Africa Triathlon

ITU today announced the schedule for the 2013 Triathlon World Cup season. The 2013 calendar will cover ten cities on four continents, and includes a variety of new and familiar sites, as well as a combination of sprint and Olympic distances. 

2013 ITU Triathlon World Cup season
March 16-17: Mooloolaba, Australia
April 13-14: Ishigaki, Japan
May 18-19: Huatulco, Mexico
June 22-23: Edmonton, Canada
June 29-30: Palamos, Spain
August 10-11: Tiszaujvaros, Hungary
September 28-29: Alicante, Spain
October 5-6: Cozumel, Mexico
October 19-20: Tongyeong, South Korea
November 2-3: Guatape, Colombia

“The ITU World Cup series in a critical pathway that creates an important bridge to elite success for ITU athletes,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member. “As our first triathlon series, which started in 1991, the tour has repeatedly provided the backdrop for endless action and crucial race experience for our top athletes.”

The 2013 ITU World Cup season will open midway through March in Mooloolaba, which marks the ninth year the Australian coastal city will host a World Cup.

The circuit will then travel to another storied city on the ITU calendar with a stop in Ishigaki, Japan. The small island has organised a World Cup every year since 1996, extending its reign as the longest-running ITU event to an 18th consecutive year.

After trips to Oceania and Asia, the World Cup tour hits the Americas when it travels to Huatulco, Mexico. One of the toughest courses on the entire ITU calendar, Huatulco will feature an Olympic distance race and a grueling hill climb in typically hot conditions.

The World Cup series will then venture north to familiar Edmonton, Canada for a sprint semifinal and final format. Set along the North Saskatchewan River, Edmonton has played host on the World Cup calendar seven times since 2002 and staged the World Championships in 2001.

After visiting many familiar World Cup cities, the tour will travel to Europe in June for its debut appearance in Palamos, Spain, which is a port town located on the Mediterranean Costa Brava just north of Barcelona. The circuit will return to Spain in September for another new addition to the World Cup calendar but this time further south in coastal tourist hot spot Alicante.

However, the circuit will make a detour in August to another long standing ITU race spot in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. After debuting the sprint semifinal and final format last year, Tiszaujvaros, which will enter its 17th year in 2013, will again test the endurance of athletes over two days of races sent off in heats. 

Following Alicante in September, ITU World Cup action heads back to Mexico for yet another first-time race site in resort-friendly Cozumel, which will feature a sprint distance race. Set near the Yucatan Peninsula, the event makes Mexico and Spain the only two countries to have two World Cups on the 2013 ITU calendar.

Action in October will continue on the tip of the Goseong peninsula in Tongyeong, South Korea. The race has been held in the seaside city seven times in the last nine years.

November will conclude the World Cup calendar when it returns to the beautiful Guatape, Colombia just outside of Medellin for the third consecutive time at a challenging race at altitude.