Africa Triathlon

The second oldest World Cup on tour will celebrate its tenth anniversary this Sunday as it hosts round eleven of the newly renamed 2006 BG Triathlon World Cup series. The Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup has seen many past Olympic and world champions come through the small town in Eastern Hungary.  Triathlon greats Emma Carney (AUS), Hamish Carter (NZL), Loretta Harrop (AUS) and Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) have all stood atop the winner’s podium over the past nine years.   Another page in the triathlon history books will be made this Sunday.

Watch the pre race interviews with Sarah Mclarty, Jarrod Shoemaker, Brad Kahlefedlt, Debbie Tanner and Henrick De Villiers

Tricast™ Live! is newly improved with video updates from the race.  People at home can tune into TriCast™ Live! and catch the video updates, audio, timing, photos and text updates from the Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup, by visiting triathlon.org. 

With the 2006 Triathlon World Championships only three weeks away there are many new faces filling the 140 strong start list.  It is a perfect chance for some up-and-coming athletes to make an impression. 

With the absence of many of the top women contenders, the competition is sure to be fierce with valuable Olympic Qualifying points and a USD100,000 prize purse on the line.

Ishigaki world cup winner Debbie Tanner (NZL) has been having a good season with a top-ten ranking and a world cup win.  The New Zealand women have been dominant at every event they have raced this year and are always near the top of the results.

Joelle Franzmann (GER) started the season strong with two second place finishes but had a patch of bad luck with two DNF’s.  This weekend she will no doubt want to boost her confidence leading into the world championships.  Mariana Ohata (BRA) has just come off a second place finish two weeks ago in Salford and is looking to continue her success this weekend with the support of a strong Brazilian team including Carla Moreno and Sandra Soldan.

The women’s race will start at 10:30am CEST (GMT+1)

The Aussie duo of Peter Robertson and Brad Kahlefeldt will look to once again take two of the three podium spots.  Just as they did at the 2005 World Championships, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and most recently, the 2006 Salford BG Triathlon World Cup.  World silver medallist from 2006, Reto Hug (SUI) will field a strong resistance with many of the top European athletes on the start list.

No one can forget the stunning sprint-finish here last year between Kahlefeldt and veteran Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ).  It was Gaag who bettered Kahlefeldt at the line last year by less then an inch, in a photo finish decision.  Kahlefeldt will look not to let that happen again.

Current European Champion Frederic Baulabre from France has just missed the podium in 2006, with a fifth place in Madrid and a fourth in Edmonton, but is gearing up for the approaching world championships in Lausanne and is hungry to show his potential this weekend.  Others to watch are Martin Krnavek (CZE), who twice won here in 2000 and 2001, Jan Frodeno (GER), who has finished third in four world cups in the past year and Antonio Da Silvia (BRA), the first ever triathlete, in a major competition, to break 30 minutes for the 10km run.

The men race will start at 13:30pm CEST (GMT+1)

2006 BG Triathlon World Cup series – Elite Women
1. FERNANDES, Vanessa (POR) 200
2. WARRINER, Samantha (NZL) 161
3. DITTMER, Anja (GER) 153
4. GROVES, Lauren (CAN) 141
5. WHITCOMBE, Andrea (GBR) 130
6. HEWITT, Andrea (NZL) 122
7. FRANZMANN, Joelle (GER) 119
8. BENNETT, Laura (USA) 109
7.   HARRISON, Jessica (FRA) 107  
10. TANNER, Debbie (NZL) 106

2006 BG Triathlon World Cup series – Elite Men
1. KEMPER, Hunter (USA) 163
2. KAHLEFELDT, Brad (AUS) 161
3. POTTS, Andy (USA) 153
4. GOMEZ, Javier (ESP) 148
5. RANA, Ivan (ESP) 132
6. GEMMELL, Kris (NZL) 120
7. PAIS, Bruno (POR) 112
8. ATKINSON, Courtney 110
9. POLIKARPENKO, Volodymyr 104
10. FRETTA, Mark (USA) 96

Click here for Women’s start list

Click here for Men’s start list