This is a preview of the race – click here to read a full report on potentially career-changing victories for Britain’s Kieran Lindars and Germany’s Katharina Wolff.
A bout of sickness overnight meant Els Visser was forced to miss Challenge Almere-Amsterdam – the European Triathlon Long Distance Championship – on Saturday.
The Dutch athlete, who showed she is back on form after injury with a sixth-place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See, was expected to battle with Germany’s Lina-Kristin Schink and Portugal’s Vanessa Pereira for the women’s title.
But she wasn’t well enough to take to the startline, leaving a small field of professional women battling for the win.
Follow it live
European titles are at stake in the oldest European long-distance race and the action started at 0710 local time. That corresponds to 0610 UK time and 1410 CET.
You can watch live right here – via the live streaming embed below:
Strong home challenge
Thomas Steger (Austria), Lukasz Wojt (Germany), Kieran Lindars (UK) and Tomas Renc (Czech Republic) lead the men’s entries, while Evert Scheltinga, Milan Brons, Tristan Olij, Niek Heldoorn and Tom Oosterdijk carry home hopes.
Visser, who had, secured second places at Challenge Salou, Challenge Mogan-Gran Canaria and IRONMAN Lanzarote earlier this year, had been eager to go one better this time before illness struck. She was also second in her last race at Almere in 2018.
Schink has previously finished second and third at Almere, while Pereira’s best performance this year was sixth at IRONMAN France.
Unfinished business
While not eligible for the European title, USA’s Andrew Starykowicz should also be among the leading men.
Having had to pull out of last year’s race due to a damaged eardrum during the swim, he is anxious to make amends.
“I’m coming for one thing now and that’s the win,” he stated recently while training for Challenge Almere-Amsterdam.
Wojt is expected to lead out of the water, but the competition should be fierce after that.
Challenge Almere-Amsterdam is Europe’s oldest long-distance triathlon, but has not had a Dutch male winner since Dirk Wijnalda in 2012.
Scheltinga seems the most likely to end that run, having finished fourth last year when the event hosted the world championship. In the process, he also broke the Dutch long-distance record with a time of 7:49:32.
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
