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The Corus British Triathlon team are racing on Saturday in Lisbon at the ETU European Triathlon Championships.
The racing 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.
Fernandes has won all four European Championships she has contested as a senior and was also undefeated at both Under 23 and Junior level; anything other than a gold medal would be a massive disappointment for both Fernandes and the Portuguese crowd.
British hopes lie with Vanessa Raw, Abbie Thorrington and Kerry Lang from Scotland. Thorrington, a student at the University of Essex, raced alongside Fernandes at the recent Pontevedra European Cup in Spain just three weeks ago, and lead for most of the race before eventually finishing fourth. Uncharacteristically Fernandes dropped out in the poor conditions having struggled to remove her bike helmet with cold hands in second transition before coming to a stop during the run.
Raw was also prominent in that race, finishing sixth, however picked up a foot injury during the run and so has had an interrupted preparation ahead of the Championships. Lang on the other hand has enjoyed a fruitful season, picking up three World Cup top twenty finishes in Australia, New Zealand and Japan as she collects valuable qualifying points ahead of the Olympic Games.
Performance Programme Director, Heather Williams, said: “The European Championships have come at an interesting time in the season. 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 our triathletes have made the decision to focus on their preparation for those competitions.
“Racing is always tough at international level, especially when home support is behind someone with the calibre of Vanessa Fernandes, however we have strong hopes that we can perform well, and this will be an excellent opportunity for both Abbie [Thorrington] and Vanessa [Raw] to acquire valuable senior championship experience.”
Last year's junior bronze medallist, Kirsty McWilliam, heads a strong junior girl's squad which includes 2007 World Championship performer Jodie Stimpson, as well as Vicky Graves and Rebecca Milne. Reigning European Champion, Hollie Avil, will not defend her title as she looks to the Olympic qualifying race in Madrid two weeks after the championships, and last year’s silver medallist, Rebecca Robisch from Germany, has stepped up to the senior ranks.
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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