On August 27th the 5th European Aquabike Championships will take place in Menen, Belgium. We have the record number of 295 aquabike athletes on the startlist and can certainly look forward to an exciting race. The race organizers from Decospan Triatlon Menen did a great job, also putting quite some thoughts into how to serve not only triathletes but also aquabikers well. So, everything looks well prepared for a great day of racing through Flanders.
The Swim
The 1.9 km swim takes place in the river Leie. There is a bit of a current, but according to the race organizer “you hardly feel it”. After swimming about 400 metres upstream, you take a turn to swim downstream for about 900 metres before swimming back upstream again. With an expected water temperature of 20-22°C it will definitely be a wetsuit legal swim. The start procedure will be a rolling start from a pontoon with the first male aquabike athletes starting at 12:40, while the female athletes start 10 minutes later. The last group of triathletes start at 12:30, also with a rolling start. So the faster swimmers will have some traffic on the swim course. The swim exit is also over the pontoon but other than at last year´s European Championships in Bilbao there will be big stairs from the pontoon to enter and to exit the water.
The Transition
The transition zone is located on the football field of the Vauban Stadium. The run from swim exit into the stadium to your transition bag then your bike and with your bike out of the stadium to the mountline should be roughly about 500 metres alltogether. The bigger part of it is on the smooth lawn of the football field which is good news for those who avoid running due to an injury.
The Bike
Two words to describe the bike course: flat and technical. Yes, there are some easy hills and long straights as well. But with no less than ten 180° turns and countless corners in the streets of Menen some cornering skills are certainly an advantage on that racecourse. And with about 1200 triathlon and aquabike athletes racing on that course at the same time traffic will be an issue, especially on the first few kilometres before getting out of the town. I hardly advise everybody to use your brain on the bike. Everybody will be stuck behind slower cyclists at some corners. Take it easy and don´t put them and yourself in danger. The straight parts are still long enough to keep your wheels going. This applies even more if we get some rain on raceday. On wet roads the corners of Menen, especially those with zebra crossings, will become quite slippery. And right now the weather forecast doesn´t look too promising. But more about that below.
The Finish
After race organizers completely messed up the aquabike finish in previous international championship races (at last year´s Europeans in Bilbao as well as at this year´s Worlds in Ibiza) the organizers in Menen obviously put a few more thoughts on how to set up a fair and save finish for the aquabike athletes as I already pointed out in another article: “The finish of the aquabike race will be 200 metres before the dismount line. But it´s not just a timing point you pass, that is maybe marked with a little sign. It will be a proper finish with a big finish gate, barriers and – most notably – people! Because it is parallel to the triathlon finish line with 50 metres public zone in between. People can just walk over to see the new European Aquabike Champion coming in.”
I´m certainly looking forward going through that finish gate. There is one little trade off though. The distance from the last corner to the finishline is just about 70 metres. There are seven turns within the last 1300 metres of the race, three of them on the last 400 metres. In previous races aquabikers were advised to take care of triathletes who approach T2 usually much slower. This is certainly a good advice in this race as well. But I sincerely hope that the race organizers also advise triathletes in the race briefing to stay on the right to avoid blocking of fast approaching aquabikers.
The Weather
As always on flat courses the wind might also play a role at this race. Although at this time of the year winds are usually not that strong in Flanders. However, on a technical course with a lot of turns the more important question is: Will it stay dry? One thing is for sure – nobody wants to do a race like this in the rain. Many of the turns in Menen go over zebra crossings which become super slippery in the rain. And with all the corners on the way to the finishline I´m pretty sure we will see quite some crashes if the roads are wet.
Now, about a week before the race, the forecast looks everything but good. Strong winds, a maximum temperature of 19°C and high possibility of rain for the whole weekend. As we all know weather forecasts for a week ahead are everything but reliable. So let´s keep our fingers crossed to have dry roads at least.
The Favourites
The big absent of the race is last year´s European Champion Adam Lambrechts. The Belgian will not defend his title on home soil. However, with five of the current Top 10 in the Aquabike.World Ranking we definitely have a super strong field of aquabikers competing for the crown in Menen.
The Men´s Race
There is no doubt about who´s the man to beat. Frenchman Mathieu Dumont showed a super strong performance, winning the overall World Championships in Ibiza this May. His stronger discipline is definitely the bike though, which might not be as much of an advantage as in Ibiza. On the flat roads in Flanders, it will be harder to make up the time to the fast swimmers. Especially if he gets stuck behind slower cyclists in all the corners.
On the longer course in Ibiza current leader of the Aquabike.World Ranking Ross HAMILTON and his predecessor Kris WHITELAW came in just about three minutes behind the World Champion. There is certainly a chance that they can hold off uber cyclist Mathieu Dumont on the bike this time. Within the last twelve months, the Irishman and the Englishman competed together in three occasions, with Ross coming in just a few seconds behind Kris every time. We will see if the current #1 will have the better end this time.
But besides the three big favourites there are quite a few other athletes who have good chances to compete for the top ranks. As mentioned above the strong cyclists might have a hard time to catch the stronger swimmers. So who are the candidates to get out of the water in front? First one to mention is Piotr ŁAZARONEK from Poland. Over the last 12 months he raced in four aquabike races in Poland – three of them national championships. In every one of them he put a significant amount of time between himself and the rest of the athletes – including triathletes. He will have quite a gap for the bike leg. However, the Polishman is not one of the fastest on the bike. We will see if he can hold off the strong cyclists.
Another man to watch – especially for the swim – is young Belgian Simon COOREVITS. He was fourth in a very strong field of competitors in the Belgian Aquabike Championships this year as well as in 2022. In the swim he was up there with the strongest swimmers on both occasions. He´s certainly also not a bad cyclist. Will be interesting to see how he can compete against the international competition on home soil.
Germany´s Christian DÜRR was 4th at last year´s World Championships in Samorin. On a bit of a similar course with a river swim and a flat bike leg he lost quite some time in the water, but showed a strong performance on the bike. His fellow countryman Sebastian KÖRNER might be a bit of a dark horse, having done only one aquabike race so far. However, with his strong performance at the Vierlanden Triathlon this June – in the water as well as on the bike – it looks like he has the potential to fight for the top ranks. So has Frank ERK. After his 18th place at the World´s in Ibiza the 56-year-old routineer showed some stunning performances this year. Most notably in the biggest non-championship aquabike race of the year, the Ch´Tri Man Gravelines in France, where he took the win out of 150 competitiors with quite significant time gaps to the other podium finishers. And one more German athlete should be mentioned here. Only slightly younger Oliver RAU finished 4th in last year´s European Championships. At this year´s World´s in Ibiza his performance on the bike was certainly not what he is usually capable of, putting him into 31st place at the finish. We´ll see if he can do better in Belgium.
The by far biggest number of competitors comes – as always in international aquabike races in Europe – from Great Brittain. And of course, amongst them are a few more strong athletes than last year´s runner up Kris Whitelaw. Benoit BELY was 6th at last year´s European Championships and recently showed strong performances, taking two wins at The Odyssey and the St. Neots Triathlon. Sebastian BODILLY also finished last year´s European´s in the top 10 and won the middle distance aquabike race at the Ironbourne this July. And we should also mention Allistair MOFFAT who took two wins in June and July and will compete in an international aquabike race for the first time in Menen.
The Women´s Race
Defending champion and #1 in the women´s Aquabike.World Ranking Amy PRITCHARD has not competed in an aquabike race this year yet. Nevertheless it´s safe to say that she´s the clear favourite for the European Championships in Menen after showing impressive performances and taking clear wins in all three races she started in 2022 – including the European Championships and the Standard Distance World Championships.
A young British athlete to watch out for in the top ranks is Eve SEALY, who won the middle distance aquabike race at Grafman Triathlon with a remarkably strong performance and will compete in her first international aquabike race in Belgium.
Quite a bunch of strong female aquabikers will come from Germany. Sandra WIRTH, Elke SCHOENHARDT & Gabriele KECK finished 7th, 9th and 10th at the World Championships in Ibiza this May. And all of them had several top 10 finishes in international championship races over the last two years. But also watch out for Theresa LOWINUS. She did her first aquabike race a week ago at Kraichgau Energie Summertime Triathlon, taking a clear win with an impressive performance.
Two other favourites for the top ranks come from Switzerland. 2021 Aquabike World Champion Sara BAUMANN will be accompanied by a current World Champion. Carole Perrot took the title in the cross triathlon race in Ibiza earlier this year. Will be interesting to see how she performs on the flat roads of Flanders compared to the offroad trails of Ibiza.
So, everything seems to be well prepared for an exciting race next Sunday. Good luck and all the best for those of you who will be competing in Menen. Take care and stay safe – especially if the roads are wet.
Some maybe helpful links:
2023 European Aquabike Champioships Race Details
Official Event Website