The Andorran Pyrenees will provide the venue for the World Triathlon Winter Championships this weekend, only this year with a twist. On Thursday 3 February, for the first time in the event’s 24-year history, winter duathlon will be making its debut on the schedule.
The run-ski format of the duathlon may remove the biking element, but there will still be multiple transitions to negotiate out on course, with a 4km run and 6km ski repeated three times in total, giving spectators plenty of opportunities to get right behind the athletes.
Several of the athletes on the start lines will be racing for both the duathlon and triathlon world titles over the weekend’s festival of sport. These include Italy’s U23 Winter Triathlon World Champion from 2020, Franco Pesavento and last year’s world champion in the snow, Hans Christian Tungesvik (NOR).
The women’s elite and U23 races will begin five minutes after the men on Thursday morning, with Romania’s Maria Luisa Rasin a strong favourite for a first winter duathlon medal in her fourth winter world championships.
