The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced the start list for the inaugural PTO European Open men’s race in Ibiza, Spain, on May 6, 2023, led by PTO World #1 Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR).
Other elite male athletes in the mix include PTO World #3 Magnus Ditlev (DEN) and PTO World #4 Sam Laidlow (FRA).
The 2023 PTO European Open women’s start list was announced yesterday and the four wildcards for each of the races will be announced tomorrow (Thursday, April 13).
The PTO European Open will feature a women’s and men’s 100km race (2km swim; 80km bike; 18km run) in Ibiza Town, set against the island’s Balearic backdrop and co-hosted alongside the 2023 World Triathlon Multisport Championships.
The two PTO races take place on Saturday, May 6, with the women starting at 08:15 CET and the men at 09:45 CET. Both will be broadcast live around the world to 170+ territories, courtesy of the PTO Tour’s partnerships with Warner Bros Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters including DAZN, beIN Sports and SPOTV.
The full PTO European Open men’s (automatically qualified) start list includes 16 of the top 30 PTO ranked athletes covering 11 different countries:
Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
Magnus Ditlev (DEN)
Sam Laidlow (FRA)
Max Neumann (AUS)
Leon Chevalier (FRA)
Florian Angert (GER)
Frederic Funk (GER)
Aaron Royle (AUS)
Patrick Lange (GER)
Daniel Baekkegard (DEN)
Ben Kanute (USA)
Miki Moerck Taagholt (DEN)
Bradley Weiss (USA)
Jason West (USA)
Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
Kristian Hogenhaug (DEN)
Thomas Bishop (GBR)
Gregory Barnaby (ITA)
Rudy Von Berg (USA)
Kyle Smith (NZL)
Mathias Lyngsoe Peterson (DEN)
Ben Hoffman (USA)
David McNamee (GBR)
Filipe Azevedo (POR)
PTO CEO Sam Renouf said “With the much anticipated wildcards still to come – this is set to be one of the most talked about events of the year, a battle of ‘Olympic’ proportion.”
The 2023 PTO Tour starts in Ibiza on May 6, before going to Milwaukee on August 4-5 for the PTO US Open and then to Singapore for the first-ever PTO Asian Open on August 19-20.
