JOHANNESBURG - After an unprecedented podium whitewash at the triathlon World Cup event in Cape Town, the South African trio of Richard Murray, Henri Schoeman and Wian Sullwald will be looking to make the step-up at the World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
The 2017 ITU World Triathlon Series will be a different animal with the South Africans facing the world’s top athletes in the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run event.
The opening leg of the nine-stop tour will be headlined by reigning ITU world champion Mario Mola of Spain.
Fellow Spaniard Javier Gomez Noya, a five-time ITU World Champion, will be making his return after he missed out on the Rio Olympics after suffering an injury in training.
SA will be going into the WTS season with its strongest charge yet, spearheaded by Murray and Schoeman while Sullwald will be looking to continue his rise up the rankings.
Murray will be buoyed by his World Cup victory in Cape Town and looking to improve on the silver medal he won in Abu Dhabi last year.
“I am looking forward to the weekend and seeing how my body will react to the first WTS race of the season,”
Murray said.
“The course is a very exciting one with some twists and turns which will make for some fun.
“I think racing on the Formula 1 track is going to be very cool.”
Murray, who raced to his second national Xterra title last weekend, said he was still feeling “a bit tender” after a close battle against Bradley Weiss.
After a dream breakthrough year in 2016 which included the Olympic bronze medal and his maiden WTS title at the Grand Finale in Mexico, Schoeman is looking to build on last season’s success.
Schoeman battled to chase Murray down in the run leg in Cape Town, but showed good early-season form.
Last year Schoeman finished a career-high fourth on the world rankings with Murray behind him in fifth place, and both will be looking to get closer to the world title in 2017.
Sullwald finished in a career-best sixth place at the WTS Edmonton.
The former world junior champion was in high spirits about racing in a WTS event without an injury cloud hanging over his head.
“It is the first World Series event in two years that I am in decent shape to be a fierce competitor, so I have some mixed emotions about it,” Sullwald, a TuksSport athlete said.
“People say I am back after Cape Town, I say yes and no, because it is a great relief and it looks like things are on track but that was one race and there are a few ahead in the WTS.”
Meanwhile, Gillian Sanders will be SA’s only representative in Friday's women’s elite race with the retirement of Mari Rabie leaving a serious void.