It’s race week for The Championship and it has kicked off with confirmation Gustav Iden will line up this Sunday, 22 May to take on an already strong field of the world’s leading athletes at the x-bionic® sphere in Šamorín, Slovakia.
Iden, currently at number two in the PTO rankings, joins a 50-strong international pro field that also includes Frederic Funk (DEU), Kyle Smith (NZL), Miki Taagholt (DEN) and Pieter Heemeryck (BEL), amongst others. Sadly, defending champion Florian Angert has had to withdraw, a move he said was "devastating".
Iden knows the 113km course well having competed at last year’s Collins Cup and is looking forward to kicking off his season at The Championship.
"I'm very excited to be back racing here at the amazing venue at the x-bionic sphere!" he said. "After some sickness in the last few weeks, I am very grateful Challenge Family was able to give me this opportunity on such short notice. I don't expect to be on my all-time high, but still really looking forward to being on the start line for my season opener."
Winning Women’s Field
In the women’s field, defending champion, Lucy Buckingham, recently third at Anfi Challenge Gran Canaria, has strong competition in the form of Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR), Amelia Watkinson (NZL), Fenella Langridge (GBR), Daniela Bleymehl (DEU), Sara Perez Sala (ESP) and Ashleigh Gentle (AUS).
All already have at least one podium finish to their name in 2022 - Pallant-Browne has two wins at Challenge Riccione and Mallorca 70.3, Langridge has a win at OTSO Challenge Salou, Watkinson a win at Challenge Shepparton and second at Geelong 70.3. Bleymehl a win at IM South Africa, Perez Sala a win at Anfi Challenge Gran Canaria and Gentle a win at Clash Miami.
Over 1,130 athletes from 42 nations will race at The Championship on 22 May with a free-to-air broadcast at www.challenge-family.live. Coverage starts at 8:45am local time with the male pro start at 9:00am and female pro start at 9:10am. For further information, visit www.thechampionship.de.
MALE PRO:
1 Iden Gustav Norway
2 Heemeryck Pieter Belgium
4 Funk Frederic Germany
5 Smith Kyle New Zealand
8 Chartier Collin United States
9 Taagholt Miki Denmark
10 Steger Thomas Austria
14 Stein Boris Germany
15 Davis Thomas United Kingdom
16 Amberger Josh Australia
17 Bendix Madsen Thor Denmark
18 Moreno Molins Albert Spain
19 Teagle James United Kingdom
20 Weiss Michael Austria
21 Hentschel Felix Germany
22 Bahlke Philipp Germany
24 Goetstouwers Stenn Belgium
25 Wade Sam United Kingdom
26 Van Egdom Jorik Netherlands
27 Heinrichs Jesse Germany
28 Keulen Youri Netherlands
29 Dahl Thomsen Tobias Denmark
30 Erhardt Julian Germany
31 Böttinger Samuel Germany
32 Dels Christopher Germany
33 Sanchez Roberto Spain
34 Breinlinger David Germany
35 Arnold Leonard Germany
36 Draper Will United Kingdom
37 Varga Richard Slovakia
38 Kubo Andrej Slovakia
FEMALE PRO:
101 Buckingham Lucy United Kingdom
102 Pallant-Browne Emma United Kingdom
104 Watkinson Amelia New Zealand
105 Langridge Fenella United Kingdom
106 De Vries Sarissa Netherlands
107 Perez Sala Sara Spain
110 Gentle Ashleigh Australia
111 Thek Grace Australia
112 Lee India United Kingdom
113 Bleymehl Daniela Germany
115 Jedrzejewska Aleksandra Poland
116 Bailly Alexia France
117 Zelinka Gabriella Hungary
118 Byram Lucy United Kingdom
119 Corbova Nikola Slovakia
120 Santamaria Margie Italy
121 Leisner Shiva Denmark
122 Aspesletten Julie Norway
123 Reng Franziska Germany