The first races of the European Multisport Championships in Coimbra, Portugal are already done and dusted. The European Aquabike Championships will follow together with the Triathlon Championships next Saturday. Different to previous years it will not be the big final of the Multisport Week though as there are more non-championships races – including a standard distance and a full distance aquabike race – following on Sunday. And there´s another exciting premiere at this year´s European Championships. With the age group triathletes starting three hours before the aquabike athletes, aquabikers will have the full racecourse for themselves.
The Swim
The 1.9 km swim will take place in the Mondego River. With the start on the west side of the river the first half of the swim will be downstream, before crossing the river to swim back upstream alongside the eastside shore. According to the race organizer there is no notable current, so the upstream swim should not be an issue whatsoever. The race will have a rolling start with five athletes entering the water every five seconds, the first of which starting their race at 12:30 pm.
We don´t have any current information about the water temperature from the organizer. According to different only sources the temperatures should be somewhere between 16 and 19°C at the moment. So it definitely looks like a wetsuit legal swim for Saturday.
The Transition
From the swim exit it´s only a very short run of about 100 metres to the transition zone. The transition zone itself is a stretched area on tarmac which will of course be covered with a carpet all the way through. The mount line will be only a very short way after the T1 exit. So the overall run distance from the swim exit through transition and to the mount line should only be 300 to 400 metres – good news for those aquabike athletes who have serious issues with running.
The Bike
The bike course is of quite similar nature as last year´s bike course in Belgium – flat and fast, with a few less technical sections though. It´s a 22 km lap mostly alongside both sides of the Mondego River. There are no major obstacles in terms of elevation on the four laps.
The Finish
After finishing the fourth lap aquabike will head towards transition zone. The final time will be taken at the dismount line. Usually not a good idea in a race where triathletes are slowing down to prepare for the run while aquabikers are going all out to finish their race. In Coimbra though there will be no triathletes on the course anymore. And since the race starts with a rolling start also there should be no real sprint finishes between aquabike athletes. So I would not expect any safety issues at the aquabike finishline.
The Weather
Today, five days away from raceday, the weather forecast shows perfect race conditions for the European Aquabike Championships. As I mentioned above the water temperature will be more on the cool side. But also the temperatures outside the water are not as hot as you might would expect in Portugal on the second day of summer. While there is some rain and temperatures only up to 20°C predicted throughout the week, the forecast for the weekend shows scattered clouds, not too much wind and temperatures up to 23°C.
The Favourites
The Men’s Race
With the full podium of last year´s European Championships also being on the startline this year, it seems quite clear who the main favourites for the race in Coimbra are. Defending champion and reigning long distance World Champion Mathieu Dumont has not competed in any aquabike race since the race in Menen last August. Runner up Tommy Nielsen came third in the standard distance World Championships last September. With not so many aquabike races in his home country the European Championships will also be his first race of the season, while last year´s third Frank Erk already showed some consistend form in two races in Germany, giving him a comfortable lead in the current Aqubike.World Ranking.
However, there are quite a few candidates to mix up the podium quite a bit this time. Another athlete to do his first race of the season is Irishman Ross Hamilton who missed the podium by only 98 seconds in Belgium last year.
Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Borgne managed to finish in the Top 10 at last year´s World Championships in Ibiza – despite crashing twice on the bike. Last weekend he came in second in the Tours’n Man, one of the biggest non-championship aquabike races of the season.
Lukas Casanova from Switzerland finished the race in Ibiza im May 2023 only about 30 seconds outside the Top 10 but has not competed in any aquabike races since then.
As always there are also some men to watch out for from the British Island. Adam Phillips showed some great form this year, taking three wins and one second place in four aquabike races. Three of them on the first two weekends in June, all of them with remarkable performances especially on the bike. Two weeks ago Pieter Brummer won the aquabike race at the Grafman – one of the biggest middle distance aquabike race of the season in the UK, besides the aquabike race at the Vitruvian in September. Last year’s winner of this race Keith MURRAY will also be competing in Coimbra. Mack Grenfell finished 13th in the 2022 World Championships in Samorin. With no other aquabike race in his records over the last few years, he will have to show if he comes back in good shape two years later.
Oscar Ordorica Iñigo, Albert Torres Carles and Hugo Ecija Bernal are three athletes from Spain to watch out for. They all finished in the Top 7 of this years National Championships in Spain a month ago, separated by only two minutes.
And last but not least there will also be some strong athletes from Portugal competing on home soil. Mário SIMOES and António CORTESÃO came in first and second at last year’s middle distance aquabike race at the Mulitsport Weekend in Coimbra. We will see how their performances translate to an international field of athletes at the European Championships.
The Women’s Race
Looking at the start list of the women’s race it´s probably save to say that the majority of athletes who will be competing for the Top 10 positions will come from Germany and Great Britain. The big favourite comes from a more exotic region though. Without any opportunities to compete in aquabike races in her home country Katrín Pálsdóttir from Iceland did her very first aquabike race at last year’s long distance World Championships in Ibiza. She came home with a close win ahead of prerace favourite Amber Smolik, distancing all other competitors by more than 13 minutes. With no athletes from the Top 6 neither from last yea’s European nor from the World Championships on the start line in Coimbra, the girl from the north will clearly be the one to beat.
Victoria ROTHWELL from the UK is the best placed athlete from last year’s European Championships to be competing for the title again in Portugal. She finshed 7th last August in Menen, showing a strong performacne on the bike.
Gabriele KECK from Germany finished the race only a few seconds later, following another Top10 result at the World Championships in Ibiza two month earlier. In Menen she was closely followed by her fellow countrywoman Kai SACHTLEBER who will also be racing in Portugal. Another German to watch will be Kerstin KAULICH who finished second at the middle distance aquabike race at Challenge Almere last September.
Young GB athlete Grace GILBERT did not race an international aquabike race last year but finished 9th in the 2022 European Championships in Bilbao and showed a strong performance in a local middle distance race last year where she took the overall win. Claire MARTIN finished in 20th place in Bilbao in 2022 but showed a big improvement at last year’s World Championships where she missed the Top 10 only by a few seconds. Other strong athletes from the UK to watch out for are Emily BURTON, Deborah BEARE, Charlotte SMITH and Charlotte SMITH.
We can look forward to a great weekend of aquabike racing in Coimbra. Good luck and all the best to all athletes travelling to Portugal. Have a great race and enjoy the “triathlete free” racecourse!
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