The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced a ‘world class’ start list for the inaugural PTO Asian Open men’s race in Singapore on Sunday 20 August, led by PTO World #1 Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), #2 Gustav Iden (NOR) and #3 Magnus Ditlev (DEN).
With all seven of the top PTO ranked men lining up in the elite 20-athlete field, it will be an ultra competitive race.
Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt will compete in three races across two continents in ten days next month. He will compete in an Olympic test event in Paris on 18 August, followed by the PTO Asian Open in Singapore two days later before he returns to Europe for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Finland on 27 August.
“I want to race the best athletes, when the prize fund is high and it’s all on the line. That is exactly what it’s like in a PTO Tour race, so the PTO Asian Open is another great opportunity for me to perform and as I’ve said many times before, I love to win and I hate to lose.”
PTO World #5 Max Neumann, who won the first PTO Tour race of the season in Ibiza in May by holding off one of the strongest fields, including Kristian Blummenfelt in a tight finish – is full of confidence going into the race, saying:
“The PTO European Open win in Ibiza was definitely the biggest of my career to date, so having another opportunity to back it up in Singapore against all the best athletes in the world is one I’m looking forward to. I think freshness is key and not over racing and not over training. It’s a very hard thing to master, but I’ve not raced since Ibiza and put in some solid training blocks in Australia, similar to what I did ahead of that win.”
The PTO Asian Open men’s confirmed automatic qualifiers start list includes:
Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
Gustav Iden (NOR)
Magnus Ditlev (DEN)
Sam Laidlow (FRA)
Max Neumann (AUS)
Sam Long (USA)
Ben Kanute (USA)
Daniel Baekkegard (DEN)
Aaron Royle (AUS)
Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
Florian Angert (GER)
Jason West (USA)
Bradley Weiss (SA)
Denis Chevrot (FRA)
Both the men’s and women’s 100km races in Singapore will take place at the Marina Bay area against the backdrop of the iconic Singapore skyline. The final 100km course details were unveiled earlier this week, including a 16km circuit for the bike leg which starts and finishes at the Bayfront
The men’s race takes place on Sunday 20 August, starting at 1515 local time (0915 CET), and will be broadcast live around the world to 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO Tour’s partnerships with Warner Bros. Discovery. It will live on Eurosport 2 from 0900 CET as well as featured on a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters including DAZN, beIN Sports and SPOTV. In Singapore, the PTO Asian Open will also be shown ‘live’ on mewatch, Mediacorp’s digital streaming platform, alongside a preview programme and race highlights show that will also be broadcast on Channel 5, Mediacorp’s English language free-to-air channel.
The prize fund for the PTO Opens in 2023 is $600,000 USD per event split evenly between the top 20 female and male athletes – with $100,000 USD for the winner, $50,000 USD for second and $35,000 USD for third – making each event the most lucrative in the sport over this distance.
