Durbanville local Richard Murray will be looking to emulate last year’s performance when he lines up for the Discovery Triathlon World Cup in his own backyard in Cape Town on Sunday.
Murray led a podium sweep at last year’s event despite copping a 10-second penalty when he failed to put his helmet in the box.
Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman followed on his heels with former junior world champion Wian Sullwald rounding off the podium.
“I haven’t raced in a couple of months but we had a good training block with the Dutch national team in Windhoek the last three weeks,” Murray
explained.
“I’m feeling good and it’s great to be back in Cape Town - racing in front of the home crowd is always a good thing.”
Murray had another good year on the international circuit in 2017, winning the inaugural Super League title in Hamilton in February after claiming his maiden World Cup victory on home soil.
Confirming his status as one of the top triathletes on the global circuit, Murray finished fifth in the World Triathlon Series (WTS) rankings.
While the Commonwealth Games will require much of Murray’s focus over the next two months, he is looking for a solid year in the WTS.
“The next big hurdle is obviously the Commonwealth Games and although the qualifying for the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games opens in May this year I will focus on that more towards the end of this year.”