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The Corus British Triathlon team are racing on Saturday in Lisbon at the ETU European Triathlon Championships.
With the final British Triathlon Olympic qualifying race just a fortnight away in Madrid and the World Championships just two weeks after that in Vancouver, some of the Corus GB team have made the decision to focus on their preparation for those competitions, however a strong team of Will Clarke, Alistair Brownlee and Richard Stannard will toe the start line tomorrow.
Clarke was Britain’s top male triathlete last year as he finished fifth at the World Championships in Hamburg and seventh at the Olympic Games test event in Beijing. The 2006 European and World Under 23 Champion is in good form ahead of this weekend’s Championships as he prepares for the final Olympic qualification race in two weeks.
Alistair Brownlee is the reigning European Junior Champion having taken gold in Copenhagen last year, however has stepped up to the senior age group with some excellent results, including a silver on his world cup debut in Rhodes last year. Alistair’s younger brother, Jonathan, will compete in the Junior race tomorrow looking to defend the family title.
Richard Stannard is a double World Aquathlon Champion over the 1500m swim and 5km run event. His strong swimming ability almost guarantees him safe passage into the leading bike pack where he can look to cause an upset at the front of the race. Last weekend he finished twelfth at the Richards Bay Triathlon World Cup in South Africa.
Men’s race favourite is defending champion Javier Gomez from Spain who dominated the early world cup races in Australia and New Zealand. The Spaniard has looked unbeatable over the past twelve months, however missed out on gold at the 2007 World Championships in Hamburg having been out-sprinted by home favourite Daniel Unger.
Heather Williams, British Triathlon’s Performance Programme Director, said: “All of the guys are in good shape coming in to tomorrow’s race and are looking to step up to the plate with some top level performances. Championship races always provide exciting racing, especially at the front end, and hopefully the three of them will be amongst the action with every chance of stepping on the podium.”
The racing in Lisbon centres around the impressive Parque das Nações sports arena which sits on the Tagus River estuary at the mouth of the Atlantic. The indoor stadium will host the transition area and 10,000 Portuguese triathlon fans who are expecting to watch a home win in the form of reigning World Champion, Vanessa Fernandes, in the women’s race.
Race start times for Saturday 10 May
Junior Women – 08:00
Elite Women – 10:30
Junior Men – 13:30
Elite Men – 16:00
About British Triathlon
British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK’s fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its development programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 650 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year, including the Corus Elite Series which attracts athletes from all over the world and the renowned Mazda London Triathlon and. For more information visit BritishTriathlon.org.
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