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Sanders Set for Showdown in Muskoka

Hang on for another busy weekend of Ironman racing. Full distance fans will be glued to their computers late Saturday night and early Sunday morning watching star-studded fields compete at the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt. (Sebastian Kienle, Frederik Van Lierde, Jan Frodeno, Andy Boecherer and Andreas Raelert for the men, Daniela Ryf, Caroline Steffen, Julia Gajer and Michelle Vesterby for the women.)

There’s another strong field set to take on Ironman 70.3 Norway, too. Camilla Pedersen, Sofie Goos and Eimer Mullan highlight the women’s field, while Will Clark and Ritchie Nicholls are the favourites on the men’s side.

Ironman 70.3 Muskoka
Neither of those races have any Canadian pros registered, but here in Canada we get to look forward to another great day of racing in Huntsville, Ontario. Set in the heart of the Muskoka region, the race site hosted the 1992 Triathlon World Championship and routinely hosts some of the world’s best triathletes every year. That tradition continues again in 2015.

Coming off an impressive win at Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant two weeks ago, Lionel Sanders will arrive in Muskoka as the logical pre-race favourite in Muskoka this weekend, but there are a few pros who aren’t likely to simply hand over the title to the Windsor, Ontario native. An interesting addition to the men’s field is Brazil’s Igor Amorelli, who won Ironman Brazil last year and took Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico earlier this season. A considerably stronger swimmer than Sanders, Amorelli will do his best to force Sanders to work really hard on the bike. (Good luck with that strategy – Sanders is routinely well back out of the water and bikes and runs his way to the podium.) Another recent Ironman 70.3 champion in the field is Cody Beals, who took his first pro win at Ironman 70.3 Eagleman a week before finishing sixth in Tremblant.

The women’s race is pretty much wide open, with a small field of competitive athletes set to go after their first 70.3 title. A bunch of Canadians who now make the US their home will be ones to watch: Jennifer Lentzke lives in Texas, Kirsty Jahn lives in New York City, while Sue Huse was born and raised in Winnipeg but now lives in Missoula, Montana. Huse was fourth in Muskoka last year and won last year’s  Great White North Triathlon.

Here at Triathlon Magazine Canada we’ll be keeping an eye on frequent contributor Nigel Gray.

Ironman 70.3 Muskoka pro fields:

Men:
1. Alex Vanderlinden CAN
2. Edward Cyr CAN
3. Sacha Cavelier CAN
4. Jordan Monnink CAN
5. Derek Lantz CAN
6. Patrice Brisindi CAN
7. Lionel Sanders CAN
8. Cody Beals CAN
9. Igor Amorelli BRA
10. Andrew Beardsall CAN
11. Ian Boggs USA
12. Nicholas Chase USA
14. Tom Eickelberg USA
15. Nick Glavac CAN
16. Nigel Gray CAN
17. Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches CAN
18. Kyle Pawlaczyk USA
Women:
32. Jennifer Lentzke CAN
33. Caroline Martineau CAN
34. Sue Huse CAN
37. Kirsty Jahn CAN
38. Jennifer Spieldenner USA