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Previewing the upcoming ITU race weekend

Canadians eyeing top results in Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Japan and Hungary

July 5, 2018
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2018 Fyn ITU World Multisport Championships

A cobblestone street in (Fyn) Odense, Demark with coloured houses.

The ITU Multisport World Championships begin on Friday, July 6th, with the standard duathlon. Age groupers, para-athletes, juniors and elites will all be racing this Friday for the chance to become world champion.

The age group athletes will complete a 9.1km run, followed by a 33km bike, then finish off the day with a 5.2km footrace for the finish. The elite field will race on a slightly different course, completing a 10km run, followed by a 36km bike and then finishing with a 4.9 km sprint.

There are three elite racers for Canada on Friday; Jesse Bauer from Ontario, Melissa Paauwe from Alberta and Stefan Daniel (U23), also from Alberta. Last year, Daniel finished 22nd and Bauer finished 23rd in the elite men’s duathlon.

The sprint duathlon will follow the standard duathlon on Sunday, July 8th. The course includes a 5km run, a 20km bike and a 2.5km run to the finish. Unlike the standard, the sprint is draft legal, allowing duathletes to form a peleton on the bike.

2018 Cholpon-Ata ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup and Central Asian Championships

Michael Lori leads the race. Photo by Ben Shaw

On Saturday, July 7th, Michael Lori will be competing at the ASTC event in Cholpon-Ata City, Kyrgyzstan.

Last weekend, Lori took the win at the ASTC event in Dongdaihe, China, and will be one of the leading contenders for the win this weekend.

2018 Takamatsu NTT ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup

Ellen Pennock of Calgary, Alberta, will be competing at the ASTC event in Takamatsu, Japan, on July 7th. Competing in a women’s elite field dominated by Japanese triathletes, Pennock will have her work cut out for her this weekend.

2018 Tiszaujvaros ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup & ITU Triathlon World Cup

Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, over the July 7/8th will host both the Junior European Cup and the ITU World Cup. Both races will be using a semifinal format to qualify triathletes for the finals on Sunday.

The junior team racing this weekend is made up of Jackson Konkin and Braden Kersey. The Canada elite squad is made up of five triathletes, Alexis Lepage, Brennen Smith, Taylor Forbes, Charles Paquet and Matthew Sharpe.

This past weekend, Alexis Lepage and Charles Paquet made the podium in Morocco. Also, Matthew Sharpe booked his golden ticket to the Super League Triathlon Championship series with a top-five performance in Poland.