This weekend is a busy one all round for New Zealand triathletes across a variety of distances, headlined by the next round of the ITU World Triathlon Series at the home of leading British athletes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee in Leeds.
The event is the first WTS event in Leeds and will feature New Zealanders Andrea Hewitt, Rebecca Spence, Anneke Jenkins and Ryan Sissons, with Sissons racing for the first time since his inclusion in the New Zealand team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
“I am looking to Leeds WTS this weekend, it is the perfect chance to check out new surroundings and race in a very triathlon prestigious city!” said Sissons. “There will no doubt be a lot of support for the British athletes but I am looking forward to being involved in the first WTS in Leeds this Sunday.
“For me, I'm looking for another solid race. Training has been going well and just looking to put together a strong all round performance before the next big block of training begins.”
Hewitt has been in superb form, continuing her great results from the WTS and World Cup season so far with a dominant win in the German Bundesliga last weekend as she tunes up for Leeds but more importantly continues her work towards Rio. Tauranga’s Jenkins meanwhile returns to WTS racing after a long break due to injury, but has enjoyed some strong work in training in Europe.
As well as attention on Leeds, New Zealand will have a presence in the Netherlands at the Weert ETU Continental Cup race, with Tayler Reid (Gisborne) returning to racing after some months off with an arm injury, he will be joined by Cooper Rand and Thijs Hubber.
Reid essentially missed the entire New Zealand summer of racing after a collision with a car left him with a broken arm that required surgery and a long but patient rehabilitation. Reid has been hard at work with coaches Stephen Sheldrake and Tri NZ HP Coach Tim Brazier in Cambridge and will be eagerly anticipating a return to racing.
And on Sunday, a little closer to home, the longer distance athletes go to work at the Asia Pacific Ironman Championships in Cairns, with Cameron Brown, Michelle Bremer, Mel Burke, Simon Cochrane, Guy Crawford, Matt Randall and Tamsyn Hayes amongst those Kiwis chasing a podium finish.
