Europe Triathlon

With one of the busiest sporting weekends of the year so far, you are really spoilt for choice when it comes to what to watch. Multisports, paratriathlon, mass-participation marathons and of course, this weekend is Quarteira.

With a weekend of near perfect weather forecasted and with a chance to boost the early-season points.

• Check out the current Elite Male rankings.
   
• Check out the current Elite Female rankings.

The two-day triathlon festival in Quarteira has been a firm favourite over the years and has seen top-ranked athletes test their early season form as well as younger athletes rub shoulders with the world’s best, sometimes delivering stunning performances. The Elite race on the Saturday and the Juniors on the Sunday (racing of course over the Sprint Distance).

As ever, the seas will offer a good challenge to the athletes. The beach start will deliver them to the big Atlantic rollers and this is where the stronger and savvy swimmers will gain a real advantage.

The bike course, with its central climbing and descent section, is a truly testing one. Breakaways are easy to create, thrills and spills have happened in the past and for the spectators, this is easily one of the best bike courses to get close to.

The final run, pan-flat and out and back along the promenade is again a great chance to see the athletes push themselves and with the support of the crowds, this is always a thrilling end to the race.

With only a few hours until the Athletes’ Briefing, let’s see what their Athlete Guide says this year and see who is racing over the two days.

There being no significant changes from previous years, it is the start lists that have generated interest.

The Elite Women’s race will see 37 athletes from 14 nations on the start line.

With the 2018 gold and silver medallists absent, Sandra Dodet from France will be hoping to upgrade her 2018 bronze. With some explosive racing seen at the Liévin indoor event, she certainly has the power. She lost out a bit in the WTS Abu Dhabi race and will face a tough challenge from Germany’s Laura Lindemann whose closing run pace in the WTS race was far superior. They were close enough on the swim but it was out on the bike course that Lindemann began to pull away before the run. Dodet is no stranger to this course and might just have a small advantage over Lindemann, who raced once here, in 2014, where she won a Junior bronze.

Having moved over to Europe from Canada and now racing for Belgium, Séverine Bouchez had collected a good selection of Age-Group medals before moving to the Elite squads. With a good range of racing experience, she will face stiff opposition this weekend. Audrey Merle has had top five finishes in her last three races and when we look at her performance recently in Melilla, we see that she is in great form at the moment. With silver medals here in 2014 as a junior and in 2015 as an elite athlete, she knows the course well and can expect points and possibly a podium this weekend.

Andreia Ferrum POR will keep the local crowds happy and raise the volume of the cheers. Wearing #5, she will perhaps be secretly hoping that this year she can break what appears to be an incredible run of results that has seen her place 19th here in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The crowds will do their best to encourage her into the top ten. There will also be local cheers for Vera Vilaça. Not long in the Elite ranks but with a solid bronze in Agadir late last year and a top ten finish in the U23 ETU Eilat Championships.

Alongside Dodet and Merle, we also have their teammate, Emilie Morier. A junior bronze in 2015 here was a solid base and her top ten finish last year could be improved upon if she can get into a break-away group on the bike. Great Britain has sent Sophie Alden. Just missing out on the medals in Eilat at the ETU U23 Championships last year she raced well in Huelva, with a strong swim but then just lost touch on the bike. This course will suit her more.

Now living and studying in the USA, Gal Rubanenko had two top ten results last year in the European Cups and this will be her first chance to show how much the change in continents has helped her racing. Having raced here since 2014 but missing last year, she will be happy to renew her acquaintance with the city. Poland’s Alicja Ulatowska looked strong in Liévin, narrowly missing out on a podium place but had a rotten race in Huelva. This weekend will be her chance to get back on track and with her strong biking, can hope to be in one of the hard-working packs. From just over the border, Spain’s Xisca Tous has had two solid races in Huelva and Melilla. A chance for her here to collect points.

For the full Women’s start list, please click here.
 

The Elite men will see an impressive 67-strong line-up. Just imagine how impressive that beach start will be!! 19 nations will be represented and we welcome athletes from the USA, Namibia and Mauritius. In fact wearing #1 is USA’s Seth Rider. Rider has had some success in Europe. He was first seen over here in 2015 when he placed 4th in both the Vienna and Holten Junior European Cups. In each event, his swim / bike combo was impressive. This power was seen again in 2016 in Madrid when he raced in the Elite field and then in Kitzbühel in the Junior Super-sprint, he battled all the way to the line against GB’s Sam Dickinson, to lose out on the photo-finish. 6th place in Antwerp last year was his best performance and so this weekend will be a test for him, especially against this Elite men’s field. Coming back into form after a lengthy lay-off and in need of points, is GB’s YOG Olympian, Ben Dijkstra. A comfortable 7th at the closing race of the 2018 series in Funchal told everyone that he was well on the road to recovery and the bronze medal in Huelva showed that all the training has fitted together well.  A win here as a junior in 2015 will give him the added confidence to test the best.

Maximillian Schwetz GER, has started the 2019 season well. A silver in Troutbeck was followed by a top ten in Huelva. Again, a strong combination of swimming and biking could put him into a good position for the final run. Marco van der Stel NED, just never seems to have a rest. 14 different events last year, some of them doubling up to race the mixed relays. He is a regular feature at races all over the world and currently in the ETU Top Ten for the rankings. His southern neighbour, Christophe De Keyser BEL will have to work hard to catch him and with 7th place in both the 2016 and 2018 edition of this race, will be confident of another top ten finish. Luxembourg’s Bob Haller will be there too. 10th last year and a 4th in 2012 as a junior, he comes to this race knowing the course and with a wealth of international experience behind him.

Ready to upset the old order is Hungary’s reigning world junior champion, Csongor Lehmann. His Gold Cost victory late last year was followed up by a “look at me!” performance over all three races in Liévin. 2nd in each heat and then the final, his power over each discipline was evident and this event will be his great chance to test his power against older and more experienced athletes. His first gold as an elite athlete was in Olsztyn last year in dreadful weather. Keeping his nerve in the pouring rain, he swam and rode sensibly and then, despite the attack on the run, he kept command of the race under immense pressure. Old head on young shoulders; a good combination. Tom Richard, Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger and Nathan Guerbeur head up a strong French team. Richard’s 9th in Huelva and his 6th last year on that very tough Cagliari course show that he certainly has the power. Hueber-Moosbrugger did not race so well in the Spanish race but had a good end of season 4th in Alanya last year. Guerbeur’s silver last year in Valencia and top ten in Weert shows that the French, working together, could take them up the results.

Israel has sent a large team of juniors but also some of their selected older athletes. Leading them in the Elite Men is Roee Zuaretz. His 7th place in the ITU World Cup in Tongyeong was a great reward for the hard training he has bene putting in. His disappointment at the 2016 result from this race was set aside with a massive improvement in 2017. This year could see him finish even closer to the podium. Spain’s Alberto González García had a great race in Melilla but despite him giving 100%, he just missed the podium. Winner here as a junior in 2017 and now with added Elite experience, he is one to watch.

But keep an eye open for last year’s junior winner, Vetle Bergsvik Thorn NOR. The image of him emerging from the sea was impressive. The rest of the race was him in command. He went on to win the Junior ETU title in Tartu and then claim a top ten finish in the Worlds. Local support will go out to Alexandre Nobre. Gold in Havana last year and a 5th place in Agadir to close the 2018 season, he will be hoping to improve on his 20th place here last year.

For the complete Elite Men’s start list, please click here.
 

The juniors will be there to cheer on the elite all day Saturday and to pick up a few tips, no doubt. Their chance to race will be on the Sunday.

For the Junior Women, the athlete wearing #1 will be the one to beat. Italy’s Beatrice Mallozzi kept the spectators’ attention and held viewers of the live feed on the edge of their seats with her amazing performance in Melilla, where she raced against the Elite over teh Sprint distance and where she utterly destroyed the field with sensible and tactical racing. Carrying what looked like an injury on the run, she chose her time to kick perfectly and took the gold. Of her 15 international starts, she has been on the podium no less than 9 times. Austria’s Magdalena Früh was comfortably ahead of Mallozzi in Tartu last year, as the Italian lost out on the bike section. Unless Früh can break away from Mallozzzi, the odds are strongly in Italy’s favour for a win.

Hagar Cohen Kalif leads the Israeli team and comes to the race with a top ten finish last year in the U23 Championships in Eilat. She lost out on the run in Tartu but coming here again she knows the course and has certainly gained good racing experience since her 11th place in 2017. Great Britain’s Erin Wallace is certainly one to challenge Mallozzi. 5th in Tartu and 2nd in the ITU Gold Coast Worlds, she has been consistently strong in the past two years, with silvers in 2017 in Lausanne and Holten. With teammate Sophia Green, who claimed bronze in Riga behind Freya Thompson and Früh, we might see an attempt by the Brits to breakaway in the way that Lucy Hall and Jess Learmonth have done in the past.

From France, Jessica Fullagar, with her bronze in Tartu last year and a victory here in 2017, will be hoping that her recent training has paid off. An attack at the front is something that, if she does not create herself, is something she can certainly react to. A breakaway will be the only way the athletes can contain the run pace of Mallozzi. Portuguese support will be loud for Gabriela Ribeiro and Inês Rico. Ribeiro races here for the third time and will want to improve upon her 2018 4th but the challenge from Rico, silver medal winner here last year and following on from her Buenos Aires YOG experiences, the two will be battling for supremacy around the course.

56 athletes, 15 nations, with big teams from France, Great Britain, Israel and Spain.

For the full Junior Women’s start list, please click here
 

With the 2018 winner moving up to the Elite ranks and none of the other medal winners racing, the focus in the Junior Men’s race moves to the Italians who have brought some real stars. Melilla saw both gold medals going to the junior Italian team. It was Alessio Crociani who took gold. Davide Ingrilli came home in fifth. With Riccardo Brighi along too, you have the Zagreb podium in full. Their work in Melilla showed us that the winter training was working well and the World Junior runner-up from France, Paul Georgenthum will have to work hard to have any chance of a medal.

Ricardo Batista POR has improved over the past year, with a 4th place in Tartu, a victory in Tabor and a 6th place in Funchal against the Elite. On this form, he can expect a top ten finish and the crowds will know that. Great Britain’s Matthew Willis comes to the race in the knowledge that off the bike, there are few who can match his pace. Reigning World Junior Duathlon champion, he showed us in Holten last year that he has the ability to add a good swim to his bike and run power by taking the gold there. Watch this athlete for the breakaway with the Italians.

72 athletes, 17 nations including a visiting athlete from Tahiti, with big teams from France, Israel and the host nation.

For the full Junior Men’s start list, please click here.
 

We are waiting for the links to the live feed and as soon as the organisers send them, we will update our Facebook page.

Our two ETU photographers, Filipe Pereira and Yossi Rubanenko will be keeping us up to date with images from the race. We plan to keep the Facebook and Instagram pages busy over the weekend and we will be putting together the reviews on Sunday night / Monday morning.