Europe Triathlon

The City of Vienna hosts the second Junior European Cup of 2012 this weekend.

The Triathlon world visits Austria this week, and the Junior Cup offers the perfect pre-cursor to the ITU World Triathlon Series in Kitzbuehel, offering the young stars of European Triathlon to display their talents on the big stage.

This if the fifth European Cup Vienna has hosted in six years, with a full ITU European Cup taking place in 2008.

The races are always well contested and have consistently produced different winners in each category.

Last year’s winners Matthias Steinwandter (ITA) and Eszter Pap (HUN) are back once again looking to make history and defend their Vienna titles.

JUNIOR WOMEN REVIEW

2011 was the breakthrough year for Pap (HUN). She was the No.1 ranked ETU Junior athlete and her victory here last year was her first ever International podium.

She might have expected to do better in the ETU European Championships in Eilat, where she finished 18th, and she would love to get her season back on track with another victory in Vienna.

Her fellow Hungarian Renata Fuchs will be a contender here. She finished 5th in Eilat and has an excellent record of at least a top eight finish in competitive European triathlons

Hrista Stoyneva (BUL) finished third last year and has the potential to do as well, if not better, this time round.

Local hero Alina Hambrusch will carry Austrian hopes on home turf. She claimed four top five finishes, including 5th place in Vienna last year, and would love to record a breakthrough podium here.

JUNIOR MEN REVIEW

Steinwandter (ITA) stands out from the field given his formidable record of wins. The European Junior Champion also claimed victory at Quarteira earlier this year and whoever finishes ahead of Matthias will do very well here.

Steinwandter’s Italian team mate Dalien Stateff produced an outstanding performance to finish 2nd in Eilat and he backed that up with 4th place at Horst in the Sprint Duathlon European Championships. He is in good form and could be in line to break his European Cup duck.

Bob Haller (LUX) returns to the junior field after competing in Cremona last weekend in the Elite sprint. Haller has hovered in the top 4 consistently, including in Quarteira in April, and will be desperate for a podium place.

In total, 120 athletes are registered on the start list for this European Cup.