Alistair Brownlee To Race Challenge Family’s Inaugural Championship Middle-Distance Event

Alistair’s announcement follows his remarkable first middle-distance win at Gloria Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria on 22nd April, where he stripped 10 minutes and 35 seconds off the previous course record (final time: 04:03:09).

Commenting ahead of his participation at the event, Alistair said: “I had a great experience at Gloria Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, I was really well looked after. There is a good field assembled for THECHAMPIONSHIP 2017 so I am excited to race, especially as the venue looks amazing. The bike course is relatively flat but the 20m draft rule will keep everyone honest and it should be a good race.”

The double Olympic and two-time ITU World Triathlon Series Champion will race against fellow ITU World Triathlon Series athlete Richard Murray (RSA) and training partner Richard Varga (SVK), who will both use the race to debut their middle-distance triathlon careers.

The short course athletes will take on former long course World Champion Sebastian Kienle (GER) and European Champion Andreas Dreitz (GER) and go head to head to claim their share of the 150,000 Euro prize pot.

“Not only is Alistair a remarkable sportsman in his own right, he is also a great ambassador for the sport and we look forward to welcoming him to the start line,” said Zibi Szlufcik, CHALLENGEFAMILY CEO. “THECHAMPIONSHIP 2017 line-up is full of exceptional talent and big names who, I have no doubt, will all put on a hard and fast race at the stunning x-bionic® sphere next month.”

The course of THECHAMPIONSHIP 2017 has been designed so that the x-bionic® sphere, Slovakia’s official Olympic training centre, will form the backdrop of the start, transition and finishing stages of the event. To ensure that racing is fair for all, a 20 metre draft rule has been implemented during the bike leg.

Head of THECHAMPIONSHIP 2017, and CEO of x-bionic® sphere, Richard Ungerhofer said: “The venue itself was designed to host large international events like THECHAMPIONSHIP 2017, as well as facilitating athletes on training camps.

“It’s fabulous how the event, the venue and the new 20 metre draft rule – has attracted the interest of professionals from all over the world. I’m looking forward to witness how the the former sprint champions on the ITU World Triathlon Series circuit will fair against the long-distance professionals.”