Europe Triathlon

This weekend, with the excitement of the Médis 2016 Lisbon ETU Triathlon European Championship still fresh our attention turns to the East.

In Lithuania this weekend the Juniors will have a chance once again to race the very popular Kupiškis ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup. Over the years, under the management of a small but dedicated team, led by Laurynas Urbsys, this event has grown in popularity and is currently the biggest triathlon event in the country. The Junior Race is the jewel in the crown but for athletes of all ages, they have a chance to swim in a beautiful lake before leaving the water to race on closed roads.

Want to see what last year’s race looked like? Click the photo.

A full programme of events will see national titles won by athletes and international points and a modest prize-purse won by the ETU Juniors. The Junior athletes win points for their federation and this will be added to the running totals for the end of year ETU Rankings.

Here is the course.

So, who will be racing tomorrow and who might be a with a podium chance?

For the Junior Women, Czech Republic’s Simona Šimůnková takes first choice at the line-up. Her 4th in Melilla was not followed up in the tough race in Lisbon and she will be hoping to capitalise this weekend. From Latvia comes Elza Mestere. 8th in 2013 and 7th in 2014, perhaps she can improve and build with a top 5 placing in 2016. From just over the border in Belorussia comes the current national junior champion, Tatsiana Luksha. 9th last year she will be looking to consolidate her knowledge of the course. From Estonia comes Eleri Etverk. We have seen interest in triathlon grow in Estonia since the breakthrough of Kaidi Kivioja. A previous winner here (2012), Kivioja has been selected for Rio and without any doubt, Estonia will be glued to the Television when she races in August. Etverk placed 6th last year and might just be inspired by her team-mate’s selection for the greatest sporting event in the world. Lithuania is using this event to test some new junior athletes. No better race is available for them than here on home soil.18 athletes are shown to be starting, representing 6 nations.

For the full start lists, please click here.

Amongst the men, we have 36 athletes representing 9 nations.

One athlete hoping to have a good race will be Lithuanian, Titas Pumputis. Having won his Age group in Geneva he went on to suffer a puncture in both his Lisbon races. Bronze medal winner in the 2016 Otepää ETU Winter Triathlon European Championships is Estonian Henry Räppo. A strong swim and bike in Lisbon shows him to be in form. Paweł Lenartowicz POL, placed 11th here in 2014 and will hope this weekend to break into the top ten. Latvia brings Savelijs Suharževskis who placed 6th in Otepää but who has raced in Alanya and Bled and who was one of the athletes who DNF’d in Lisbon where so many athletes had punctures in the early stages of the bike. Watch out for Poland’s Kamil Damentka. 7th here last year but now race-fit after Kalkar. Fellow countryman, Marek Strachota has shown his swim/run pace with a bronze at the Sharm El Sheikh Aquathlon earlier this year and if he can get a good position in a peloton he should be looking at a top ten place. Croatia’s Luka Paliska took World Junior bronze in the Aquathlon in Chicago but has yet to get that ride to take him into a strong position off the bike. Another athlete coming to the Junior ranks after a promising Age-Group performance in Geneva is Switzerland’s Antonin Salamin. It is good to see federations taking notice of Age Group potential.

For the full start list, please click here.

Are you ready ?