Seven of Britain’s top paratriathletes prepare to commence their 2019 seasons at the Milan ITU World Paratriathlon Series tomorrow (Saturday 27 April), as the road to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics begins.
2018 PTVI World Champion, Dave Ellis will be guided by 2018 World Duathlon bronze medallist, Mark Buckingham and the pair will hope to repeat the success they had in Rotterdam last September. Ellis will be testing three combinations of pairings over the coming 18 months before the decision will be made on who he will line up with in Tokyo, if selected.
The Women’s PTVI race will see Alison Peasgood return to the start line for 2019. It will be the first occasion the 2018 World Championship silver medallist will race with new guide, Nikki Bartlett, with Spanish rival Susana Rodriguez back to attempt to upset proceedings.
Rivalries will reignite in the Men’s PTWC race, where Britain’s Joe Townsend will go up against the powerful Dutch duo of Geert Schipper and Jetze Plat, the latter looking to continue his unbeaten streak from 2018.
Hannah Moore (PTS4) had a breakthrough season in 2018, taking the European and World title.
Fresh from success in the velodrome, George Peasgood will face Germany’s Martin Schulz in the Men’s PTS5 race, with Paralympic Champion, Andy Lewis, back on the start line in the Men’s PTS2. PTS4’s Hannah Moore and Steve Crowley will also kick off their seasons in the Italian city.
Mike Cavendish, British Triathlon Performance Director, said: “We’ve proven that our paratriathletes can perform on the world stage when it matters and, with Tokyo on the horizon, now is the time to put the hard training into action. I’m confident 2019 will witness some strong performances from our squad.”
The Tokyo Test event in August will be the biggest test for paratriathletes this season. Brit’s finishing in the top three here, plus making the podium at either WPS Montreal in June or the Paratriathlon World Championships in September, will meet the criteria to be nominated for the first phase of selection by ParalympicsGB.
To find out more about the British Paratriathlon squad, visit here.
Watch Live Paratriathlon Action
All the action will be streaming live on TriathlonLIVE.tv with the PTWC category going out first from 12.30pm (BST)
Great Britain Team; Milan ITU World Paratriathlon Series; Saturday 27 April 2019
Men: Joseph Townsend (PTWC), Andy Lewis (PTS2), Steven Crowley (PTS4), George Peasgood (PTS5), Dave Ellis (guide: Mark Buckingham) (PTVI)
Women: Hannah Moore (PTS4), Alison Peasgood (guide: Nikki Bartlett) (PTVI)
