Mislawchuk returns to racing at WTCS Abu Dhabi
Charles Paquet also set to compete in strong men's field in the United Arab Emirates.
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
In his first race back since being diagnosed with an Achilles tendon tear at the Tokyo Olympics, Tyler Mislawchuk joins a competitive field at Friday’s World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) Abu Dhabi.
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The Canadian star will face an incredibly competitive field that might not include Olympic gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt, but still has lots of firepower.
On paper the logical favourite for the race is France’s Vincent Luis, who has been on the podium a couple of times in Abu Dhabi in years past and arrives in decent form after a dominating performance at the LA Triathlon a few weeks ago. His countryman Leo Bergere comes into the race in good form, too, thanks to a pair of bronze-medal finishes at the WTCS Final in Edmonton and then at WTCS Hamburg.
Olympic bronze medalist Hayden Wilde (NZL) will be another to watch, as will American Morgan Pearson, who was part of the silver-medal relay team in Tokyo. Add to the list Belgium’s Jelle Geens, who would have been a medal favourite in Tokyo were it not for a positive COVID test that kept him out of the individual race.
Canada’s Charles Paquet, fresh off a runner-up finish at the Americas Triathlon Championships in St. George on the weekend, is also in the field. The water temperature in the Marina is expected to be 31 C and the air temperature is also expected to be very hot.
You can see the full start list here.
The race in Abu Dhabi is a sprint race that includes a a 750 m swim in the Yas Marina followed by a five-lap, 20 km ride on the Formula 1 track and a two-loop 5 km run that finishes in front of the marina.
The women head off at 14:11 local time, which will be 6:11 EST. You can watch the race live on TriathlonLive.tv.
