Mario Mola, three-time world champion and Olympic triathlete, will start his season Triathlon de Portocolom in Mallorca, Spain, on April 10th, and becomes the international ambassador of the race.
He will compete at the 55.5km distance, whilst the event’s 111km distance elite field will be ‘one of the strongest in its history’ with a €4,000 pro prize purse.
Joan Nadal, the 2021 edition’s male champion will be lined up at the start line in Portocolom Bay, and is a favourite. In addition to Nadal, other elite athletes include: British athelete George Goodwin, Timothy Van Houtem (Belgium), Fabian Esenlauer (Germany), and Jarmo Rissanen (Finland). They will be joined by Spanish triathletes such as Julen Lopetegui, Francesc Artigues, Javier Cardona, Adrián Herrera and Iñaki Pena-Manso.
In the female elite category, there will competition in the 111km distance as well. German athlete Jenny Schulz, second and third in 2017 and 2018, respectively, is a top contender. Other athletes in the mix include British athletes Caroline Livesey and Flora Colledge, and Spanish athlete Natalia Bermúdez de Castro.
Alejandro Sánchez Palomero, a Paralympian (bronze medal in 2008 and Tokyo 2020) will compete at the 55.5km distance.
Triathlon de Portocolom features two race formats 55.5 (500 m swim, 50 km bike, 5 km run) and 111 (1 km swim, 100 km bike and 10 km run). The European season opener in April will gather over 1,000 triathletes.
The swim will take place in Portocolom harbour. The bike loop will take athletes along a rolling course including the tough climb of Sant Salvador, with its 494m height and views towards the island and the southeast coast. The run will take athletes from the old town along the beaches of the Portocolom Bay before they cross the finish line.
Triathlon de Portocolom is organized by the sports events agency Kumulus and the Club Triatló Portocolom. It is supported by the local council of Felanitx, with the support of the Agencia de Estrategia Turística de las Islas Baleares y del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia del Gobierno de España.
