The fourth round of the ITU World Triathlon Series takes place in Madrid this weekend as athletes move another step towards the PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final in London in September.
Jonathan Brownlee will take on the Olympic silver medallist, Javier Gomez, whist Non Stanford and Jodie Stimpson have their eyes on repeating their podium performances from previous rounds.
Britain’s depth in the men’s and women’s races is demonstrated by having five 2013 Series top ten finishers in the line up.
Brownlee won the previous round in Yokohama, but is without older brother, Alistair, the Olympic champion, who is sitting out his favourite race with an ankle injury. Between them, the brothers have won the last four Series events in Madrid, but Gomez will put up a strong challenge in order to impress at his home race.
Matt Sharp races having finished fifth in the first round of the Series in Auckland, and David McNamee comes to Madrid having achieved top ten finishes in both San Diego and Yokohama. Aaron Harris and Phil Wolfe complete the British line up.
In Saturday’s women’s race Jodie Stimpson starts as the third highest ranked athlete in the field, thanks to third and fifth place finishes in her last two Series races. Non Stanford has also demonstrated good form, having finished second in San Diego. They are joined by Katie Hewison and Vanessa Raw.
Points won in Madrid will help athletes secure places in the free-to-view PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final in London, 11-15 September. The top scoring athletes will be crowned ITU World Champions. The reigning world champions are Jonathan Brownlee and Lisa Norden (SWE).
The women’s race will take place in Madrid at 18.30 local time (17.30 UK time) and the men’s race is at 09.00 local time (08.00 UK time). Both events will be live on the BBC Red Button and online via triathlonlive.tv. TV highlights will be shown on BBC2 from 2pm-5pm on Sunday 2 June.
British athletes racing in Madrid
WOMEN
Katie Hewison, 27, Chorley, coached by Darren Smith
Vanessa Raw, 28, Durham, coached by Tom Bennett in London
Non Stanford, 24, Swansea, coached by Malcolm Brown/Jack Maitland in Leeds
Jodie Stimpson, 24, Birmingham, coached by Darren Smith
MEN
Jonathan Brownlee, 23, Leeds, coached by Malcolm Brown/Jack Maitland
Aaron Harris, 24, Bideford, Hants, coached by Mark Pearce in Loughborough
David Mcnamee, 25, Irvine, coached by Malcolm Brown/Jack Maitland in Leeds
Matthew Sharp, 24, Enfield, London, coached by Mark Pearce in Loughborough
Phil Wolfe, 24, Walsall, coached by Glen Cook
2013 ITU World Triathlon Series Schedule
Auckland, Apr 6-7
San Diego, Apr 19-20
Yokohama, May 11-12
Madrid, Jun 1-2
Kitzbühel, Jul 6
Hamburg, Jul 20-21
Stockholm, Aug 24-25
PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final London, Sep 11-15