Europe Triathlon

26 years ago it all started and this year, perhaps a little smaller than usual, Alanya is about to come alive with the sound of Lycra as Europe’s athletes; Junior, Elite and Age Group make their way to the start line.

Making sure that this weekend is a festival for all, the LOC has a special menu of races; for children there is an Aquathlon, which will also be the national championships, for Age Group athletes from all over Europe there is an Open Sprint and Standard race (did you use your winning voucher if you won your category in Lisbon?), there is the 5k sea swim and then there is the ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup and the ETU Triathlon European Cup Final.

Probably the main focus will be on the Elite races as this is where a handful of athletes can qualify for a big cash bonus at the end of the season. Alanya is the ETU Triathlon European Cup Final. The ETU Executive Board agreed to increase the prize-fund, usually set at €30,000 to €40,000. This would give the ETU Ranking Series winner a massive €5,000 payday.

They held their board meeting here today and will be present for both days of racing.

The distribution, for men and women, is as follows:

• 1st 5,000 €
• 2nd 4,000 €
• 3rd 3,000 €
• 4th 2,000 €
• 5th 1,600 €
• 6th 1,400 €
• 7th 1,200 €
• 8th 800 €
• 9th 600 €
• 10th 400 €

The race itself has Prize Money of 12,500 € with distribution as follows:

Elite men and women:

• 1st  1,565 €
• 2nd 1,250 €
• 3rd 940 €
• 4th  625 €
• 5th 500 €
• 6th  435 €
• 7th 375 €
• 8th 250 €
• 9th  185 €
• 10th  125 €

So, theoretically a winner could go away with a pocketful of €6,565; a nice end of season reward.

With the sunshine filling the skies and with the typically warm welcome from the people of Alanya, the athletes, even if they are tired after a long and tough season, seem relaxed and, for many, happy to be back. Numbers are indeed down but for those who have “dared to tri”, the rewards are already to be seen. Following reports of sections of the bike course last year being a little “old and tired” the municipality has renewed several sections to make the course much better. The seas are nicely warm and at 26 degrees, no wetsuits will be allowed.

So, the final race of the year. Who should we be looking out for?

Well, on Saturday the Junior Women race first.

Hungary’s Fanni Soós. She will be working hard alongside Dóra Fuchs and the two Hungarian juniors come here with some solid racing behind them this year. They will be up against a young Turkish team that features the current National Champion, İlayda Kara along with Buse Aygün and Elif Polat who came second and third behind her. Mixed in with an international field, there could be some serious racing from the Turkish women. Watch out also for Daria Lushnikova RUS, Sophie Fischer GER and Lucy Farquhar GBR. 5 nations race.

Check out the start list here.

In the heat of the afternoon, the Elite Women will race. This is where we can expect some really exciting moves in the swim and then on the bike. With Ukraine’s Yuliya Yelistratova leading the rankings by less than 100 points and with the two Brits, Lucy Hall and Jessica Learmonth who are now joined by the late entry from Russia’s Valentina Zapatrina, we now will have to keep the calculator handy to work out the final positions. A strong swim from the Brits, cheered on by the family support team and with Zapatrina alongside could mean extra work for Yelistratova. Previous winner here and never one to give up, she has the advantage of incredible pace off the bike. Mixed in with Azerbaijan’s Kseniia Levkovska and her swim power, the race is likely to be a thriller. Turkish fans will turn their focus to İpek Öztosun and Ece Bakıcı. With a return to race fitness after her injury in Baku, Bakıcı has shown good form. At the recent national championships she came a close second behind her team mate but here, in an international field, it could be her chance to turn the tables and claim a victory over Öztosun.

We can expect a lot of support from the touchlines as both Vladimir Turbaevskiy and Andrey Bryukhankov cheer their wives. For Turbaevskiy, his cheers will be for Yelistratova and for Bryukhankov his cheers will be for Elena Danilova RUS. They married recently and this trip could be part of their extended honeymoon. They will race on the Sunday.

8 nations will race against each other.

To check the start lists, please click here.

Sunday will see the Junior Men and Elite Men race.

The Junior Men will be led out to the beach start by Meirlan Iskakov KAZ. He will have a tough battle against Gergő Soós HUN who has already tasted gold this year, in Tulcea and Tiszaújváros and will be hoping to use the experience of Cozumel to make a mark here in Alanya. If he can work with fellow Hungarian, Botond Karai then they could pull away from the others. Turkish fans can expect to see Gültigin Er at the top end of the swim.  He will be racing against rival Emirhan Altıntaş whose run pace was just not good enough to catch Er in the national championships.

9 nations will race.

Check out the start lists here.

For the Elite Men, the big bonus will be fought over by Francesc Godoy ESP, Jorik van Egdom NED and László Tarnai HUN. They of course have to face up to the immensely powerful Dmitry Polyanskiy RUS and his brother, Igor. Also present and in good form is Rostislav Pevtsov AZE and Jonas Schomburg TUR. There will be a lot of very tired legs out there. In the top ranked group there are those who have just returned from Rio and Cozumel. Germany’s Justus Nieschlag, arriving late tonight can race with the fastest, so mix in to this the younger athletes who missed out on Rio and this race is one where anything can happen.

A far bigger field than the women will see 16 nations compete.

Check out the start lists here.