Edmonton will welcome an ITU World Cup race to its city for the ninth time

This weekend, Edmonton will welcome an ITU World Cup race to its city for the ninth time. The familiar host city will break from the standard race format in favor of a super speedy sprint 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run course. The fast and furious race will see top athletes like Erin Densham and Peter Kerr battle for bragging rights in the women’s and men’s races.

Elite Women
In her return to ITU racing after winning Olympic bronze in London last year,Erin Densham (AUS), will again headline the women’s start list. Though her form is a question mark, as she has elected not to start in any World Cup or World Triathlon Series events since the 2012 Auckland Grand Final, this Aussie super star’s history suggests she will be in prime podium position.

Flora Duffy (BER) returns to the Canadian city after earning bronze here last year to line up second next to Densham. Duffy’s condition will also be a surprise, as she has not yet raced this season. Look for Claudia Rivas(MEX) to lead off the start. The Mexican is superb on the swim, as well as the bike. With just 5km on the end, Rivas may be in medal contention if she can hang with the leaders on the run.

Joanna Brown is Canada’s highest ranking female on the start list, having finished fifth in the Huatulco World Cup in May just behind Rivas. Brown looks ready for a breakout performance, having raced to bronze in the Under23 division at the Grand Final in Auckland last year.

Teammate and rising star Amelie Kretz will also look to make an impact on the elite field. Just 20 years old, she’s been steadily knocking off top performances this year like her win at the Bridgetown Sprint Pan American Cup.

1ErinDenshamAUS

2FloraDuffyBER

3ClaudiaRivasMEX

4JoannaBrownCAN

5PaolaDiazMEX

6KaitlinDonnerUSA

7GillianBackhouseAUS

8EllenPennockCAN

9LindseyJerdonekUSA

10Sarah-AnneBraultCAN

11AnahiLeonMEX

12ChantellWidneyCAN

14Maria EugeniaBarreraMEX

15DominikaJamnickyCAN

16AmelieKretzCAN

17JessicaBroderickUSA

18KirstenSweetlandCAN

19ErinJonesUSA

20KatieHurseyUSA

21JohannaGartmanUSA

22YurieKatoJPN

23TanelleBerardUSA

24ChristineRidenourCAN

25LisandraHernandezCUB

26MichelleMehnertUSA

27KylaChapmanUSA

28LeannaLeeCAN

29EmmaLujanCAN

30MadiSerpicoCAN

31FiorellaD’CrozCOL

32SumireOharaJPN

33Steffy MishelSalazarITU

34ChelseaBurnsUSA

Elite Men
Peter Kerr (AUS) will be one of the men to watch this weekend, as he won the Continental Championships in Australia earlier this year in both the sprint and Olympic distances. He also scored bronze at the Mooloolaba World Cup against a talented field and will look to continue his strong season in Edmonton.

Local hopes lie with Canadians Andrew Yorke and Kyle Jones. Yorke is currently the second-highest ranking Canadian in the men’s charts, while Jones won his first ITU World Cup in Edmonton last year. He continues to looks fierce in the sprint distance having finished fifth in the Clermont Sprint Pan American Cup behind a stellar group of men.

Richard Varga (SVK) is always exceptional on the swim, but with just 750m to work with on the front, it may not be enough distance to secure a strong lead. Varga’s bike form appeared improved at ETU European Championships in Alanya last weekend before suffering a punctured tire that ended his race.

Grégory Rouault (FRA) could be a threat on the World Cup circuit this year with a fourth-place finish in Ishigaki and a win in the sprint distance at the Geelong Oceania Cup under his belt. Sergio Sarmiento (MEX) continues his elite comeback from last year after a bike accident took him out of the sport for five years. Sarmiento closed the 2012 year with a win at the Cancun World Cup with solid shape in all three disciplines.

Men’s start list

1              Kyle       Jones    CAN

2              Richard Varga    SVK

3              Peter     Kerr       AUS

4              Andrew                Yorke    CAN

5              Grégory               Rouault                FRA

6              Sergio   Sarmiento           MEX

7              Nick       Kastelein             AUS

8              Andrew                Mccartney          CAN

9              Gregory               Billington             USA

10           Alexander           Hinton  CAN

11           Rostyslav             Pevtsov                UKR

12           Diogo    Sclebin  BRA

14           Joe         Maloy   USA

15           Martin  Van Barneveld  NZL

16           Mitchell                Kealey  AUS

17           Conor    Murphy                IRL

18           Ivan       Ivanov  UKR

19           David     Mendoza             MEX

20           Matt      Vierula  CAN

21           Octavio Oliveros               MEX

22           Matt      Brown   AUS

23           William Huffman              USA

24           Rodrigo                Gonzalez             MEX

25           Marcel  Walkington         AUS

26           Kaleb     Vanort  USA

27           Brice      Daubord              FRA

28           Andrea Secchiero            ITA

29           Taylor    Reid       CAN

30           Aaron    Thomas                CAN

31           Eric         Lagerstrom         USA

32           Ryan      Bice        USA

33           Tyler      Bredschneider  CAN

34           Andrew                Bysice   CAN

35           Antoine                Jolicoeur-Desroches       CAN

36           Joel        Tobin White       AUS

37           Alexis    Lepage CAN

38           Austen Forbes  CAN

39           Tyler      Mislawchuk        CAN

40           Francis  Lefebvre              CAN

41           Riley      Unger   CAN

43           Alex       Libin       USA

44           Derek    Quick     CAN

45           Gabriel Legault CAN

46           Colin      O’Brady                USA

47           Jake       Shoemaker         USA

48           Marc-Antoine    Christin CAN

49           Aaron    Bachman             USA

50           Philippe                Tremblay             CAN