Kitzbühel Triathlon World Cup |
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Kitzbühel, Austria (July 17, 2008) - Almost 40 athletes who will race in Beijing are in Austria for this Sunday's Kitzbühel BG Triathlon World Cup, the final world cup before the Olympics Games. The event serves as an excellent opportunity for athletes to gauge their progress almost exactly four weeks before the triathlon competitions at the Olympics.
Switzerland and New Zealand will field high-powered teams in Kitzbühel with 11 combined Olympic athletes, including four medalists from the 2008 world championships. The Australian women could dominate the podium with Beijing bound Erin Densham and new world number one Felicity Abram on the start line. Austrian Eva Dollinger had the best result of her career here last year taking silver and will look to get the home country on the podium again this year. But the party could be spoiled by the strong New Zealand team of its three Olympic women; Samantha Warriner, Debbie Tanner and last year's Kitzbühel winner Andrea Hewitt.
Elite Women - Ones to Watch:
Andrea Hewitt (NZL) - last year's winner, selected to 2008 New Zealand Olympic team
Eva Dollinger (AUT) - silver medalist last year, selected to 2008 Austrian Olympic team
Felicity Abram (AUS) - 4 world cup medals in 2008, current world #1
Erin Densham (AUS) - selected to 2008 Australian Olympic team
Samantha Warriner (NZL) - selected to 2008 New Zealand Olympic team
Nicola Spirig (SUI) - selected to 2008 Swiss Olympic team
Christiane Pilz (GER) - selected to 2008 German Olympic team
Click here for women's start list
The elite men's field includes the dangerous New Zealand tandem of Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell, both considered serious medal threats in Beijing. Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee, the new under23 world champion, should also be a force to challenge for the podium in Kitzbühel. A number of two-time Olympians will be using this race as a final pre-Olympic tune-up including Ivan Rana of Spain, Reto Hug of Switzerland, Ukrainian Volodymyr Polikarpenko and Swiss Olivier Marceau, the only man to finish in the top-10 at both Sydney and Athens Olympics.
Elite Men - Ones to Watch:
Bevan Docherty (NZL) - 2004 Olympic silver medalist, selected to 2008 New Zealand Olympic team
Alistair Brownlee (GBR) - 2008 under23 world champion, selected to 2008 British Olympic team
Kris Gemmell (NZL) - selected to 2008 New Zealand Olympic team
Reto Hug (SUI) - world championships bronze medalist, selected to 2008 Swiss Olympic team
Ivan Rana (ESP) - 2002 world champion, selected to 2008 Spanish Olympic team
Volodymyr Polikarpenko (UKR) - 5 world cup wins, selected to 2008 Ukrainian Olympic team
Sven Riederer (SUI) - 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, selected to 2008 Swiss Olympic team
Click here for men's start list
The race will be standard Olympic distance: 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike, 10-kilometer run. Live coverage will be available online at triathlon.org. Click here for more event information
Start Times:
Elite women start - 9:30am (UTC/GMT +2) Click here for start times in your area
Elite men start - 1:00pm (UTC/GMT +2) Click here for start times in your area
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