Last fall Alistair Brownlee raced at the World Triathlon Cup Arzachena to help work on getting enough points to earn himself a fourth Olympic berth for Great Britain, and proved that even though he’s been competing in lots of long course races, he still can sprint with the best in the world. In the end he would take third behind world champion Vincent Luis (FRA) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR). Brownlee, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is returning to the Italian island this weekend for another go at the race and, while he won’t find himself facing Luis, he will be competing against a very “in form” Blummenfelt.
Even though the race is “only” a sprint distance, – 750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run – the hilly bike course includes one of the toughest climbs in World Triathlon racing. The women head off at 10:30 CEST, while the men race at 3:30 CEST on Saturday, May 29. The racing can be seen live on TriathlonLive.tv.
It’s hard to imagine how Blummenfelt is even standing up after a busy two weeks that saw him win in Yokohama, run an inspired leg of the Mixed Relay qualification event in Lisbon, and follow that up with another impressive individual win in Lisbon the next day. Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee are both in the race, which should make for a fun mix at the front. Mario Mola (ESP) will wear race number 1, but it just one of many potential podium finishers that include his countrymen Genis Grau and Antonio Serrat Seoane. The list of “others” to watch include Alistair’s brother Jonathan, Blummenfelt’s countrymen Gustav Iden and Casper Stornes, along with American’s Matthew McElroy, Kevin McDowell and Morgan Pearson, Denmark’s Emil Holm and France’s Tom Richard.
Women’s race
Race number one will be worn by the Czech Republic’s Vendula Frintova, who will be competing at a fourth Olympics this summer. Frintova does well on hilly courses (she won in Karlovy Vary in 2019), making her a reasonable pick for a top finish. Others to watch in the field include Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes, Germany’s Lisa Tertsch, Denmark’s Alberte Kjaer Pedersen, Ukraine’s Yuliya Yelistratova, Norway’s Lotte Miller and Austria’s Julia Hauser. The athletes will
