Spain and France to host the 2012 and 2013 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Champions

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is pleased to announce the host cities for the 2012 and 2013 ITU Duathlon and Long Distance Triathlon World Championships.

The 2012 ITU Duathlon World Championships will be held in Nancy, France on September 22-23, 2012. Nancy hosted the ETU European Duathlon Championships in 2010, and now makes the step up to the world stage.

Segovia, Spain has been awarded the 2013 ITU Duathlon World Championships in September (exact dates to be confirmed). Segovia also has a long history in sport, particularly cycling. Pedro Delgado, the 1988 Tour de France champion, was born in Segovia and the Tour of Spain has passed through it for many years.

The 2013 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be held in Belfort, France on June 1-2, 2013. The town has already hosted a number of triathlon events, including the World Military Triathlon Championships in 2004, the National French Duathlon Championships in 2005 and the National French Triathlon Championships in 2008 and 2009.

The 2012 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, already awarded to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain is now confirmed for July 29, 2012. Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of basque country and hosted the Spanish national long distance titles in 2009.

ITU President Marisol Casado said she was excited to announce the next two year’s World Championships for long distance triathlon and duathlon.

“I’m excited to officially welcome Nancy, Belfort, Segovia and Vitoria-Gasteiz into our world championship host family and I am confident that that all these events will be a wonderful success,” Casado said. “The ITU is a strong supporter of all its MultiSport disciplines, as they all part of spreading triathlon’s message around the world, and we would like to thank these host cities for helping us to achieve this.”

Duathlon consists of a 10km run, followed by 40km bike and finishes with a 5km run. The 2011 ITU Duathlon World Championships will be held in Gijon, Spain on September 24-25.

Long Distance Triathlon is a 4km swim, 120km bike and 30km run. The 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be staged in Henderson, Nevada, USA on November 5.