Having come to a conclusion for 2022 in Abu Dhabi only a couple of months ago, the World Triathlon Championship Series gets back under way in the city this Friday.
Great Britain will be represented by Alex Yee and Barclay Izzard in the men’s race, with the former having come so close to being crowned world champion in November.
In the women’s race, Georgia Taylor-Brown will wear the number one in the absence of world champion from Bermuda Flora Duffy, with fellow Brits Sophie Coldwell and Beth Potter rounding out the top-five ranked athletes on the pontoon. They’ll be joined by Kate Waugh in the women’s race for GB.
Yee finished fourth in November and will once again be up against Frenchman Leo Bergere, who took the crown last year, and New Zealander Hayden Wilde who completed the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) overall podium in 2022.
A stacked men’s field includes a host of medallists from WTCS races over the last few years, including nine of the top-ten from 2022. Izzard will be making his debut at the event having had a string of strong performances last year that saw him named on the British Triathlon World Class Programme for 2023.
Just as for Yee, 2022 saw Taylor-Brown come second on the overall WTCS podium, whilst Coldwell and Potter both finished inside the top-ten.
For Waugh, Abu Dhabi last year was the site for her to become U23 World Champion as the young Brit as she showed her strengths across all three disciplines to take the world title.
As with the men’s race, there’s a similarly strong field in the women’s for the Brits to compete against in the shape of Taylor Spivey (USA) and Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA), as well as German athlete Lena Meisner who took bronze behind Duffy and Taylor-Brown in Abu Dhabi last time around.
Having moved for last year’s event, 2023 will see the racing in Abu Dhabi return to its usual location at Yas Marina and incorporate the Yas Marina Circuit, home to the city’s F1 race.
This sprint distance will see the athletes complete a single lap swim of 750m in the marina, before completing five 4km bike laps. Having ridden the 20km, transition two will see them move to two laps for a run totalling just over 5km.
Both races will take place on Friday 3 March, with the women’s race starting at 12:00 local time (08:00 GMT) and the men’s race starting at 14:00 local time (10:00 GMT).
The action will be broadcast on TriathlonLIVE.tv and also on BBC Sport. The BBC coverage will start at 07:45 GMT for the women’s race and 09:30 GMT for the men’s, with the action available on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and the BBC Sport website.
BBC COVERAGE INFORMATION TRIATHLONLIVE.TV
The British leg of the WTCS for 2023 will take place in Sunderland on 29-30 July. AJ Bell 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series Sunderland will host elite athletes for individual sprint and mixed relay racing, as well as provide the opportunity for thousands of participants to give swim, bike, run a go.
Find out more about the event here: https://sunderland.triathlon.org.
