Abu Dhabi to kick off 2015 World Triathlon Series calendar
UAE’s capital to host first WTS race next March, with Hyde Park dates also confirmed
Next year’s WTS calendar will start in the United Arab Emirates for the first time ever, thanks to a five-year deal the ITU has signed with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The UAE’s capital city will kick off the World Triathlon Series on March 6-7, with a sprint distance race being organised for the elites, while the age-groupers will have the choice of sprint and standard distance.
Athletes will get a swim start from the yacht pontoons on Abu Dhabi Corniche – a first for the WTS – and the event will be headquartered at the Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club in front of a 2,000-seater grandstand.
(Image: Aravind Sivaraj)
Abu Dhabi is the only new stop on the 2015 WTS calendar, while Australia’s Gold Coast returns for the first time since 2009. The dates for London have also been confirmed for 30-31 May:
6-7 March – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
28-29 March – Auckland, New Zealand
11-12 April – Gold Coast, Australia
25-26 April – Cape Town, South Africa
16-17 May – Yokohama, Japan
30-31 May – London, Great Britain
18-19 July – Hamburg, Germany
22-23 August – Stockholm, Sweden
5-6 September – Edmonton, Canada
15-20 September – Chicago, USA
This year Britain’s Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan comfortably won the men’s short course race at Abu Dhabi International Triathlon last March, with Jonny saying afterwards that he managed to get his bike up to 65kph on the Yas Marina Circuit.
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
