With many regions in Europe enjoying abundant snowfalls, the winter triathlon season is kicking off this year in Asiago, Italy, for the World Triathlon Asiago Winter Cup. The event is due to take place in the Italian ski resort on February 17-19.
The previous edition of the World Triathlon Winter Cup was held last year in Harbin (China), where participants from all over the world experienced cold conditions, with the air temperature 16C below zero.
For the kick-off of the 2021 season, World Triathlon notes that… ‘Asiago is now ready to host this event after hosting successfully two consecutive Winter Triathlon World Championships in 2019 and 2020. This year, for the World Cup, elite races will be held on Friday, February 19th, with a winter cross duathlon event planned for Saturday and the Italian National Championships planned for Sunday.’
All the races will be contested in the Centro di Fondo Campolongo, in Altopiano di Asiago, nestled in the Venetian mountains. With an average altitude of 1500m, the snow arrives abundantly, and is seen as a perfect location for cross-country ski, mountain bike and trail running.
‘The event will take place following all the COVID guidelines and following all the restrictions and recommendations implemented by World Triathlon and the local authorities, to guarantee the safety of all participants.’
Winter triathlon is one of the latest additions to the triathlon portfolio of events – with athletes competing over a 4km run in the snow, followed by a 12km bike ride also over snow and finishing with 10km of cross-country skiing. The race action can be viewed on TriathlonLIVE.tv.
The next event scheduled in the calendar will be the World Triathlon Andorra Winter Championships, due to take place on March 19-21, in conjunction with the new Andorra Multisport Festival from IRONMAN.
Unfortunately, the current situation in Romania has forced the organisers of the Cheile Gradistei European Championships – due to take place on March 13-14 – to postpone the event until December 2021. Although, this will give winter triathlon athletes the possibility to extend the season, with an event in the calendar to wrap up the year as it started: in the snow.
