Dubai: Spain’s Eneko Llanos has joined reigning ironman world champion Frederik Van Lierde of Belgium in confirming his participation for the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon on March 15.
Llanos, who won this event in 2010, finished a close second to Van Lierde at this stage last year, but will now look to deny the Belgian his Abu Dhabi hat-trick.
“I like to kick off my season with the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon as it is arguably the most picturesque triathlon course in the world,” said Llanos. “Narrowly missing out on the top spot last year has made me all the more determined to go for gold at the season opener.”
Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield has also confirmed his participation and is looking to build upon his third place finish here last year.
“I’m looking forward to going head-to-head with Frederik and Eneko again in the hope of working my way up that podium and improving on last year’s result,” said Butterfield. “Having the best of the best competing in the event really pushes you to continue to up your performance and improve each year.
“I am under no illusion a podium in Abu Dhabi is a given — there are many other good athletes all aiming for the same goal. It will be tough and hard race, that is always a guarantee.”
Other athletes returning to the field are South African James Cunnama, who finished fourth at last year’s Ironman Hawaii and German Per Bittner, who finished fifth in Abu Dhabi last year. Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and his 2012 world champion brother Jonathan have also confirmed that they will go head-to-head in this year’s men’s short course.
The fifth Abu Dhabi International Triathlon offers three course distances — the 223km-long course (3km swim, 200km cycle and 20km run), the half-length short course (1.5km swim, 100km cycle and 10km run) and the sprint course (750m swim, 50km bike and 5km run). Both the short and the sprint events can be run as a team relay.
Athletes interested in taking part can visit www.abudhabitriathlon.com. Entry fees for the long and short distances are Dh695 and Dh475 respectively, while the rates for the sprint course are Dh275 for individuals and Dh440 for teams. The fee for the team relay is Dh1,022. Last year, 2,000 athletes from more than 50 countries took part.
