Posted: July 30, 2005

Triathlon: Salford is England’s Triathlon City - Round 8 of the ITU Triathlon World Cup

Salford, England: For immediate release: 30 July 2005: World class triathletes from 28 countries around the world have gathered in Salford, England for round 8 of the ITU Triathlon World Cup.

Salford Quay, the venue for the event, is a newly constructed, modern residential and cultural area located around the 19th century shipping canals that were build to bring ocean-going ships into the heart of the industrial city of Manchester.

2 centuries later, these same canals serve as a world-class venue for this annual stop on World Cup circuit, as well as the venue for the 2002 Commonwealth Games Triathlon.

On the women’s side, Michelle Dillon, World Ranked #6 and the winner of this event in 2004 leads a strong British team that also includes Andrea Whitcombe, who won the Corner Brook Triathlon just a few weeks ago. Leanda Cave, the 2002 World Championship and Liz Blatchford, a multiple World Cup podium finisher will also give the home-town crowd something to cheer about.

Samantha Warriner of New Zealand, who snagged her first World Cup title earlier this year in Ishigaki, Japan promises to perform well, as does Magali di Marco-Messimer from Switzerland who has been climbing her way up the world rankings since her bronze medal win at the Sydney Olympic Games.

Other women to watch are: the reigning World Champion from the USA, Sheila Taormina; Aussie team-mates Felicity Abrahms and Maxine Seear, who are part of the endless wave of top athletes emerging from down-under; and Czech team-mates and Olympians Lenka Radova and Lucie Zelenkova, as well as Ainhoa Murua from Spain who has one of the best bike-run combos in the sport.

The start list for the men is star-studded with most of the top ranked athletes in the world. Tim Don of Great Britain, ranked #2, and the winner of 3 World Cup events already this year has to be the odds-on favourite, as well as the one that thousands of spectators who are expected to line the course will be cheering on. It won’t be a walk in the park for Don though with USA team-mates, Matt Reed and Victor Plata, World #4 and #5 in the line-up. Simon Thompson from Australia, the winner of the Mooloolaba World Cup earlier this year is also in top form, as is his team-mate, Bryce Quirk, World #10.

Seth Wealing of the USA, Reto Hug of Switzerland and Paul Amey of Great Britain round out other top competitors on the start who are currently ranked in the top 20.

Other men to watch for during the live coverage on www.triathlon.org are the British team members Richard Stannard (a magnificent swim-bike specialist), Andrew Johns (a multiple World Cup winner) and Stuart Hayes (overall World Cup ranked #3 in 2004). Antonio di Silva of Brazil who has an outside chance of winning the event with his incredible running ability, Spanish team-mates Jose Merchan and Eneko Llanos, and Czech team-mates and multiple World Cup champions Filip Osplay and Jan Rehula are others to keep your eye on.

The ITU primes, a popular addition to this year’s World Cup events will be offered for the 1st to exit the swim, the 1st through lap 2 of the bike and the first through lap 3 of the bike. Prime lines on the bike will be positioned directly in front of the stadium spectators to increase the intensity and interest of the event.

The weather, a big topic of conversation in the cold and wet northeast of England, promises dry conditions with sunny intervals and a high of 18oC. There will be a modest northerly wind at 6km/hr – great triathlon racing conditions.

Live coverage from Salford on www.triathlon.org will start at 1:00 p.m. local time with the start of the women’s event and continuing through to 5:30 p.m. with the podium presentations. Live coverage includes a top 10 leader-board, a live photo gallery of the action, text updates, complete results with splits and live audio featuring the “voice of triathlon”, Jackie Gallagher.

Following the event, ITUtv will produce a 52 minute television show that will be seen in over 70 countries worldwide with a potential household reach of over 1 billion.