheslav Vasilev | RUS | 01:46:02 |
9. | Ognjen Stojanovic | SRB | 01:46:06 |
DSQ. | Vladimir Turbayevskiy | RUS | DSQ |
Results: Elite Women | |||
---|---|---|---|
1. | Elena Danilova | RUS | 02:00:14 |
2. | Alexandra Razarenova | RUS | 02:00:41 |
3. | India Lee | GBR | 02:01:25 |
4. | Emma Bilham | SUI | 02:01:41 |
5. | Margot Garabedian | FRA | 02:02:02 |
6. | Emma Pallant | GBR | 02:03:04 |
7. | Anastasiya Vasilyeva | RUS | 02:04:09 |
8. | Hannah Drewett | GBR | 02:04:20 |
9. | Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer | HUN | 02:04:45 |
10. | Lisa Berger | SUI | 02:05:00 |