Large British squad prepares for Tiszaujvaros ITU Triathlon
12th August 2013
Nine British triathletes will take part in the elite men's and women's events in the next round of the ITU Triathlon World Cup at Tiszaujvaros, Hungary this weekend, 10 and 11 August.
Not following the standard ITU World Cup format, the event will take place over the sprint distance, and is made up of semi-finals on Saturday 10 August, followed by finals on Sunday 11 August.
In the men's event, Mark Buckingham and Greg Turner face each other in semi-final 1, while Aaron Harris, Douglas Roberts and Beau Smith are in Semi-finals 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The women's semi-finals are split into two races, with Britain's Katie Hewison and Lucy Hall in the first, and Natalie Milne racing alongside India Lee in the second.
The races will comprise a 750m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run over multi-lap flat and fast courses with hot summer temperatures guaranteed.
Mark Buckingham, a member of the UK Sport Lottery funded British Triathlon Performance Programme, will be looking for a repeat of his success when he won the 2013 Palamos ITU Triathlon World Cup on July 14.
It was his debut win in a major international event but he conscious of being part of a very tough semi final draw here. He said: “I’m looking forward to racing, but it will be a big challenge just to make the final. Seven athletes qualify from each heat of 26 guys.
“I’ve got a tough semi final, which seems to have a very strong group of swimmers who could easily break away. They will be mindful of my result in Palamos and will want work together to stay away. My challenge will be to get close to that front pack, and if I do I should make the final hopefully.”
Aaron Harris, another member of the Loughborough-based World Class Podium Potential Squad, has enjoyed previous success in Tiszaujvaros with silver in 2011.
In the women's event, Katie Hewison will hope to repeat the excellent form that saw her finish seventh at the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Kitzbuhel on 6 July. London 2012 Olympian, Lucy Hall, is back in action after an impressive performance at the recent Virgin Active London Triathlon saw her break away on the swim and bike and then hold off all but Jodie Stimpson on the run.
The 2013 Tiszaujvaros ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup will also be held this weekend, following the same format of semi-finals on Saturday 10 and finals on Sunday 11, but with a shorter 500m swim, a 12km bike and a 3.2km run.
GB is well represented with 16 taking part in the junior men's race and seven in the junior women's. Britain's leading contender in the junior women's race is the European Junior Champion, Georgia Taylor-Brown, while the men's team is led by Gordon Benson who recently won silver in his first major senior standard distance race at the Geneva ITU Triathlon European Cup.
This weekend also features British elite junior and under 23 athletes in action at the ITU Duathlon World Championships on in Ottawa, Canada.
Liam Lloyd and Georgina Schwiening will want to add to the silver medals the won at the European Championships in Horst earlier this year and will be joined by Kate Curran and Calum Johnson. Richard Horton competes in the U23 event having won the junior title last year.