Yokohama Preview: The battle for 2012 starts here

It might still technically be 2011, but the 2012 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series kicks off in Yokohama on Monday.

The Yokohama round was originally scheduled for May, but postponed after the devastating earthquake that hit the region. But thanks to the work of the ITU, local organising committee and Japan Triathlon Union (JTU), the event was rescheduled and points will now count towards the 2012 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series rankings.

Therefore, expect plenty of athletes who are keen to make a fresh start after Beijing. Yokohama was part of the first Dextro Energy Triathlon Series in 2009, with Jan Frodeno and Lisa Norden claiming their debut series wins there. The course is based around Yokohama’s beautiful harbour, with a two-lap 1.5km swim, an eight-lap 40km bike course and a four-lap 10km run. Click here for full race preview

SCHEDULE:

Elite Women – Monday 19 September – 8:05am (UTC/GMT +1) Click here for time in your area

Elite Men – Monday 19 September – 11:05am (UTC/GMT +1) Click here for time in your area

WEBSITES:

http://www.triathlon.org

http://yokohama.triathlon.org

START LISTS:

Click here for women’s start list

Click here for men’s start list

LIVE COVERAGE:

Live video coverage from London will be available on race day at triathlonlive.tv

Or follow @triathlonlive on Twitter for text updates on race day.

STORIES TO WATCH FOR

Hewitt vs Jenkins rematch

The newly crowned World Champion, Helen Jenkins, and the Grand Final winner, Andrea Hewitt, will enter Yokohama wearing number 1 and 2 respectively. The overall gold and silver medallists locked horns in an epic run battle in Beijing. The pair ran together almost the entire time until Hewitt surged away in the final few hundred metres to secure the biggest victory of her career.

The Return of Vanessa Fernandes

Yokohama will be the site of a highly anticipated comeback of an ITU legend – Vanessa Fernandes. The Portuguese superstar announced earlier this year she was taking an indefinite break from triathlon, after sparkling career that included a record 20 World Cup titles, Olympic silver and the 2007 World Championship. But now one of the great athletes in ITU history is on the comeback trail, which begins in Yokohama on Monday.

Wide Open Men’s Field

With the absence of the world championship medallists – Alistair Brownlee, Jonathan Brownlee, and Javier Gomez, the elite men’s field is wide open and ripe for a first-time winner. Among the major contenders are Grand Final silver medallist Sven Riederer, Russians Alexander Bryukhankov and Dmitry Polyansky, Frenchman Laurent Vidal, double Olympic medallists Simon Whitfield (CAN) and Bevan Docherty (NZL), and Aussies Brendan Sexton and Brad Kahlefeldt. Of those men, only Docherty and Kahlefeldt have ever tasted victory on the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series – Docherty in Sydney 2010 and Tongyeong 2009, and Kahlefeldt in Hamburg this year. Click here for full men’s start list.

Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.