Italy's Sandra Meyerhofer and Norway's Hans Christian Tungesvik will be at the starting line of the World Triathlon Winter Championships on Saturday, 100km west of Turin. He has his eyes firmly set on one prize: to retain the 2023 Winter Triathlon World Title.
A great course awaits, starting at the 2006 Winter Olympic Nordic Ski Arena. From there, the athletes complete two 2km running laps along the Jisung River. Each lap begins with a gentle climb. criss-crossing a river and transitioning into undulating cycling laps of 3km x 2, covering the same distance on skis, and he must repeat all three segments before reaching the final tape.
Mayrhofer wins his third gold medal in four tournaments
Adding to the home support will be multi-talented multi-sport maestro Sandra Meirhofer. The 31-year-old, who was snow champion in 2021 and 2023 and cross triathlon world champion in 2022 and 2023, will surely enjoy the challenge of Pragelato.
Twelve months ago, her closest rival was Norway's Ine Cherram, who finished fourth. The 2022 duathlon silver medalist is pumped for another podium finish this weekend.
Other teams on the start list include Slovakia's former European cross triathlon champion Kristina Lapinova, returning to the Winter World Championships for the first time since sixth place in 2019, Italy's national championship runner-up Bianca Morvillo and former junior world champion Champion Aneta Grabmuller Soldati (CZE) will be driving the pace. In Pragelato.
Is Tangesvik too hot to handle?
After winning gold on his debut at the 2021 Winter Tri World Championships, Norwegian cross-country skiing star Hans Christian Tungesvik has quickly become the man to beat on run bike skiing. He was sidelined by a puncture in 2022, but after a great Skycamp showdown on home soil, he returned to the top and will once again be the favorite to win in Italy.
Alessandro Saravalle (ITA) will need to maximize his mountain bike skills and speed if he is to keep Tungesvik, who won Winter Cup gold in Harbin, China, two weeks ago from skiing again. Teammates Franco Pesavento and Giuseppe La Mastra finished third and fourth in Harbin, with the former taking the lead and clinching the world title in Andorra 2022.
Germany's Sebastian Neef, who won his second silver medal at the Winter Cup in Harbin, continues his good form, while Marek Rauchfus (CZE), the fastest snow rider, won silver last year, and Viorel Palic (ROU) won the silver medal for the sixth consecutive year. participated in the world championship. Aiming for your first triathlon medal, which is still elusive.
The Winter Triathlon World Championships will conclude with a nine-team 2×2 mixed relay on February 25th, with junior, U23, para and age group races also taking place over the weekend. Click here for the complete start list.
Winter Duathlon World Championship begins this weekend
The three-day race in Pragelato begins with the women's Run-Ski-Run-Ski Duathlon competition on Friday morning. The course kicks off a big first day of Elite, U23, Junior, Para and Age Group competitions, packed with two 1.5km run laps and two 2.5km ski laps, both of which will be completed twice. Therefore, three transition negotiations and preparations are required. Switching to skis is much more important than a short, sharp format.
Italy does not have last year's elite champion, so one of Skellam, Lorena Ellul (GER), Lapinova, Edith Kerestes-Vacaria (ROU) or Natalie Brikova (CZE) will win Julie Meinicke's women's title. The road is open.
In the men's race, Tungesvik, Pesavento, Parich and others will get their first taste of the course and the form and fitness of their rivals ahead of Saturday's triathlon. Spanish national champion Perro Osoro Gutierrez and Norwegian newcomer Endre Wiggard are big names looking to create impact and pressure.
Click here for more information and the full start list for the Winter Duathlon World Championships.