Triathlon season heats up in Madrid

The second round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series takes place in Madrid this weekend. British athletes will chase podium finishes as they work towards the Olympic selection races in London and Beijing later this summer.



Jonathan Brownlee is currently ranked second in the world, whilst older brother, Alistair has an opportunity to claim a third successive victory on a course he favours. A strong GE Great Britain team also features Will Clarke, currently ranked ninth in the world, and Stuart Hayes, who won the Kitzbuhel round of the Series last summer.



Adam Bowden and Harry Wiltshire complete the men’s line up on the course that features eight laps of a bike course featuring a challenging 12% gradient. The 1500m swim covers two laps of the Casa de Campo Lake and the 10km run around the park is mostly flat but extremely hot.



Britain’s Helen Jenkins, who was third in Madrid last year, will also relish the tough bike course. She has recovered from a bike crash at the previous round in Sydney and will look to capitalise on Madrid’s hills to put her in a strong position for the run. Vicky Holland should also feature well during the race, and is set to start alongside team mates Jodie Stimpson, Non Stanford and Abbie Thorrington.



Podium finishes in Madrid will help athletes towards their dreams of Olympic selection, with the British selection policy stating that athletes need to achieve top three finishes at either the London or Beijing rounds of the Series, and at least one other round as well.



Jonathan Brownlee commented: “Madrid is one of the toughest races in the Series and I’m really looking forward to it. The season is building nicely towards the Olympic selection races in Hyde Park in August and the Grand Final in Beijing in September, but Madrid will be really competitive with most of the top athletes in the world there.”



Both current world number one athletes, Javier Gomez (Spain) and Paula Findlay (Canada) are racing, along with World Champion, Emma Moffatt (Australia) and Olympic Champions Emma Snowsill (Australia) and Jan Frodeno (Germany).



Tim Don is amongst the athletes racing the second round of the British Triathlon Super Series this Sunday at the GE Blenheim Triathlon. He is the current Series leader after winning the first round in Strathclyde on 22 May.



Looking further ahead to the end of June, British Triathlon has confirmed a squad of eleven athletes for the ETU Triathlon European Championships in Pontevedra, Spain – the home town of world champion, Javier Gomez. Alistair Brownlee will start as the defending champion, having won in Athlone, Ireland, last July.



2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series Madrid, 4-5 June

Men: Adam Bowden, Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan Brownlee, Will Clarke, Stuart Hayes, Harry Wiltshire

Women: Vicky Holland, Helen Jenkins, Non Stanford, Jodie Stimpson, Abbie Thorrington



2011 Pontevedra ETU Triathlon European Championships, 25 June

Men: Adam Bowden, Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan Brownlee, Todd Leckie, Harry Wiltshire

Women: Vicky Holland, Non Stanford, Jodie Stimpson, Lois Rosindale, Abbie Thorrington

Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.