Tough challenge awaits Kiwi teams in Austria

Christchurch triathlete Andrea Hewitt leads a six-strong New Zealand team for a world triathlon series race in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Sunday morning (NZ time).

Hewitt, Wellington’s Kate McIlroy and Wanaka’s Nicky Samuels lead the charge in the elite women’s race while Ryan Sissons, Clark Ellice and Tony Dodds will line up three hours earlier in the men’s event.

The race is highly unusual in the nature of the course being used at the Austrian alpine town, with a short but hugely demanding course lying in wait.

The course covers a seemingly easy distance of 750m ( swim), 11.5km (bike) and 2.5km (run), but it is the topography of that terrain that will test the athletes. The bike will climb 867m and reach a gradient of 22 per cent during its final kilometre and the run has a climb of 136m to further sap any remaining energy from tired legs as the finish line beckons.

‘‘This race will be very much athlete against the terrain, the winner will be the person who handles that the best. There will be some tactics in how you approach it, but any drafting on the bike is going to be next to zero from about the 4km mark, from then on it is straight into the mountain climb,’’ said national coach Greg Fraine.

The men’s race will see the London Olympic Games podium on the start line together for the first time since that epic race with Alistair Brownlee, Javier Gomez and Jonathan Brownlee all featuring.