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Ibiza, Spain Prepares to Host ITU’s Premier Long Distance TriathlonEvent
of the Year
Located in the Western Mediterranean, 60 nautical miles from the Iberian Pennisula, the Catalonian Island of Ibiza boasts a population of 93,000 people. On Sunday, May 11 this island gem of the Mediterranean will play host to the 2003 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship. Athletes will complete a 4 km swim in the Mediterranean Sea; a two lap, 120 km bike followed by a, 30 km run. The long distance triathlon is usually won on the run, and in Ibiza athletes will need a little luck with the wind on the 3 lap run. In the men's event the winner of the 2002 Nice Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, Cyril Neveu of France, will be back to defend his title. The men's field is strong with most of 2002's top ten finishers back to compete in 2003, including Tornjorn Sindballe of Denmark and Rutger Beke of Belgium, second and third place respectively in 2002, as well as the 2000 and 2001 World Champion Peter Sandvang of Denmark. Marc Ruhr of Liechtenstein, the 2001 and 2002 Winter Triathlon World Champion is taking the dive into the summertime version of the sport that he's an ace at. Other names to watch for in the results are Norman Stadler of Germany and Alexandri Alessandro of Italy - both very competitive in past international competition. Eneko Llanos, a well known Spanish athlete on the World Cup circuit will obviously be a favourite for the thousands of spectators expected to line the course. The women's field is a strong mix of newcomers and seasoned veterans. Spanish teammates Ana Burgos (who took the silver medal at the 2000 Cancun ITU World Cup) and Virginia Berasategui (winner of the bronze medal at last year's Long Distance World Championships in Nice, France) are the favourites entering into the race. They are sure to be a crowd pleaser competing in their home country. Liesbeth Christensen of Denmark, the 2001 Long Distance World Champion has to be another favourite as well as teammate Marie Overbye, Sydney 2000 Olympian and 1994 Junior World Champion at the Olympic distance. Sophie Delemer of France (5th in last year's Long Distance World Championships in Nice), Edith Niederfriniger of Italy (7th last year) and Sione Jongstra (8th last year) of the Netherlands are other contenders to watch. Age Group World Championships will precede the Elite competition, taking place on Saturday, May 10. For complete event details visit www.triathlon.org. Event photos will be available on www.triathlon.org following the event, for high resolution version of the images please contact ituhdq@triathlon.org. Tune into www.triathlon.org on Sunday, May 11, 7:30 am local time, for live event coverage For
further information contact:Lisa Ogilvie, ITU Media Manager: lisa@triathlon.org |