The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has partnered with Challenge Gdansk to provide a professional prize purse along with media and marketing support for the event in Poland on June 20th, 2021.
The PTO will provide an additional €13,000 to the existing prize purse of €19,000 along with media and marketing support to showcase the event and its athletes to fans. PTO Professionals will also be able to earn points as they battle for ann automatic qualification spot for the Collins Cup – or possibly obtain a ‘Captain’s Pick’ with a strong performance by attracting the attention of Collins Cup Team Europe captains, Chrissie Wellington and Normann Stadler.
Charles Adamo, Executive Chairman of PTO, said “We are very pleased to see racing beginning to happen. Throughout the pandemic it has been incredible for the PTO to work with supportive race operators and national governing bodies as our triathlon community joins together to weather the storm.
“If our sport stands for anything, it is the ability to overcome adversity, not succumb to it. The commitment of Triathlon Poland and race directors like Adam Greczyło of Challenge Gdansk demonstrates that united our sport will not be defeated.
“We hope we are an encouragement to others as they navigate some of the difficulties of the current environment. We are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of an event that puts on display the resilience of those committed to supporting our sport.”
Adam Greczyło, Challenge Gdansk Race Director said “I am delighted that after almost six months of planning that we can announce a co-operation between the PTO and Challenge Gdansk for the first time in Polish Triathlon history.
“I am sure that PTO Professionals will enjoy our fast course with its breath-taking finish at the Gdansk Brzeźno Pier. I am looking forward to meeting the athletes at the start line in Gdansk Brzeźno Beach and thank the PTO for their support.”
The professional race is a non-drafting middle-distance race and has a 1.9km swim in the Baltic Sea and a fast and flat 90km bike course comprised of three laps. This takes in the Energa Stadion used during the EURO 2012 soccer tournament and passes through the tunnel under the Vistula river. The 21.1km run course takes athletes along the Gdansk beach to the finish line on the Gdansk Prior Pier.
Gdansk is a city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland with a population of almost 500,000. It is Poland’s principal seaport and the centre of the country’s fourth-largest metropolitan area. The city is situated on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay on the Baltic Sea.
