E’ stata annunciata ufficialmente venerdì 10 febbraio 2016 la Super League Triathlon, una serie di eventi con un formato gara nuovo, avvincente e spettacolare, ideata da Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack, con 1.5 milioni di dollari come montepremi e 25 grandi campioni di triathlon che si sfideranno sino all’ultimo metro.
Tra i tanti big, risaltano Alistair e Jonathan Brownlee, Javier Gomez e Mario Mola, Richard Murray e Terenzo Bozzone e il capitano azzurro Alessandro Fabian.
La Super League Triathlon, nata da un’idea del due volte iridato Ironman e due volte ITU World Champion Chris McCormack, aprirà i battenti il 17, 18 e 19 marzo ad Hamilton Island, in Australia, e accoglierà per il suo esordio stagionale il campione olimpico di Rio, Alistair Brownlee.
«Super League Triathlon will be exciting, dynamic racing and great viewing for all sports fans. There’s a bit of chatter from the younger guys about the heat, the shorter distances, and a few of them fancy themselves for the win. While the formats are new and innovative, they’ve still got to swim, bike and run and they have to remember that their weaknesses will still be highlighted. It’ll be a lot of fun.»
– Alistair Brownlee
Nel meraviglioso scenario dell’incredibile “Great Barrier Reef“, i campionissimi della triplice si sfideranno nelle tre classiche discipline sulle distanze di 300 metri di nuoto, 6 chilometri di bici e 2 chilometri di corsa, mixate in diversi formati, alternando, ripetendo e mischiando le tre frazioni.
Nello specifico, ad Hamilton Island competeranno nel “Triple Mix“, nell'”Equalizer” e nell'”Eliminator“; i primi 10 andranno a premi: al vincitore andranno 100.000 dollari, al secondo 50.000, quindi 25.000, 10.000, 8.000, 6.000, 4.800, 3.500, 3.000 e 2.500.
Oltre ai tre formati già citati, nelle prove successive (il calendario completo della Super League Triathlon verrà reso noto nelle prossime settimane) saranno presenti altri due formati, lo “Sprint Pursuit” e l'”Enduro“.
In ogni tappa, i campioni gareggeranno per vincere il montepremi di giornata, per guadagnare punti per la vittoria finale nella serie e per indossare la pettorina del leader nelle singole discipline.
Ci sarà massima visibilità sin dalla prima tappa di Hamilton Island: la Super League Triathlon Hamilton Island sarà infatti messa in onda da Fox Sports (Australia), Eurosport (Europa) e on line su www.superleaguetriathlon.com
Annunciata per il termine della stagione 2017 anche il via delle Super League Triathlon dedicata alle donne; e già si vocifera che di certo non mancherà la numero 1 del triathlon lungo mondiale, la svizzera di ferro Daniela Ryf.
Infine, la Super League Triathlon in futuro darà spazio anche agli age group, in questo caso con il formato 626, ovvero 600 metri di nuoto, 20K di bici e 6K di corsa; non mancheranno anche eventi per i più giovani e “fun run”.
Di seguito la lista dei “Magnifici 25”, il dettaglio delle 5 diverse tipologie dei formati gara e il video di presentazione della Super League Triathlon 2017.
«Super League Triathlon is here to bring mainstream attention to triathlon and usher the sport into the big leagues of sport entertainment.»
– Chris McCormack, Super League Triathlon co-founder
- Twitter: @SuperLeagueTri
- Instagram: @SuperLeagueTriathlon
- Facebook: SuperLeagueTri
- Web: www.superleaguetriathlon.com
SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON CONTRACTED ATHLETES
Super League Triathlon’s championship series is a ‘closed-league’ series with participation by invitation only. Twenty-five superstar athletes including Olympic medalists, ITU World Champions and long course champions have secured a contract for the inaugural Super League Hamilton Island event. Athletes will race in Super League Triathlon uniforms and have personally chosen their race numbers which will appear on their race uniforms and event apparel.
Athletes are listed in alphabetical order.
| Surname | First Name | Country | Race Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amberger | Josh | AUS | #27 |
| Bailie | Ryan | AUS | #39 |
| Birtwhistle | Jake | AUS | #44 |
| Blummenfelt | Kristian | NOR | #02 |
| Bozzone | Terenzo | NZL | #13 |
| Brownlee | Alistair | GBR | #23 |
| Brownlee | Jonathan | GBR | #05 |
| Dye | Cameron | USA | #08 |
| Grajales Valencia | Crisanto | MEX | #06 |
| Fabian | Alessandro | ITA | #88 |
| Fisher | Ryan | AUS | #10 |
| Gomez Noya | Javier | ESP | #01 |
| Maloy | Joe | USA | #99 |
| McMahon | Brent | CAN | #83 |
| Mola Diaz | Mario | ESP | #03 |
| Murray | Richard | RSA | #07 |
| Polyanskiy | Dmitry | RUS | #77 |
| Polyanskiy | Igor | RUS | #11 |
| Ragnarsson | Sigurdur Orn | ISL | #57 |
| Royle | Aaron | AUS | #26 |
| Salvisberg | Andrea | SUI | #69 |
| Schoeman | Henri | RSA | #04 |
| Shaw | Ben | IRL | #73 |
| van Egdom | Jorik | NED | #21 |
| Varga | Richard | SVK | #12 |
SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON RACE FORMATS
Super League Triathlon race formats include a 300m Swim, 6km Bike and 2km Run with varying multiples and sequences of each discipline across the five race formats. All Super League Triathlon racing is expected to be completed in an hour or less.
| Triple Mix | A three-round race with a 10-minute break in between rounds, taken from the time the first athlete crosses the finish line in the previous round. In round one athletes will complete a swim-bike-run sequence. In round two athletes will run-bike-swim and in round three athletes will bike-swim-run. The winner of Triple Mix is determined by the athlete with the lowest accrued time over the three rounds. |
| Equalizer | A two-part race with part one comprising an individual time trial (cycling) and part two comprising a continuous swim-run-swim-bike-run sequence. The tough individual time trial course rewards the strong cyclists. Any time lost by an athlete in the part-one individual time trial is served as a penalty in part two of Equalizer. The winner is the first athlete across the finish line in part two. |
| Eliminator | A three-round race with a 10-minute break in between rounds, taken from the time the first athlete crosses the finish line in the previous round. Athletes will complete a swim-bike-run sequence in each round. Athletes finishing in 16th place and above in round one are eliminated. Athletes finishing in 11th place and above in round two are eliminated. The final ten athletes will race in round 3 with the winner of Eliminator being the first athlete across the finish line in Round 3. |
| Enduro | A race for the endurance athlete with a continuous swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run sequence. The winner of Enduro is the first athlete across the finish line upon completion of the entire race sequence. |
| Sprint Pursuit | A two-part race with part one being an individual time trial over a swim-bike-run format (Sprint). Part two is a Pursuit, a continuous swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run sequence. Athletes are awarded a start time slot in the Pursuit based on their finish position in the Sprint. The Pursuit will commence twenty (20) minutes after the last finisher of the Sprint. The first place finisher in the Sprint receives a seven-second head start in the Pursuit over the second place finisher in Sprint. Athletes ranked two-to-five in the Sprint start the Pursuit in 5 second intervals (in order of their Sprint finish position) and all finishers finishing 6th position and above in the Sprint will start Pursuit at further 3 second intervals in the order that they finished in the Sprint. |
VIDEO PRESENTAZIONE SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON 2017
About Super League Triathlon
Pitting the world’s best triathletes across unique short course formats for big prize money in a closed league series, Super League Triathlon provides pulse-pounding action, superstars to root for, and a spectator experience without parallel. Super League Triathlon catapults triathlon into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of triathlon and sports fans worldwide. By offering incredible TV and digital content output with live race day television broadcasts, live race day digital streaming and Video on Demand content, we’ll be showcasing our Championship athletes and the sport of triathlon like never before. Super League Triathlon features action-packed racing formats in dramatic locations and fan-friendly courses across Asia-Pacific and the Gulf. We’re committed to setting the gold standard experience for age groupers, professional athletes, and fans alike. Super League Triathlon was co-founded by two-time Ironman and two-time ITU World Champion Chris McCormack, and Michael D’Hulst and Leonid Boguslavsky, three successful businessmen and passionate triathletes brought together by a common desire to break new ground in the sport of triathlon.
Alcuni dei protagonisti assoluti della 1^ edizione della Super League Triathlon, al centro il campione olimpico Alistair Brownlee
