BG Triathlon World Cup Series Finale this weekend

EILAT, Israel – This Saturday the curtain will be drawn on the BG Triathlon World Cup series with the 2007 finale in Eilat, the first world cup in ITU history to be staged in Israel. The event will be one of the most diverse of the year with 36 different countries represented in the elite men’s and women’s fields. Athletes will not only battle for the final World Cup title of the year, they’ll also fight for the last remaining rankings points and earn a portion of the US$250,000 bonus pool.

Highlighting the women’s field are world number three Samantha Warriner of New Zealand and the 2005 World Cup series champion Annabel Luxford of Australia. With wins in Vancouver and Tiszaujvaros, Warriner is the only woman other than World Champion Vanessa Fernandes to claim multiple World Cup titles this year. At least a 15th place finish in Eilat will give Warriner enough points to overtake Australian Emma Moffatt and finish the year number two in the world. Luxford hasn’t raced since the World Championships in September due to a nagging lower leg injury, but with 15 World Cup medals to her credit, she can never be counted out. Also in the mix are Pan Am Games Gold medalist Julie Ertel of the United States, former Junior World Champion Nicola Spirig of Switzerland and Olympian Andrea Whitcombe of Great Britain.



The men’s race could turn into a dual between old and new with Ukrainian veteran Volodymyr Polikarpenko and Russian teenager Alexander Brukhankov as the top ranked men. Polikarpenko is coming off a bronze in Cancun earlier this month, the 21st World Cup medal of his career, and he’ll find extra motivation as he sits just nine points behind Brukhankov in the world rankings. American Matt Reed, African Champion Hendrik De Villiers and newcomer Ritchie Nicholls of Great Britain, who bested Brukhankov at the Under23 European championships, will make this an interesting and unpredictable race.



Racing for New Zealand are Clark Ellice and Nathan Richmond. Richmond is a former Olympic representative (Athens 2004) but has raced sparingly this season, slipping down the ITU rankings to 195th in the world and will be targeting a strong finish to his year. Ellice is currently the fifth ranked Kiwi at 79th on the ITU points list and with a strong finish might harbour thoughts of a top fifty year end ranking.



Eilat, a tourist resort on the Red Sea, has hosted European Cups for the past two years. The course begins with a 1.5-kilometer non-wetsuit swim in open sea with expected water temperature of 24 degrees Celsius. Athletes will then challenge the 40-kilometer bike course that comprises of seven technical laps with one 600-meter 6% climb in each lap before taking on the flat ten kilometers of the run.



Eilat BG Triathlon World Cup – December 1st, 2007

1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run

Elite women start – 10am (9.00pm NZT Saturday 1st Dec)

Elite men start – 1:45pm (12.45am NZT Sunday 2nd Dec)