CHALLENGE ROMA ON APRIL 15 – THE FIRST BIG EUROPEAN CHALLENGE EVENT IN 2018

On April 15, 2018 the second edition of CHALLENGEROMA will take place. After its debut in 2017, the Italian capital will be again the competing grounds of a great international triathlon, this year on a new venue, the Rome Marina “Porto Turistico di Roma”, and with new distances: 1.9 km swimming, 90 km bike, 21 km running. CHALLENGEROMA will be the first European race of the season too. A chance for triathletes from all over the world to test their own athletic preparation, in a very fast and beautiful course, in the beginning of the Roman spring.

Porto Turistico di Roma will also be home of the Expo Village, which will host numerous side activities for the entire weekend starting from Friday, with the involvement of schools and local institutions, and then continue on Saturday with the Sprint Triathlon and the Paratriathlon Super Sprint, which is the second stage of the Italian Championship, taking place before theCHALLENGEROMA race on Sunday morning.

CHALLENGE ROMA LOCATION
For second edition CHALLENGEROMA chose a new location: the Porto Turistico di Roma. In fact Rome extends its borders to the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea and its Marina is a central point for many activities, thank to an excellent sea-water quality.  Completely renovated, the Marina is really close to Leonardo Da Vinci Fiumicino Airport, and offers a lot of public services: restaurants, shops, children spaces and a long, romantic walk through piers and boats. Also there are some facilities for athletes: dressing room and showers. CHALLENGEROMA is not only a race, it is a wonderful opportunity to do a weekend with your family, not only near ancient Ostia archeological site, but also Colosseum, Vatican City and the historical center of Rome.

PRO ATHLETES
Pro Athlete participants of the CHALLENGEROMA will be of a high level. Attracted by the charm of the Capital and by the calendar that places the race as the first test of the 2018 season in Europe, lots of PROs are keen to join CHALLENGEROMA’s second edition and the fair weather of the Roman spring. Among others, the Slovenian Jaroslav Kovacic, 34, the British Will Clarke, 33, the German Andreas Dreitz, 34 years winner of the Cervia (Italy) full distance. But they will not be the only ones. In addition, the Germans Alexander Schilling, 30, and Michael Goehner, 38, the Spaniards Inaki Baldellou, 29, and Pablo Dapena Gonzalez, 30, the Russian Georgii Kaurov, 25, and the young British George Goodwin, 22 years.

Among the women, all eyes will be on the Italian medium-distance champion Marta Bernardi, 28 years old and the new name in the international triathlon field. Three skilled athletes will challenge her: the Dutch Yvonne Van Vlerken, 39, the British Caroline Livesey, 38 years old, and Sofie Goos, 37 years old from Belgium. In addition to them also the Hungarian Gabriella Zelinka, 27, the young Russian Mariia Bibicheva, just 21 years old, the Czech Simona Krivankova, 35, the Belgian Karen Steurs, 38 years, and the Croatian Sonja Skevin, 23 years old.

PARATRIATHLON, 2ND STAGE ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The long weekend of the CHALLENGEROMA will host on Saturday April 14th at 2 pm the 2nd stage of the Italian Paratriathlon championship on the Super Sprint distance (0.4 km of swimming, 10 km of bike, 2.5 km of running). At the start will be over 40 athletes for a field of the highest level led by the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze Giovanni Achenza in addition to Italian champion pts5 Gianfilippo Mirabile and multi-champion Veronica Plebani.

CHALLENGE ROMA SPRINT
Also on Saturday, April 14th, starting at 10.30, a Sprint distance race (750 m swimming, 20 km cycling and 5 km running) is hosted. It is open to all members of the Italian and International Triathlon Federation. The course will take place almost entirely within the Port of Rome, with the exception of the cycling part that will “stretch” on the seafront in a 5 km circuit to be repeated 4 times. The stretch is completely flat.

TIME SCHEDULE
It all starts on Friday, April 13, from 10 am with the Duathlon School promotional event, dedicated to schools: children will compete in the area inside the Marina.

From 2 pm, the afternoon will be dedicated to the public with the opening of the Triathlon Expo, where brands and technical equipment dedicated to the discipline will be exhibited. Saturday, April 14th we start with Challenge Sprint triathlon at 10.30 a.m., followed by Paratriathlon Super Sprint at 2 p.m., valid as the second stage of the Italian Championship series and then finish at 4 p.m. with the Challenge Duathlon Kids dedicated to kids and youngsters of Lazio’s triathlon schools. Also, in the afternoon,  starting at 4.30 p.m., the Challenge Roma athlete briefing (Ita and Eng) for the main event of the following day.

Sunday, April 15 will be the day of the CHALLENGEROMA, which starts at 13.15 pm. From 17.15 it is expected the leading athletes arrival who will be rewarded immediately with the Flower Ceremony, a characteristic symbol of CHALLENGEFAMILY.
The long triathlon weekend will close up in the evening with the Award Ceremony and live music “farewell party” starting at 9 pm.

CHALLENGE ROMA, AN IMPROVED BIKE ROUTE: BETWEEN SEA AND CASTEL PORZIANO NATURAL RESERVE
Thanks to a joint effort of both local authorities, which we’d like to publicly thank for their contribution, and CHALLENGEROMA we’re able to offer you a more scenic and fascinating bike course. Although the new route will keep the same technical feature of a smooth and fast track, the modified course will offer participants great seaside views revealing the beauty of Lazio’s coastline between sand dunes and of Castel Fusano’s pinewood.

A 7,5 km connecting stretch will take the athletes to the 24,5 Km lap to be repeated 3 times along the coastline with total road closure. The course is almost entirely flat.

There are also some changes in the Run course, which will be between the internal panoramic area of the Marina and the Duca degli Abruzzi seafront, along the cycle path. The athletes will run on a lap of 7 km (to be repeated 3 times) overlooking the sea, completely flat and totally away from traffic.