Lisbon World Cup
After the Olympic Qualifying event on Friday in the Mixed Team Relay, the Portuguese capital of Lisbon will host the first World Cup of the 2021 World Triathlon calendar after European Cups in Meilla and Caorle. The men and women chasing Olympic points will be competing over the Olympic distance this weekend, with the men racing on Saturday and the women competing on Sunday. All athletes will race over a 1500m open water swim, followed by a 40km bike ride consisting of 8 hilly loops before finishing with a 10km run by the coast front.
Men’s Race – Saturday, May 22nd @ 12.30pm
Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt will face stiff competition in Lisbon if he is to win back-to-back races after a commanding victory last weekend in the Yokohama WTCS event. The current world ranked number one will be joined by teammates Casper Stornes and Gustav Iden, who will be hoping for strong individual performances after a disappointing mixed team relay result, where the Norwegians just missed the podium place required to qualify for the Olympics.
Whilst Blummenfelt may be ranked number one on the WTCS standings, it is Spaniard and multiple World Champion Mario Mola who will start the day as the number one seed and will hope to perform in his first race of the year after a sub-par 2020 which saw him finish 46th at the World Championships in Hamburg. Marten Van Riel, who anchored the Belgian mixed relay team to the win today in Lisbon will be hoping to race well with just a 24-hour turnaround, as will Bence Bicsak of Hungary and Alois Knabl of Austria. Brits Gordon Benson, Tom Bishop and Grant Sheldon will all be hoping for strong performances. Lastly, Canadian Tyler Mislawchuk, the Olympic Test Event winner, will be hoping to show his class in his first race in two years after a Covid-19 enforced hiatus. With 26 former World Cup winners on the start line this Saturday, it’s bound to be a very competitive event.
Women’s Race – Sunday, May 23rd @ 1.20pm
Having already qualified for the Tokyo Games in August, number one seed Summer Rappaport will be using Sunday’s race as an opportunity to test herself against some of the women who will also be gunning for a medal this summer.
Her fellow countrywoman Kirsten Kasper is another athlete who will be hoping that she can perform after last week’s exploits in Yokohama, where she finished 14th. After opening her season in the Llanelli British Super Series with a win last weekend, Vicky Holland will hope to start her international race season in 2021 the same way she started last year in Mooloolaba, by winning. Fresh of a training camp with the Dutch National Team in Namibia, 2018 Abu Dhabi WTS winner Rachel Klamer will be hoping she can get a good result under her belt before focusing on Tokyo, where the Netherlands have qualified as a team and where Klamer will surely be racing as an individual. Lastly, former Olympic Champion Nicola Spirig will be chasing the win after her Swiss team secured qualification for the games today with a 3rd place finish, and will hope she can find her way onto the podium in a strong field, which would indicate if she really can get that elusive third medal this summer, after Gold in London and Silver in Rio.
