The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced a strong contingent of elite triathletes for the US$1 million PTO US Open race in Dallas, Texas, to be held on 17-18 September.
A strong roster of American female athletes is led by PTO World #7 Taylor Knibb, #15 Jackie Hering, #18 Jocelyn McCauley, #23 Sophie Watts, #37 Danielle Lewis and #56 Lesley Smith.
They will be up against a line-up of international athletes including: Ashleigh Gentle (AUS); Paula Finlay (CAN); Team Europe Collins Cup winner Holly Lawrence (GBR); and a resurgent Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), who has bounced back from injury by winning the recent World Triathlon Long Distance World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia.
The elite female field features 13 of the world’s top 25 PTO World Ranked female triathletes.
The elite men’s race features PTO World #3 Magnus Ditlev (DEN), #4 Lionel Sanders (CAN), #5 Alistair Brownlee (GBR), #6 Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) and #7 Florian Angert (GER).
In total, the field for the final PTO Tour men’s race of the season features 22 of the top 30 in the PTO World Rankings and covers 12 different countries, including seven athletes from the USA led by PTO World #11 Sam Long.
Racing will take place on a specially designed course in Las Colinas. This will aim to create a stadium-feel event where fans will see the athletes as many as 12 times during the 100km race.
PTO CEO Sam Renouf said “This race is bursting with talent, with all the professionals looking to hunt down important PTO Ranking points before the end of season and get themselves as high up the rankings as they can.
“Picking a winner feels almost impossible, so all the indications are that it will be a highly competitive race.”
