2002 ITU World Cup Series - Round 9
Hamburg, Germany
7 & 8 September 2002

For immediate release - Vancouver, Canada: Upsolut Event Management and the City of Hamburg are set to host the world's best triathletes at the inaugural ITU Hamburg World Cup over the weekend. The Holstein City Man triathlon is a long-standing event in Hamburg but for the first time will be an official part of the ITU World Cup circuit and will award valuable ITU World Ranking points along with US$65,000 in prize money.

Many top athletes will be on hand to contest Hamburg's inaugural event - including many who have traveled straight from the Lausanne World Cup just one week ago. In the women's event, all eyes will be on Siri Lindley from the USA as she attempts to win her 5th World Cup of the season. Heading up the challenge is Canada's dynamic duo, Carol Montgomery, in her first race back since winning gold at the Commonwealth Games and Jill Savege, who was second to Lindley in both Corner Brook and Lausanne. Germany's hopes rest with Christiane Pilz and Anja Dittmer while Laura Reback (USA), Carla Moreno (BRA) and Liz Blatchford (AUS) are all looking for their first World Cup podiums of the season.

In the men's event it's another tight race with last weeks silver medallist and current world number one, Greg Bennett (AUS) leading the charge. He's facing tough competition in Kiwi Craig Watson, returning from a week off due to illness, and Andrew Johns (GBR) who was 3rd behind Bennett last weekend in Lausanne. A strong team of German men are also set to toe the line with swim specialist Daniel Unger leading the way - Unger finished 4th at the Lausanne World Cup, his best finish in an ITU race so far. Danish star, Rasmus Henning has been showing his versatility all season with several strong finishes in World Cup competition to go along with his silver medal performance at the Long Distance Championships last year. Meanwhile Stephan Poulat (FRA), Vladimir Polikarpenko (UKR), Miles Stewart (AUS) and Shane Reed (NZL) are all still looking for that coveted victory in 2002.

The race in Hamburg will feature a 1-lap (1500m) lake swim, an 8-lap (40km) technical cycle through town and a flat 3-lap (10km) run. The women will take off at 6pm on Saturday, September 7th while the men will compete on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Complete start lists can be found on the ITU website at www.triathlon.org and don't forget to tune in during both events for live event coverage via the web. For further information please contact ITU Headquarters at: ituhdq@triathlon.org or Tel: 1.604.926.7250