Uxío Abuín, Antonio Serrat, Inés Santiago and Camila Alonso lead the 27 triathletes competing in the European Cup in Melilla
The city hosts a new European Cup, the third of the year after Gran Canaria and Quarteira, this coming Sunday, 15 in April. Melilla will be an important competition for many triathletes with options to get a place in next world cups.
Melilla is hosting a European Cup event for the fourth consecutive year . The race is run over the Olympic distance . The swim consists of two 750m laps in the Mediterranean Sea near the port. Triathletes will then cycle 38km, completing an 8.5km circuit of 4,4km. Finally, the competition will conclude with a 10km run, divided into four 2,5km laps.
In the women's competition there will be 13 triathletes, with Inés Santiago , Cecilia Santamaría , Sara Pézez and Camila Alonso being the main hopes of the TRIarmada. The favorites to win are the Italian Verena Steinhauser and the Dutch Kirsten Nuyes.
As for the men's competition, Galicians Uxío Abuín and Antonio Serrat lead a 14-man team that also includes Antonio Benito , Kevin Viñuela , Roberto Sánchez , David Castro , and Cesc Godoy , meaning Spain will have a strong showing at a national championship level. Abuín and Serrat start with bibs 1 and 2, respectively, and are considered strong contenders. Along with them, Hungarian Márk Dévay , Dutchman Van Der Stel , and Frenchman Heuber-Moosbrugger are also favorites.
As we have mentioned before, the Melilla European Cup is an important event for Spanish triathletes, since according to FETRI criteria the best Spaniard in each category, provided he is in the top 10 , has a guaranteed place in the World Cups of Cagliari , Antwerp and Tiszaujvaros , and if he is also in the top 5 he will also have a place for the European Triathlon Championship in Glasgow.
The competitions will take place on Sunday 15, the 9: 00 will start the European Junior Women's Cup and the 10: 15 the male with a large Spanish participation. After the 15: 00 will be the turn for the female elite and the 18: 00 the male elite.
Photo Instagram Uxío Abuín
