Challenge Malta – which takes place for the first time this Sunday, May 15 – has an international field of professional athletes toeing the starting line.
In the men’s race, the biggest favourite seems to be Caleb Noble, a regular fixture on the podium of his native Australia. His biggest opposition could be from Slovenian, Jaroslav Kovacic, who won both Challenge Venice and Challenge Almere-Amsterdam in 2018 and broke the course record at the second-oldest long distance triathlon in the world.
The organising team add that Kovacic may be more of a long distance specialist but can’t be discounted over the middle distance and will certainly be one of the favourites for victory on Sunday.
There will be some strong outsiders including Kristian Rød (NOR) and Milosz Sowinski (POL). The Dutchman Niek Heldoorn made his long distance debut at the end of last year, but is more experienced on the middle distance. In Malta, he could show what he’s worth.
In the women’s race, a smaller field of professional athletes will be at the start. Here the battle at Challenge Malta looks set to unfold mainly between Chantal Cummings (GBR), Svenja Thoes (DEU) and Valentina D’Angeli (ITA).
The inaugural Challenge Malta takes place on Sunday 15 May and starts at 06:15 CET. The swim will take place in the Mediterranean Sea. The bike course goes along the coastline and the run course will be a point-to-point run along the coast, finishing in the heart of the country’s capital, Valetta.
www.malta-challenge.com
www.challenge-family.com
