Ten of the top seeds for Sunday\u2019s The Championship gave an insight into their hopes for the race at today\u2019s press conference, and with a field of this calibre, the fight for a share of the 100,000 euro prize purse was going to deliver a great day of triathlon they were all looking forward to.<\/p>\n
Defending champion, Lucy Buckingham (GBR), said it was a \u201cmassive shock\u201d for her winning last year against such a strong field, she was looking forward to defending the title at what promised to be a tough day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe course is super challenging, even though the bike is flat it\u2019s quite easy to over-bike and then the run course with the different surfaces is super tough so it\u2019s going to be a challenging day on Sunday!\u201d<\/p>\n
Current #2 on the PTO rankings, Gustav Iden (NOR), said he wanted to do something positive after the disappointment of not being able to race St George.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to fake it until I make it in St George but sadly I didn\u2019t make it! I had a few days when I was really not myself, not only physically but mentally \u2013 I had to do something positive and found the perfect opportunity to get in the right mindset with The Championship. I heard the run course is brutal and Lucy just confirmed it, so I will try not to over-bike it and see what I have left in the tank on the run. My fitness is not the best but we\u2019ll see what happens on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR) said her collapse at Clash Miami had given her a scare but she was now back on form.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami was scary for me and it I took a real hit afterwards which is unusual for me but I had some down time and now I\u2019ve built back up and am feeling good. I definitely love the hilly bikes, which this is not, but the challenging run is super fun and it\u2019s an honest course, especially with the 20m drafting rule and it makes for a tough day and I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frederic Funk (DEU) took third place at The Championship last year and said he was feeling on even better form this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely feel better than last year as last year I was injured before the race but now I think I\u2019m really fit and it would mean a lot to win here on Sunday, especially as I would be the first one in a long time to beat Gustav!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) said she was looking forward to racing against a strong field and using it as a valuable learning experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve decided to move into middle distance racing \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ve completely figured it out yet. It\u2019s a great opportunity to be here to race against these women \u2013 that\u2019s where you learn the most when you get to race this calibre of field and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here and I\u2019m really looking forward to it. Winning Miami was a really great day \u2013 it suited me well as it was ridiculously hot and humid, just like my home in Brisbane. Coming here it feels fresh and I can actually breath which is nice! This course is completely different but that\u2019s why I\u2019m here and I\u2019m looking forward to challenging myself on different courses so I can find out what I\u2019m good at and where I need to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fenella Langridge (GBR) is racing after an eighth place at St George as she starts her campaign to her primary race for the year, DATEV Challenge Roth.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt George was undoubtedly the hardest race I\u2019ve done. This is my start of my next block and then all roads lead to Roth. It\u2019s such a prestigious event and the girls I\u2019m racing are so strong so to be anywhere near the top would be amazing, it could go either way on Sunday!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyle Smith (NZL) is also racing two weeks after St George and said while he was tired, his head was in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe muscles aren\u2019t feeling too bad, I\u2019m definitely tired but that\u2019s to be expected when combined with long-haul travel \u2013 it\u2019s not going be an easy day but you\u2019ve got to get your head into it and get on with it. I was here last year at the Collins Cup racing Gustav and sadly was horizontal on the bike course! It\u2019d be good to get around the course this time as to take the tape at a major event like this would be very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniela Bleymehl (DEU) said she was looking forward to racing after some time off following the birth of her daughter 10 months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had been a while without racing for me when I won South Africa which was a great day and now I\u2019m excited to be back here. I did the race in 2019 and I\u2019m feeling like I really want to get back into it after motherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mikki Taagholt (DEN) said he loved to race a tough field and was feeling strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel pretty good coming into this race. I\u2019m feeling better after Salou and I\u2019m excited to race \u2013 it\u2019s a pretty strong field, I love the atmosphere and I love to race the big dogs and I\u2019m excited to be here and see what I can do on Sunday. I\u2019ll have to be in the moment and make the right decisions out on course \u2013 it\u2019s going to be insanely hard and that\u2019s what makes it so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard Varga (SLK) said it was great to race at home and he enjoyed the advantage he gave him and leading out of the swim was where intended to be.<\/p>\n
The Championship takes place on Sunday 22 May with over 1,130 athletes from 42 nations. The free live broadcast on challenge-family.live starts at 8:45am with the pro men starting at 9:00am and the pro women at 9:10am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten of the top seeds for Sunday\u2019s The Championship gave an insight into their hopes for the race at today\u2019s press conference, and with a field of this calibre, the fight for a share of the 100,000 euro prize purse was going to deliver a great day of triathlon they were all looking forward to. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":18743,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18742","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n