<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Abu Dhabi Triathlon - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest abu dhabi triathlon articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Heading for Abu Dhabi?]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9520.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[SportsTours have some great travel packages available for anyone heading out to the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon at the beginning of March. A three night hotel package is available from &amp;pound;299 per person which includes transfers and, if you book your flight with Etihad you&#039;ll also get free carriage for your bike.

More details on the packages are available on the Sports Tours International website.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dirk Bockel and Richard Allen Fitness team up for Abu Dhabi]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9451.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Dirk Bockel and Richard Allen Fitness team up for Abu Dhabi camp

RichardAllenFitness.com is proud to announce that Dirk Bockel, international triathlon superstar, three-time top ten Ironman World Championships finisher and second and third at the Abu Dhabi race has team up with US-based, British pro and coach, Richard Allen to deliver a technique and race tactics focused triathlon training camp from February 24th to March 1st 2012.

Open to international and local triathletes alike, the camp will be based out of the luxurious Khalidiya Palace Resort, the official race hotel of the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. As the official English language camp of the event it is aimed at English speaking (first or second language) athletes from the developing to advanced skill groups, training for middle and long distance racing.

The camp is designed as a technical improvement, performance maximizing and race season training planning experience to help athletes achieve race goals be it a finish or qualifying for Vegas, Kona or age-group national teams. The focus will be on quality training during the week versus quantity and knowledge and skill transfer from coaches and pro-athletes Dirk Bockel and Richard Allen, along with supporting coaches and the support team.

The camp price is &pound;495 per person which includes coaching, camp bike top, swim cap and sessions pack plus a goodie bag, free images from the camp, physio and bike mechanic support plus a one-on-one session with Rich or Dirk. Participants will need to book their accommodation package with Sports Tours and these range from &pound;699 for six nights based on twin share to &pound;949 for the full nine nights. Sports Tours can also arrange flight packages from anywhere in the world

To book or make or make enquiries, please contact www.richardallenfitness.com or email richardallenfitness@gmail.com with any questions.

To book your accommodation and travel contact Sports Tours International.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi travel packages]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_9211.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[One of the world&#039;s most dramatic and exciting triathlons is back in 2012. Taking place on March 3rd, with the option of different race distances, the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon is one event you cannot miss. Plus there are prizes in various age categories, giving you even more reason to enter.

For 2012, Sports Tours International have travel packages which include hotel, airport transfers and rep assistance from only &pound;299 per person. And, incredibly, they are offering FREE bike carriage to Abu Dhabi potentially saving you hundreds of pounds when you book your Etihad flight through them. For details see the Sports Tours International website.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi: an Age Grouper reports]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8298.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Last year Thames Turbo PowerBar athlete Liz Pinches struggled to compete through a season tarnished by a hip injury. This year, she returns to form following surgery in November and tells us the tale about her day in the sun at last weekend&#039;s Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. 

Abu Dhabi International Triathlon 2011: An Age-Grouper&#039;s View 
In 2010 I somehow tore a hip cartilage,  which made  my  race season extra painful, turning every run into a real battle and sometimes even the bike as well. So I set about preparing for a long winter of athletic discontent with hip arthroscope surgery to repair the tear, followed by a 12-week rehabilitation programme to get be ready to race again. My chosen race was none other than Abu Dhabi - a hot and windy jewel in the freezing early season race landscape.  Given it was such a hotly contested and widely reported pro race, I thought you might be interested in the amateur&#039;s experience of it all.
Flying in to Abu Dhabi and lounging around amongst the bling and glamour of the expensive hotels, the Formula 1 track and just the general excessiveness of living in an oil-funded desert Emirate was a great way to get away from it all. But back to business - there was a serious race to do - and seeing Macca coming back from a sweaty run session soon reminds us mere mortals that  we do this for fun, and the big day is all about pushing yourself to new limits and learning what works and what doesn&#039;t.
I took part in the so-called &amp;lsquo;Short&amp;rsquo; distance, a mere 1.5km/100km/10km in the wind, heat and dust of the desert. 

It was run as three waves, starting at 10 minute intervals on a single loop swim. The water was clear, and almost refreshing, plus the optional wetsuits meant that all age groupers could choose how much dehydration they wanted to endure &amp;ndash; I opted for a sleeveless wetsuit for a little more comfort. The swim was a bit messy at the start, reminding me how rusty I am in beach starts, but it soon settled down and I was relatively pleased with a 25 minute &amp;ndash; 5th ranked swim &amp;ndash; there was one girl in my wave ahead of me (Rut Brito), but I didn&#039;t see her &amp;ndash; she led the wave the remainder of the race, finishing an eventual second place. 
As I mounted my bike, it was touch and go whether my choice of deep section wheels were going to penalise me with the strong winds on the course. As it turned out, it was lively, but just about under my control. The course is not exactly picturesque but then its not every day you head off into the desert, on such beautiful roads, the highlight of which was of course the Yas Marina F1 circuit - it is impossible not to race this section just a little bit harder than you should! With the wind behind me at last, the ride back to T2 was smooth, resulting in a bike split of 2 hours 58mins 

I enjoyed the novel feeling of getting going out of T2 with no pain &amp;ndash; it seems that the surgery was a complete success. Hopefully I no longer need to be thinking &#039;how much pain will I have to go through this time?&#039; and can just enjoy the final section of the race. With plenty of water being handed out at the aid stations the heat didn&#039;t seem too bad and I managed to clock the fastest run of the day - 4:08/km all the way for a 41:10 and a new PB. After so long without running at all, being able to return to that kind of form in a race under those conditions this early in the season is a big confidence boost for me, and of course the hip specialist (SportsDocLondon) and Physio at Active Sports Therapy I&#039;ve been working with deserve a lot of the credit. Thanks also to Sancture Sportifs, 2XU and Powerbar for supporting the Thames Turbo Powerbar Race Team.
The scores on the doors for the Short race are (Women):

  
    Pos
    Women
  
  
    1st
    Jane Westley 4:06:36
  
  
    2nd
    Rut Brito 4:07:59
  
  
    3rd
    Rebecca Slack 4:09:00
  
  
    4th
    Liz Pinches 4:10:12 
  
  
    5th
    Mari&amp;euml;tte Hattingh 4:12:45
  
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[The BIG Abu Dhabi report]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8291.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi International Triathlon 2011 reaches new heights... 
Hotter? Possibly. Harder? Certainly. Higher Quality? Without a doubt. 
2010 saw the organisers of the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon seek to create an &#039;Instant Classic&#039; within the sport of triathlon last year. Simple to write, tougher to deliver; but a goal met in most experts eyes and a race today which can only have built upon those already strong foundations. An event rising from the sands to without doubt the most important race of the early triathlon season in just 12 months. Quite an accomplishment. 
Long course triathlon watching/reporting can be a tough task in itself. Honestly. Complaining I&#039;m not though but, glamorous it isn&#039;t. That said, it was a rather toasty day out there and sweat was pouring off of me from the finish line media centre in the early afternoon after most of the day spent at the Yas Marina circuit - but that would have been a mere fraction of what the athletes had to endure. The number of top Pro&#039;s going directly from the finish line to the medical tent and passing the media scrum was significant enough to display the toughness of this race. Actually, perhaps that was a tactic to avoid us...?! 
The Swim
As a spectator, triathlon swimming can be a little ...dull. Not only can you see next to nothing from the shore, on plenty of occasions the top athletes invariably swim with similar abilities and all exit together, making the swim impact on the race minimal. 
Today was probably the most interesting swim I&#039;ve seen for a long time. The lead men were quite clearly smashing it. ITU World Long Distance Champion Sylvain Sudrie (FRA), Rasmus Henning (DEN) and Martin Jensen (DEN) were stringing the swim out into a line and gaps were forming. At the halfway (1500m) mark, even the 50m beach run back to lap two was a sprint, and you could see athletes struggling to hang on. Athletes of the quality of Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL), Bjorn Andersson (SWE) and Chris McCormack were left behind, and by the time T1 arrived, they were close on two minutes in arrears. Macca in particular will certainly want (need) to correct that before hitting the ITU World Championship Series race in Sydney next month. 
Britain&#039;s Stephen Bayliss was at the head of affairs too, and looked set for a solid race after getting up and building his bike at 3 a.m., which for the past three days has been flying around the world to anywhere other than Abu Dhabi. 200km on a borrowed bike would not have been fun, so it was good to see him in relaxed mood at daybreak with his new Quintana Roo racked and ready for action. 

The ladies   swim followed a more traditional script, in the sense that Dibens lead and Leanda Cave was right with her. An omen for the same one-two finish as 2010? Behind, Rachel Joyce was disappointed with her swim. Having been in the lead pack last year she was close to two minutes in arrears along with Lucie Zelenkova (CZE), Amy Marsh (USA) and Xena / The Swiss Miss a.k.a. Caroline Steffen (SUI).

The Bike
First casualty of the day was spotted before even getting on his bike. Rasmus Henning, after a great swim and excellent preparation leading up to the race suffered some severe cramping and was seen hobbling through T1. Despite trying to ride, a few kilometres later he was out of the race and left wondering what had happened. 
Last year the lack of wind and and early &#039;detour&#039; on the bike leg conspired to leave a large group together for much of the ride. While the pace was high, there weren&#039;t too many fireworks going on. This year, Bj&amp;oslash;rn Andersson had clearly brought along a large box of dynamite and set the lot off from the get-go. Two minutes in arrears at T1 along with McCormack, Llanos and Vanhoenacker - all noted bikers themselves - by the time he reached the Yas Marina F1 circuit for the first time he was over three minutes in the lead, on his own, and was six minutes clear of that trio... &amp;quot;impressive or stupid&amp;quot; were my Twitter thoughts at the time, given that all of that happened in less than an hour of riding. Speaking to Luke Bell at dinner this evening, he said &amp;quot;he just came past us like a train...I looked down and saw the (high) watts we were pushing, and thought, he must be really cranking it. You just can&#039;t sustain that level for the whole ride&amp;quot; 

While Bj&amp;oslash;rn was giving it large and built his lead to over five minutes at one point, sooner or later the bubble had to burst. Or indeed explode...
When it did, it was Andrew Starykowicz (USA) who was the next to take on the mantle, escaping from the chase pack and forcing a gap in his specialist discipline to have any chance of a solid finish by the end of the bike leg. Meanwhile Macca&#039;s cleat broke/came lose we understand, and he was soon to join Bjorn on the DNF list. Bayliss had by now dropped off of the lead pack &amp;quot;I&#039;m not strong enough just yet, the pace was really high&amp;quot;, while Llanos, Vanhoenacker and Tissink were heading in the other direction and making up for lost time in the swim.
The final 50km became attritional, with Frederik Van Lierde and Marino pushing the pace on even further. Around 150km Craig Alexander was gapped and Eneko Llanos put in a huge effort to try and match Van Lierde. Throughout all of this, last years second placer and many peopleS pre-race pick Dirk Bockel was looking sublime.
Starykowicz reached T2 alone, and headed out onto the run - looking tired - but with a six minute buffer over the Bockel / Llanos / Van Lierde  trio. Still, it never to me looked like it would be enough though he did hold firm for a top ten spot. In these extreme conditions, that was no mean feat.
The wind was a far bigger factor this year, featuring a strong side wind; &amp;quot;it didn&#039;t matter if you were at the front, middle or back of any group&amp;quot; said Craig Alexander to me afterwards &amp;quot;you just got smashed from the side by the wind...&amp;quot; 
The ladies bike was a Julie Dibens Tour de Force &amp;quot;she&#039;s an animal on the bike!&amp;quot; - meant as a huge complement - said Rachel Joyce. With no puncture issues this year, Dibens steadily built a lead of almost nine minutes before reaching for her K-Swiss running shoes in T2. Caroline Steffen did well to keep the gap under ten minutes, as there were huge gaps behind to Leanda Cave (18 minutes), Angela Naeth (19 minutes) and Cat Morrison/Rachel Joyce (23 minutes).
It is interesting to see the differences between the men&#039;s and ladies races; fewer (almost no) &#039;groups/pacelines&#039; together for the ladies, and a much greater requirement to keep focused without the mental and physical stimulation of your competition in close proximity. Oh, and trying to ignore supporters shouting &amp;quot;great job, you&#039;re only 22 minutes down on Dibens...&amp;quot; is a good asset to have. 

The Run
With Starykowicz losing time from the start of the run, who would move forward for the win? The American lead for more than half of the run, but Bockel and Llanos had started strong, and had the experience on the top two spots last year, so surely one of them could take it? Llanos was starting to suffer with stomach problems and while Bockel was putting together a fantastic race, it was Belgian Frederik Van Lierde (fifth last year), that was setting the pace and hit the front somewhere around the 13km mark. We&#039;d tipped Van Lierde as our &#039;outsider&#039; to watch, but hadn&#039;t quite expected him to go this well. 

With 5km to go there was less than a minute separating the first four: Van Lierde, Vanhoenacker, Bockel and Raynard Tissink (RSA), and while that proved to be the finishing order there were only 33 seconds between first and fourth. $50,000 for first, $10,000 for fourth... so that proved to be more than $1000/second. Vanhoenacker just ran out of road to close the gap and while he made it a Belgian one-two, he was certainly as frustrated with not winning as he may have been pleased with gaining second place. A 7:52 Ironman athlete sets himself high standards and he only had one thing on his mind for this race. He&#039;ll be fired up for Ironman South Africa next month, a race he won in 2009. 
ITU World Long Distance Champion Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) took fifth, and despite suffering from cramps in the late stages Craig Alexander managed to win the &#039;Australian sprint&#039; with Luke Bell to edge the sixth spot. He was generous in his praise for those ahead of him; &amp;quot;like I said before the race, I&#039;m not in Kona shape...but I&#039;m not that far off either. The guys at the front deserved it today. Frederik was doing a lot of work on the bike, he had a great race. I&#039;ve got no excuses - you want to win every race of course, and I wouldn&#039;t have travelled for 15 hours and seven hours time difference if I wasn&#039;t serious about it. It was may first race of the year - but that was the case for a lot of the guys. I&#039;m happy with my performance, suffered with some cramps but that&#039;s racing. It shows how competitive triathlon is now - if your one percent off, then you risk being beaten. There are a lot of positives to take away for me from this race and I&#039;d like to come back again.&amp;quot;
Stephen Bayliss was able to move up from 18th to 13th during the run, a decent effort after a stressful week of wondering what bike he may actually be riding. 
With much bigger gaps at T2 for the ladies, holding strong rather than blistering speed was likely to be the order of the day and the way to success. Dibens did lose time to Steffen over the course of the run, about four minutes, but was never truly threatened. Ironically, though she made it look easy it was clearly anything but. Managing to raise her arms for the finish tape photo shot was impressively professional, she was immediately then bent over double and clearly suffering for her brilliance today. Off to the medical tent, where she stayed for a several hours, make no mistake that this was a hard earned $50,000 and a second straight Abu Dhabi title. She promises to be back to try for a third... 

Morrison and Joyce were able to leapfrog Leanda Cave and Angela Naeth on the run to move to third and fourth respectively, with Rachel having a race of two halves after &amp;quot;forgetting how to ride a bike for the first 100km, but then getting it together&amp;quot;. Cave will be disappointed not to have matched her second position of 2010, but with Emma-Kate Lidbury taking tenth, the GB ladies took half of the top ten positions in the race.
A tough race, amazing quality field and extreme conditions. A Classic indeed, bring on 2012.
Results 

  
    Pos
    Men
    Women
  
  
    1st
    Frederik van Lierde (BEL) 6:43:14 
    Julie Dibens (GBR) 7:14:13 
  
  
    2nd
    Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 6:43:31 
    Caroline Steffen (SUI) 7:19:45 
  
  
    3rd
    Dirk Bockel (LUX) 6:43:42 
    Catriona Morrison (GBR) 7:31:02 
  
  
    4th
    Raynard Tissink (RSA) 6:43:47 
    Rachel Joyce (GBR) 7:31:59 
  
  
    5th
    Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) 6:45:49 
    Angela Naeth (CAN) 7:32:24 
  
  
    6th
    Craig Alexander (AUS) 6:46:46 
    Leanda Cave (GBR) 7:34:10 
  
  
    7th
    Luke Bell (AUS) 6:46:52 
    Lucie Zelenkova (CZE) 7:36:24 
  
  
    8th
    Faris Al Sultan (GER) 6:48:22 
    Joanna Lawn (NZL) 7:47:50 
  
  
    9th
    Timo Bracht (GER) 6:49:40 
    Belinda Granger (AUS) 7:48:49 
  
  
    10th
    Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 6:50:23 
    Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 7:51:20 
  

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi 2011: video highlghts]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8292.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Abu Dhabi International Triathlon on Saturday boasted one of the strongest  Professional long distance fields that will be seen at any race this season. 
Tri247 was there to bring you all of the news on the site and through Twitter - you can catch up on all of our coverage in our dedicated race section HERE, including the big race report HERE - plus you can now watch the video highlights from this truly fantastic event.
Frederik Van Lierde and Julie Dibens secured the $50,000 first prizes in the 3k / 200k / 20k Long Distance Classic.  

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi Ladies: Dibens repeats]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8290.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[&amp;quot;Julie is such an animal on the bike!&amp;quot; was the complement Rachel Joyce said to me about Julie after finishing her race today, which just about - briefly in the quick update - sums up the race. First out of the swim, first off the bike, first across the finish. Throw up, and still in the medical tent... yes, she might make winning look easy, but as last year, Dibens has to hurt herself to do it. 
Swiss Miss Caroline Steffen was really the only athlete who could stay within the same metaphorical post code as the now two-time champion, finishing 5:32 in arrears. &amp;quot;20km is just not enough time to catch Julie - she&#039;s an amazing athlete!&amp;quot; said a clearly impressed teamTBB athlete at the finish.
It was three Brits in the top four through Morrison and Joyce, who finished close together but 17 odd minutes back from Dibens both having had very different races. Cat said &amp;quot;I felt great to about 120km, then my power seem to just fall instantly.&amp;quot; She pulled herself together on the run to get up to third. For Joyce it was the reverese, &amp;quot;I had a poor swim, and then for the first 100km I think I forgot how to ride a bike.&amp;quot; Recovering the situation in the second half with some food and caffeine, it was a good end to the day for the Team Abu Dhabi member, and certainly a lot better than severing tendons in her foot a year ago.
Leanda Cave (sixth) and Emma-Kate Lidbury (tenth), made it five from the top ten for the talented British ladies. Remeber, Chrissie wasn&#039;t here, Bella is pregnant: strength in depth. 
More from Abu Dhabi later - I might need a shower first...
If you want to re-live the race on a play-by-play, then the Tri247 Twitter was busy (and seemingly popular) all day today. I&#039;m just pleased I wasn&#039;t talking to myself with nobody listening! 

  
    Pos
    Women
  
  
    1st
    Julie Dibens (GBR) 7:14:13 
  
  
    2nd
    Caroline Steffen (SUI) 7:19:45 
  
  
    3rd
    Catriona Morrison (GBR) 7:31:02 
  
  
    4th
    Rachel Joyce (GBR) 7:31:59 
  
  
    5th
    Angela Naeth (CAN) 7:32:24 
  
  
    6th
    Leanda Cave (GBR) 7:34:10 
  
  
    7th
    Lucie Zelenkova (CZE) 7:36:24 
  
  
    8th
    Joanna Lawn (NZL) 7:47:50 
  
  
    9th
    Belinda Granger (AUS) 7:48:49 
  
  
    10th
    Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 7:51:20 
  
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi Men: Van Lierde leads Belgian double]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8289.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Very quick update from a steaming hot Abu Dhabi Triathlon Media Centre...
Well, I did say this in the preview:
&amp;quot;An &#039;outsider&#039; who may spoil the party? How about Frederik van Lierde?   First off the bike last year, finishing fifth overall. Won Ironman 70.3 South Africa in January courtesy of a killer biike split, and will surely go for   broke on the bike at some point this Saturday to shake things up. Will   if be enough to improve on fifth last year against an even stronger   field this time? Possibly not, but he could change the overall dynamic   of the race in playing his own trump card. &amp;quot;
Well, he didn&#039;t just spoil the party he owned it, as Belgium rules this immense race; Frederik van Lierde leading home Marino Vanhoenacker as neither Chris McCormack (DNF) or Craig Alexander (sixth) could get close to making it the pre-race Duel in the Desert. 
 
Full report / updates / corrections a little later... 

  
    Pos
    Men
  
  
    1st
    Frederik van Lierde (BEL) 6:43:14 
  
  
    2nd
    Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 6:43:31 
  
  
    3rd
    Dirk Bockel (LUX) 6:43:42 
  
  
    4th
    Raynard Tissink (RSA) 6:43:47 
  
  
    5th
    Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) 6:45:49 
  
  
    6th
    Craig Alexander (AUS) 6:46:46 
  
  
    7th
    Luke Bell (AUS) 6:46:52 
  
  
    8th
    Faris Al Sultan (GER) 6:48:22 
  
  
    9th
    Timo Bracht (GER) 6:49:40 
  
  
    10th
    Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 6:50:23 
  


Male Podium
 ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Chris McCormack in Abu Dhabi]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8288.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack won&#039;t be back to defend his title at Kona in 2011 as he turns his attention to Olympic qualification. However, Macca will be racing the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon (www.abudhabitriathlon.com) this Saturday. A big race performer, will Chris be able to add this one to his extensive palmar&amp;egrave;s against the Kona-like quality start list? 
I spoke to Chris prior to the 2011 edition to find out who he feels the race favourites are, the growth of the sport around the world and why he hopes it won&#039;t be too windy come race day! 
You can also check out our other pre-race videos on these links:

Two-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander
Defending Champion Eneko Llanos 




]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Eneko Llanos is ready to defend]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_8287.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Eneko Llanos of Spain is back to defend his title at the 2011 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon (www.abudhabitriathlon.com) - and he&#039;s ready. &amp;quot;I&#039;ve done exactly the same preparation as last year...I&#039;m feeling really good.&amp;quot; 
I spoke to Eneko after Thursday&#039;s Press Conference to get the inside track on this quiet, but talented athlete who has no plans to relinquish his title, despite the depth of field assembled here. 
You can also check out our other pre-race videos on these links:

Two-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander
Reigning Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack




]]></description></item></channel></rss>
