The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced its four wildcard athletes for the PTO European Open men’s and women’s races in Ibiza, Spain, on May 6, 2023.
The wildcard athletes have been confirmed as additions to the recently announced elite male and elite female start lists for the opening event of the 2023 PTO Tour.
For the men’s race, Jan Frodeno (GER) is confirmed alongside Alistair Brownlee (GBR). This means the race in Ibiza will feature all three of the Olympic gold medallists in the sport since 2008, following the confirmation that Tokyo winner and PTO World #1, Kristian Blummenfelt, will be leading the race line-up. This will be the first time the three athletes have competed in the same race.
Also included in the men’s race are pro cyclist-turned-triathlete Cameron Wurf (AUS), who was competing for the Ineos Grenadiers in this month’s iconic Paris-Roubaix, and Justus Nieschlag (GER), who won IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote in March.
For the women’s race, the four wildcards have gone to:
- Amelia Watkinson (NZL), who has put together an impressive bank of results over the last two seasons in which she’s been on the podium in every event she’s raced;
- 21-year-old Sif Madsen (DEN), who was second at this year’s CLASH Miami with a 75 score;
- PTO World #39 Anne Reischmann (GER); and
- Els Visser (NED), who has had a strong start to her season in the southern hemisphere by winning IRONMAN New Zealand and coming second at the Challenge Wanaka Half.
PTO CEO Sam Renouf said “The purpose of wildcard selections is to ensure we get the highest quality race fields and that athletes of proven stature and standing in our sport, who may have missed out in the rankings due to injury or absence, get the opportunity to compete… As well as give opportunities to newcomers, who have shown exciting potential but have not yet done enough to make it through the rankings.”
“There have been a lot of column inches and social posts about Jan’s return to racing this year and this match up with Kristian and Alistair. So, it’s great to finally confirm it and be able to look forward to what we all hope will be fantastic day of racing in the inaugural PTO European Open.”
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 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.
