Macca Announces New Super League Triathlon Race Series
A pro triathlon series is the latest event promising to revolutionize triathlon.
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A new pro triathlon series called the Super League Triathlon was announced today and is the latest event promising to revolutionize triathlon.
Co-founded by two-time Ironman world champion Chris McCormack, and businessmen-triathletes Michael D’Hulst and Leonid Boguslavsky, The Super League Triathlon is meant to be a series of television-friendly sprint events.
“All races are being broadcast live on television, on our digital platforms,” McCormack says in the press release. “The racing is frenetic and action-packed but we’ll also tell the stories behind the racing. Don’t think for a second that it’s all happy families among our athletes. We’ll highlight the rivalries, the personality clashes and intensity of a closed-league, big prize money series.”
Full details about the League’s formation are vague, but according to the press release, 25 men—and no women—have been selected to make up the league and have signed contracts to be a part of the first event, where they’ll race head-to-head. The list of contracted athletes set to compete features some of the biggest names in the sport, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee (GBR), two-time Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), Rio Olympic bronze medalist Henri Schoeman (RSA), five-time ITU world champion Javier Gomez (ESP), reigning ITU world champion Mario Mola (ESP), ITU-turned-Ironman specialist Brent McMahon (CAN) and several others. The American contingent is made up of former short-course specialist Cameron Dye and 2016 Rio Olympian Joe Maloy. (See the complete roster below.)
The press release promises an eventual age-group component, a similar series for professional women and a total $1.5 million prize purse. But for now, the only race on the books is a three-day event at Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in mid-March and it will feature a prize purse totaling about $200,000.
They will compete in the following formats, with the athlete earning the highest point total after three days taking home $100,000.
March 17 – The Triple Mix
Round 1 – Swim (300m), Bike (6km), Run (2km)
10-minute break
Round 2 – Run (2km), Bike (6km), Swim (300m)
10-minute break
Round 3 – Bike (6km), Swim (300m), Run (2km)
March 18 – The Equalizer
Part 1
– Cycling individual time trial
Part 2
– Pursuit Swim (300m), Run (2km), Swim (300m), Bike (6km), Run (2km)
March 19 – The Eliminator
Round 1 – Swim (300m), Bike (6km), Run (2km)
(10-minute break commences when round winner crosses the finish line)
Top 15 finishers of Round 1 proceed to Round 2
Round 2 – Swim (300m), Bike (6km), Run (2km)
(10-minute break commences when round winner crosses the finish line)
Top 10 finishers of Round 2 proceed to Round 3
Round 3 – Swim (300m), Bike (6km), Run (2km)
The first athlete across the finish line in Round 3 is the overall winner of Eliminator.
Roster
Josh Amberger AUS #27
Ryan Bailie AUS #39
Jake Birtwhistle AUS #44
Kristian Blummenfelt NOR #02
Bozzone Terenzo NZL #13
Alistair Brownlee GBR #23
Jonathan Brownlee GBR #05
Cameron Dye USA #08
Crisanto Grajales Valencia MEX #06
Alessandro Fabian ITA #88
Ryan Fisher AUS #10
Javier Gomez Noya ESP #01
Joe Maloy USA #99
Brent McMahon CAN #83
Mario Mola Diaz ESP #03
Richard Murray RSA #07
Dmitry Polyanskiy RUS #77
Igor Polyanskiy RUS #11
Sigurdur Orn Ragnarsson ISL #57
Aaron Royle AUS #26
Andrea Salvisberg SUI #69
Henri Schoeman RSA #04
Ben Shaw IRL #73
Jorik van Egdom NED #21
Richard Varga SVK #12
Learn more at Superleaguetriathlon.com