Gómez Noya starts the season on Saturday in Australia

The best triathlete on the planet puts his machine in motion. Javier Gómez Noya returns to international competition 206 days after celebrating his second world champion title in Budapest. As in recent seasons, the athlete from Ferrol begins his journey in the Antipodes. On Friday he flew to Australia to assemble in Noosa, on the east coast, his headquarters. On Saturday he faces his first test and two weeks later his crown defense begins.

Gómez Noya travels with his personal trainer, Omar González, and is part of a training group in Noosa that also includes teammates such as Australian Greg Bennet, former world number one. After a stopover in Dubai and landing in Brisbane, he settled in last Saturday night. He has just enough time to acclimatize to the jet lag and Oceanian weather conditions at this time, when the austral autumn begins.

The Ferrol triathlete disconnected from high competition with a long rest period in autumn and began to crush himself in winter. The periods of greatest load came in different training cycles developed in Fuerteventura, Punta Umbría and Pontevedra, where he has lived for almost ten years.

 

Fine to start

Omar González celebrates that the preseason went as planned, free of the great problem of any athlete: injuries. So Gómez Noya faces his first competitions in the right way. He is not at the maximum peak, but he is in a position to dispute the first places with the best. In the planning for 2011, two tests are particularly marked: the European Championship in Pontevedra on June 26 and the World Cup final in Beijing on September 11.

It debuts on Saturday (9.00 Spanish time) in Mooloolaba. It faces a test of the World Cup, now converted into the second level international calendar, but with a great tradition.

In principle, it is a first contact. The real battle will begin on April 9 in Sydney. The race opens the calendar of six tests plus a grand final in Beijing that crowns the world champion. The peculiar scoring system, which computes the four best results of each triathlete -with at least one of them outside of Europe- plus the grand final, fosters enormous competitiveness already at the opening of the circuit.

All of their main rivals for the title are registered for the Sydney event: Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Jan Frodeno, Brad Kahlefeldt, Courtney Atkinson… The Australian race will offer a first impression of what the season may hold. Gómez Noya will then return to Galicia to alternate rest and competitions for a few weeks.

Japan, in the air

Gómez Noya is also registered for the World Championship event to be held on May 15 in Yokohama (Japan). Despite the nuclear catastrophe that the country is experiencing after the incidents at the Fukushima plant, the international federation is currently keeping the test within the calendar. In any case, as he thought from the beginning, the man from Ferrol will not attend if he achieves a good result in Sydney, as confirmed by his environment.

 

Travel and compete without stopping

2011 will once again take Gómez Noya around the world, on a journey in which he will have to travel and compete tirelessly. His commitments with North American sponsors encourage him to compete in some event on the American circuit, in Los Angeles or Dallas. He has an invitation to defend his title in the World Cup in Huatulco (Mexico). He will participate in the World Cup events on the Old Continent and will complete his calendar with the European Championship in Pontevedra and the events in which he will represent his Spanish clubs, Cidade de Lugo Fluvial, and French, Sartrouville.

In total, he faces some 16 tests of maximum demand, among which he must make some discard. Gómez Noya has the Olympic place practically guaranteed. Not so other big rivals, so a vibrant 2011 is expected.

1.500 METERS OF SWIMMING

Excellent swimmer, Galician record holder. He combines technique, power and experience in open water. He usually leaves the water among the first.

40 KILOMETERS OF BIKE

Great specialist among triathletes. He has no problem in this sector to ride at high intensities. He exceeds 90 pedals per minute.

10.000 METERS ON FOOT

One of the fastest in world triathlon, he works to improve his sprint. According to the circuit, he can complete the 10.000 final in 29 minutes.