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Super League Triathlon Mallorca preview

What can you expect at Super League Triathlon Mallorca? A "brutal" course, challenging race formats, super fast racing and nonstop action

Start of Super League Triathlon Malta. Photo: Darren Wheeler

On November 3rd, Super League Triathlon moves to Mallorca, Spain, for the third stop of the Championship series. Just a week following Super League Triathlon Malta, we can expect an exciting weekend of racing.

Recap from Super League Triathlon Malta

Last weekend, Canada had an impressive showing from all four Canadian triathletes. Most notably, Joanna Brown and Tyler Mislawchuk took third place honours.

On Saturday, it was Brown who gritted her way to a bronze medal in the Eliminator format. Then on Sunday, Mislawchuk made up a 28-second deficit from Friday’s swim time trial, to take bronze in the Equalizer.

The two other Canadians, Matthew Sharpe and Desirae Ridenour, both fought hard throughout the weekend. Sharpe was racing just a week after a crash. “In Ecuador, I went down hard on my shoulder. I would be lying if I said, I wasn’t racing through some pain,” says Sharpe. Ridenour is the youngest triathlete in the women’s pro field. “It’s pretty tough going up against so many well-known athletes (like Katie Zaferes, Rachel Klamer and Joanna Brown). Some days it doesn’t go the way you want it to, but on Saturday (in Malta), I was able to prove to myself that I’m meant to be here and hope to do the same in Mallorca,” says Ridenour. The junior triathlete is currently ranked 17th in the series.

Last weekend, the course in Malta featured a nasty climb, averaging 6% for roughly 700m. “It (Super League Triathlon) is pretty hard, and with the courses featuring a hard hill, and doing multiple laps of it, it can really drain the legs,” says Ridenour.

This time in Mallorca, the course features two punchy climbs. “They aren’t as long as the Malta hill,” says Sharpe, but “the course in Mallorca is going to be insane, the two hills are steeper than the hill in Malta,” says Brown.

The format

This weekend, the race format includes the Triple Mix on Saturday and the Sprint Enduro on Sunday.

The Triple Mix format features three stages (races) separated by 10-minutes. Stage one is a 300m swim, followed by a 5K bike and 2K run. In stage two, the race begins with the run and is followed by the bike and swim. In the final stage, the race begins on the bike and is followed by the swim and run. Athletes who fall 90 seconds behind the leaders are eliminated.

The Sprint Enduro is broken into two separate stages. Stage one is a sprint triathlon format to determine the top five athletes from two heats to qualify for stage two automatically. The next two fastest athletes from the heats will also go through to stage two. Stage two is a shortened Enduro format – swim, bike, run, back-to-back.

How to watch Super League Triathlon Mallorca

Joanna Brown. Photo: Darren Wheeler

The racing begins on Saturday, November 3rd, at 8 AM EST with the Triple Mix. On Sunday, November 4th, racing begins at 8 AM EST with the heats of the Sprint Enduro. The final will follow later in the day. You can watch all the action on Super League Triathlon or CBC Sports online.

The Canadians 

This weekend, five Canadians will compete at Super League Triathlon in Mallorca, Spain. Mislawchuk, Brown, Sharpe and Ridenour will be joined by Nathan Killam, one of Canada’s best long course triathletes. At Super League Triathlon Jersey, Killam got the crowd going and bought into the Super League Triathlon format. Following a hashtag campaign, “#GETKILLAMTOMALTA,” Killam gained entry to the remainder of the Super League Triathlon races. “I am truly thankful for the support, and I’m so excited to leave everything on course this weekend,” says Killam.