AUSTRALIAN TRIO FIRING FOR MOOLOOLABA
TRIATHLON, March 23: Olympic trio Emma Moffatt, Brad Kahlefeldt and Courtney Atkinson will again band together to spearhead an all-out Australian assault on the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup this weekend, with the pace now on not only for event victory but for the all-important race toward Olympic selection and the accumulation of qualifying points.
With fellow team mate Emma Snowsill forced out of the season opener due to a niggling foot injury the band of four has been reduced to three.
The 2011 ITU World Cup will see 140 elite athletes from around the globe descend on the Sunshine Coast and for many it officially signals the start of the 2011 international season. The event also doubles as the Australian Olympic Distance Championships and ITU Oceania Cup.
Defending champions Vendula Frintova (CZE) and Australia's Brad Kahlefeldt will have their work cut out for them among quality fields assembled this year.
For Kahlefeldt, he will be looking to continue his good early pre-season form after claiming the Australian Sprint Championship in Geelong last month.
The world number three says he's had a good preparation and always looks forward to racing Mooloolaba, a good measure of where he's at ahead of the World Championship Series opener in Sydney two weeks later.
"It's been a month since I raced in Geelong and everything has gone really well in training and all is on track leading up to this event," Kahlefeldt said.
"I'm looking forward to it, I enjoy racing this tough course, it really sorts everyone out.
"It's nice to see the number one guy on the start line; Javier Gomez will certainly lift the pace of the race.
"Like everyone the focus is gaining selection for London and I'll be looking to peak around the end of July," he added.
Kahlefeldt, who is hoping to perform well in both Mooloolaba and Sydney against the best in the world, will contest all seven races in the World Championships Series but target the faster courses that he's more suited too.
The three-way battle between Kahlefeldt, Atkinson and Spain's Gomez is expected to resume at Mooloolaba, with the trio dominating this event since 2007.
Kahlefeldt has two wins in 2007 and 2010; the Spaniard claimed the honours in 2008, while Atkinson took the title in 2009.
"Obviously Gomez is a great athlete and we've had some good battles, so I expect this will be another one," Kahlefeldt said.
"With the first world champ meeting in Sydney a fortnight later, I'm looking for a good result here at Mooloolaba."
Atkinson was undecided about competing at Mooloolaba this year, opting for a different tact and delaying the start to his racing schedule but has since decided to toe the line.
"I am looking forward to getting back to racing after five months since finishing my 2010 season on a high, winning my third Noosa Triathlon title in a row," Atkinson said.
"I intentionally delayed my start to this years' training preparation compared to past seasons, so I will look at Mooloolaba race this weekend as a stepping stone to find form to start racing at my best throughout the World Championship Series."
In a talented field, the challenges will come from French pair Laurent Vidal and David Hauss; British pair last year's Kitzhubel winner Stuart Hayes and Beijing Olympian and the Under23 World Champion from 2006 Will Clarke, who will both be targeting strong starts to a season that leads into their home Olympics.
Both Brits have been based on the Gold Coast for the past few months preparing for the season.
Australia has assembled a 14-strong team for the weekend's racing, all chasing a World Cup podium or Australian Elite or U23 championship title.
Dan Wilson and James Seear, both recovering from injuries go into the race under a cloud but looking to build from this race going forward.
Last year the dual world champion Moffatt missed this event, sidelined with injury.
While Snowsill still battles her continuing injury woes, in contrast Moffatt has flourished these past two seasons, claiming back-to-back world titles and will be Snowsill's main rival for that first Olympic spot on the Australian team.
"It's a great field and this early in the season it will be wide open for anyone to win," Moffatt said.
"While I've had an uninterrupted training preparation this year and an earlier hit out in Geelong than I normally would it was good to test myself. Another month of solid training has rounded out a good preparation heading into Mooloolaba and Sydney. Now it's just a matter of getting out there and seeing what I've got.
"Of course I'd like to claim automatic selection for London, and it's a goal but there's a lot of hard work that needs to be done over the next five months to achieve it.
"It's always nice to be able to race at home and I'm looking forward to it, it's always a great way to kick off the season."
However, Moffatt will have to contend with a host of big names, Sweden's Lisa Norden, Switzerland's Daniela Ryf, and the Chilean Barbara Riveros-Diaz all who claimed wins in the World Championship series in 2010.
All three women are currently under the guidance of Australian coaches and based in Australia for part of the year.
The Canadians have sent a full strength squad including, Kirsten Sweetland who races well here, claiming victory in 2009 over Moffatt, the two going head to head recently at the Geelong Sprint Championships where Moffatt got the upper hand.
Paula Findlay had a breakthrough year in 2010 that included two Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series event wins and is sure to be in the mix.
Timetable
Elite Men: Saturday, 26 March at 3pm.
Elite Women: Sunday, 27 March 12:45pm.
Format:
Swim 1 lap ocean swim (1.5km)
Cycle 7 laps. Mooloolaba Esplanade (40km)
Run 4 laps. Mooloolaba Esplanade (10km)