Europe Triathlon

Tiszaújváros was host to a memorable long weekend of racing for our Youth Athletes. The inaugural ETU Triathlon Youth European Championships Festival saw individual qualifying races leading into finals and then the thrilling Mixed Relay.

The action does not stop there, as the infrastructure has been left in place for further racing this weekend and this week there have been numerous activities for the people of Tiszaújváros, with dragon boat racing, concerts and races for all ages. An ITU World Cup and our own ETU Junior European Cup will see older athletes race once again in the city.

Further north and to another of our favourite races, there will be action in Tartu with a Sprint Triathlon European Cup. One of the great advantages of the Baltic States is that you get a real winter there followed, after a real spring, by a real summer. Yes – four seasons; something we don’t seem to get in the countries closer to the Atlantic.

Since 2013 the Estonian Triathlon Federation has been delivering events in this central city and have held both summer and winter triathlon events here, including the ETU Winter Triathlon Championships back in 2013.

Back in 2013 the outright winner, with a powerful finishing run, was Ukraine’s Yuliya Yelistratova. For the men, it was a young man who was identified at an early age as a potential Olympian by the Norwegian Nordic Sports watchdogs but who has, fortunately for us, focussed more on triathlon and who has brought with him to our sport a great attitude as well as his exciting racing style. Kristian Blummenfelt.

2013 results can be found here.

In 2014 the titles went to Russia’s Arina Shulgina, once again with the fastest run split taking her to gold. For the men, it was Yelistratova’s coach and now husband, Vladimir Turbaevskiy, who took gold.

The 2014 results can be found here.

2015 it was a dominant swim from Hungary’s Zsanett Bragmayer who, having established a lead in the swim, successfully held on to beat the faster runners. For the men, it was a visiting duo from Australia that stole the top places on the podium. Gold went to Declan Wilson.

The 2015 results can be found here.

This year’s event, with Ain-Alar Juhanson, Estonia’s most successful long-distance triathlete, three times winner at IM New Zealand (2006) and Lanzarote (2005 & 2006), as Race Director will see a prize-purse of €10,000 to be shared between the top ten athletes (male and female).

For the women, 12 nations will do battle, including a visiting athlete from South Africa, Jodie Berry. She will have a tough day at the office with the powerful and race fit mix of European athletes. Strong swimming will come from Valentina Zapatrina RUS and Kseniia Levkovska AZE but in terms of crowd support, the cheers will be biggest for Estonia heroine and part of the ITU Development Team, Kaidi Kivioja. This year has been a dream one for her. Thousands of miles of travel, hundreds of hours of training but with rewards. Her bronze last year at this event must seem like a lifetime away, when viewed against her 5th place in Huatulco but she has done enough and has her ticket for Rio.

For the full start list, please click here.

The men’s race will see athletes from 20 nations on the start line. Enjoying top-quality ETU racing will be athletes from South Africa and Australia and for Christian Wilson he will be hoping to improve on the DNF from 2015 at this race. A score to settle most certainly. Teammate Max Neumann had a top ten place at the tough and muddy Vallée de Joux ETU Cross Triathlon European Championships and then moved north to Holten for last weekend’s race. He will be race fit but will he be any match for the power and determination of Ukraine’s Yegor Martynenko. His wife, Anna Abdulova is racing and his silver medal at the Châteauroux ETU Aquathlon European Championships and then a top ten place in the Sprint Championships there, he comes to Tartu in good form. Simon De Cuyper BEL had the race of his life up to 200m from the finish in Holten. A certain gold – everyone was sure he would take the top prize but stumbling as he entered the square saw that dream smash into a thousand pieces. A great race from him shows that he is truly in great condition and perhaps this weekend he will want that top place even more. He has been racing internationally since 2002 but can still push the younger athletes and remind them that they still need to respect him. Daniel Hofer ITA came home in 8th place last weekend in Holten and has more understanding of race tactics than most. Watch out too for Mikita Katsianeu BLR and Estonia’s Henry Räppo.

For the full start list, please click here.

We opened with Tiszaújváros and it only seems right to end there. Once more the racing will take place over two days, with semi-finals on the Saturday and the finals, over a slightly longer course, on the Sunday. This is the format the LOC has used since 2011. It works well and appears to be here to stay.

Saturday will see two heats for the Junior Women and three for the Junior Men.

Semi-finals Distances:

• Swim: 500m (2 laps)
• Bike: 12km (2 laps)
• Run: 3,2km (2 laps)

Final Distances:

• Swim: 500m (2 laps)
• Bike: 12,5km (5 laps)
• Run: 3,6km (3 laps)

Since 2006 now we have seen the Juniors enjoying the warm welcome of Tiszaújváros. Way back in 2006 it was a familiar name who won the men’s event. Alessandro Fabian’s power on the bike was very evident back then.

19 Nations will be represented for the Junior Women. The two British athletes who won gold and silver last year will not be present but Hungary’s Dorka Putnóczki who narrowly missed out on a medal last weekend, will be hoping to use her proven race fitness to get onto the podium this weekend. Having helped her team to silver in the Mixed Relays, she will certainly be getting great support from the crowds as she races. Austria will be hoping that Therese Feuersinger and Anne Struijk can work well together and grab a medal.

For a full start list, please click here.

For the Junior Men 21 Nations will be represented. As for the women, there will be athletes from outside Europe. What better experience can thy get than a top-class event that is part of a Festival of triathlon and sporting activities in Tizzy?

From South Africa comes Nicholas Quenet. 8th in Holten last week, he will be one of the non-Europeans to watch but he will be up against the Lehmann brothers. Csongor and Bence will have the crowds behind them all the way. Bence’s top ten place in Lisbon and Csongor’s strong racing last weekend will ensure that they are there to challenge. Gergő Soós lost out last week due to an infringement that cost him a ten-second penalty. His pace, however, indicated that he was on good form. If he has a clean race and can work with the Lehmann brothers then they could set the races alight. From the Netherlands comes Youri Keulen. A top ten in Burgas did not translate into the result he wanted on home soil in Holten and so this weekend he will be likely to push that bit harder to get more points.

For the full start list, please click here.

Also – for the races this weekend in Tiszaújváros you can follow them live here.

For the Elite athletes, this weekend in Tartu is a great opportunity to increase their points.

• Men’s Ranking
• Women’s Ranking

Zapatrina can possibly move up into second place behind GB’s Lucy Hall and Hofer, with his jump of 20 places last weekend, also stands a good chance of climbing further up the ranking.

For the Juniors, whose points are added together to create a Nation Ranking, it is unlikely that Great Britain’s current position will be under threat as they have a massive lead but there are still the other places to challenge.