The inaugural Collins Cup, to be hosted by DATEV Challenge Roth, will move to 2019, and as part of this arrangement, the PTO and DATEV Challenge Roth have agreed to increase the prize purse for DATEV Challenge Roth 2018 to $200,000, the largest purse in Europe.
CEO of DATEV Challenge Roth, Felix Walchshöfer, said: “This year’s race will feature a USD200,000 prize purse, the largest in Europe and more than doubled from 2017. First place male and female will each earn USD40,000."
The Collins Cup, named after Ironman founders John and Judy, is a three-way non-drafting competition inspired by golf's Ryder Cup: Europe versus USA versus the ‘Internationals.’ Set off at regular intervals, six men and six women from each region, (eight from the new PTO world rankings plus four captain’s picks – which allows wriggle room to involve stars from the ITU’s World Triathlon Series) will race head-to-head-to-head over a 3km swim, 120km bike course and 25km run.
The Collins Cup: a new Ryder Cup-style team competition for long distance tri
“We are very excited to host the inaugural Collins Cup, said Walchshöfer. "Due to the size and scope of the production, we felt it prudent to have the various production teams onsite to observe and assess in 2018. The resulting knowledge around the logistics will ensure The Collins Cup in 2019 is a ground-breaking broadcast event for the sport of triathlon.”
“This is a truly wonderful way to celebrate 35 years of triathlon in Roth!” Charles Adamo of the PTO, commented “The Collins Cup’s dramatic format is designed to take triathlon broadcasts to the next level and this involves more than a helicopter and a few cameras on the back of motorcycles, particularly at a location as iconic as Roth with its 260,000 dedicated fans.
"We are pleased to be working with both Felix and Zibi Szlufcik, CEO of Challenge Family, who share our passion to bring to the fans and supporters of triathlon an unrivalled competition. We are also very pleased to support the whole Challenge Family so that DATEV Challenge Roth 2018 will have the largest prize purse in Europe.
Rachel Joyce and Tim O’Donnell, co-presidents of the PTO, said: “We are excited as the PTO continues to progress towards its goal of providing professional triathletes with our own platform to better participate in the economics of our sport.
We are committed to have a world class production of The Collins Cup at Roth in 2019. It is great to partner with Felix and Zibi in having the largest European prize purse for DATEV Challenge Roth in 2018, and we hope a number of potential Collins Cup athletes will put this year’s race on their schedule to get a sense of the unrivalled experience it is to race at Roth.”
Here's why 220 named Challenge Roth the greatest triathlon in the world and Europe's 8th best Iron for for first-timers.