This
Season’s dominator, 21 year young Benjamin Sonntag,
who has secured six wins up to now will once again
meet the Liechtenstein Champion Marc Ruhe in Stoos.
Both celebrated an exciting finish at the European
Cup race in Oberstaufen/GER (biding for the 2002 World
Championships) with Sonntag beating his rival by less
than a meter! With top athletes like Mauch, Iwan Schuwey
and the Bruegger twins (Othmar and Joseph) at least
one step on the podium might be swiss. Other athletes
to watch in the men’s race are Juan Carlos Apilluelo
(ESP), Germans Thomas Schrenk and Daniel Hehle, Oliver
Kraas (RSA) and Cédric Schaller (SUI).
Marianne
Vlasveld (NED) and Sigrid Lang (Ger) are once again
the favourites in the women’s race while Gabi
Pauli is also expected to do well. In total, eight
countries will be represented in the women's field.
The
race course in Stoos, a resort situated at 1250m altitude,
where no cars allowed, is planed as follows: The 4
lap 6 km run is followed by a 4 lap 12 km Mountainbike
and then a 4 lap 10 km x-country ski to the finish.
Despite current mild weather conditions, organisers
do not anticipate a change in the course setting -
however, as with all Winter Triathlons, the course
is subject to change if the weather dictates. The
race will start at 12:30pm for the women and 12:50pm
for the men. Race duration will be around 90 minutes
for the men’s winner and slightly lnger for the
women.
After
the successful test performed in Wildhaus the Trisuisse
Webcam should be operational during the race,
showing pictures of the transition and finish area
updated about once a minute. Stay tuned to the ITU
web-site for complete results and post race photos!
