Europe Triathlon

We have seen a lot of publicity from the hard-working Local Organising Committee over recent months and without a doubt the event T-shirt is an eye-catching one. But, it’s not just the branding that is impressing the athletes and their families. The LOC, a small but dedicated team from the city, have extended a real welcome to the athletes from 23 National Federations. With over 100 competitors arriving from outside Romania, the small town has come alive with athletes on their MTBs exploring the town and the peaceful countryside.

The event takes place high above the town and in woods that previously were the hunting grounds of bears. You can still hear the sounds of the wild because this is also where the local zoo is situated. The run course takes the athletes all around the outside of the zoo in a series of challenging laps. So far we have been blessed with the weather but there are reports of rain coming this way.

The transition area is on high ground but then the athletes take off on their bikes into paths under the trees and loop again around the plateau with some fast descents and tough climbs. For some of the expert cyclists this course is a dream but you only get to ride after the run, which has delighted some of the off road fell-running fans. Mix it all together and you have cross duathlon.

A course that is completely different to the exposed and rocky tracks of Castro Urdiales where athletes were rewarded with stunning views out over the sea. This is a leafy, green forest with muddy softness that has already cost one athlete a trip to the local bike shop to replace his wheels.

The athletes are being looked after well, with value for money hotels and the big Transylvanian welcome.

Who should we be looking out for?

Well, both defending champions in the Elite have returned. Margarita Fullana Riera ESP, Olympic bronze medallist in 2000 as a mountain-biker will seek to defend her title against Great Britain’s Louise Fox who won silver behind her in Spain last autumn. They will have to work hard against the Russian winter triathlon specialist, Yulia Surikova, who comes here as a World Champion (from Zeltweg) but this time will not have the luxury of a final ski segment.  Local hopes will rest upon Monica Konsz, who is also a Winter Triathlon specialist and current Romanian title holder for the winter event. Spain also brings Rocio Espada Vazquez who will be seeking to make that small jump onto the podium, having missed out last year on home soil.

For the Elite Women’s start list – click here.

The men will see Belgium’s Kris Coddens seek to defend his European title. He will be racing against Ciprian Balanescu ROU who won this race last year and who comes to this event after leading the bike for some time in Kalkar, alongside the new European Champion Jorik van Egdom. Knowing the course and racing on home soil will make him a favourite for the local crowds. From a solid history in the ITU Development Squad and from Serbia, comes Ognjen Stojanovic. We normally see him on the European and World Cup circuit and so it will be exciting to see how the shift to off-road goes. Norway’s Øivind Bjerkseth has not had the easiest of journeys to the race. He arrived in Bucharest but sadly his bike box stayed behind in Norway. With a day’s delay and a long drive to the venue, he arrived late and will not have adequate time to acclimatise.  His top ten place in Castro last year shows that he can handle a difficult course. In the winter months he kept his pace strong with 5th place in both the European and World Winter Triathlon Championships. Russia has sent their current World Silver medallist for Winter Triathlon to race. Evgeny Kirillov was also delayed by heavy traffic on his way to the venue and he too missed out on the familiarisation opportunities.

For the Elite Men’s start list – click here.

We have athletes racing in the U23, Junior and Para Categories as well as the Age Group athletes. The course has been marked out for a couple of weeks now and since arriving here there has been a steady line of athletes making their way around the course.

We are crossing our fingers and hoping that the technology holds up because we have a chance to follow the races live. If you have families and friends racing, then you can follow them here  and of course, don’t forget ETU is on Twitter  @ETUtriathlon and Instagram european.triathlon.union and we will do our best to keep you up to date.