World Triathlon

Lake Iseo, in Italy, will provide a stunning backdrop to the Iseo-Franciacorta ITU Paratriathlon World Cup this weekend. A 750m lap of Lake Iseo is the swim course for the third World Cup event of the season, before a 21.3km technical bike course taking in the views over the lake and the old streets of Iseo and a 5km run to the finish line.

Italy will be hoping for home success in the men’s PTWC category with Giovanni Achenza looking to continue his good form ahead of the Italian national championships on Sunday. The Paralympic bronze medallist began his season with a second-place finish at the ITU World Paratriathlon Series in Yokohama in May, before winning a silver medal at the recent European Championships in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

The European Championships also saw Great Britain’s Karen Darke make a medal winning return to the sport. The British Paratriathlete finished third in Kitzbühel in her first international triathlon since 2014 and she will be hoping to build on her performance in Iseo this weekend.

France’s Stephane Bahier starts as the favourite in the men’s PTS2 race, while in the women’s event Italy’s Veronica Yoko Plebani will be looking to repeat her Besancon World Cup victory on home soil. The Italian will, however, face competition from Finland’s European champion Liisa Lilja.

Great Britain’s Ryan Taylor and Croatia’s Antun Bosnjakovic will go head-to-head in the men’s PTS3 event. The women’s race will see two European medallists renew their rivalry. European champion Anna Plotnikova finished two minutes ahead of bronze medallist Elise Marc in Kitzbühel and the pair will meet again in Iseo.

France’s Alexis Hanquinquant will be looking to continue his impressive start to his Paratriathlon career in the PTS4 event. Hanquinquant only started competing in the sport last year and he will be hoping to add to his three victories in 2017 this weekend.

In the men’s PTS5 race, Spain’s Jairo Ruiz Lopez will head to Italy with the target of winning back-to-back World Cup events after securing victory in Altafulla last weekend. The Paralympic bronze medallist finished 37 seconds ahead of France’s Yannick Bourseaux and the pair will go head-to-head again in Iseo.

Another Rio 2016 medallist who will take to the startline is Great Britain’s Lauren Steadman in the women’s PTS5 event. Steadman took a break from competition after winning a silver medal in Rio to complete her university dissertation and she made a winning return at the European Championships, winning gold.

France’s Gwladys Lemoussu finished second behind Steadman in Kitzbuhel and the French Paratriathlete is likely to be Steadman’s nearest challenger in Iseo.

Spain’s Jose Luis Garcia Serrano will be hoping to go one place better than last weekend’s Altafulla World Cup, where he finished second, in the men’s PTVI race, while Paralympic silver medallist Alison Patrick starts as the favourite in the women’s event.