Tangier will make its debut on the World Cup stage next month and the race will mark the first time an African World Cup has been held outside of South Africa.
The race will therefore represent a major moment for triathlon on the continent. With the race taking place only a week after the WTCS Final in Pontevedra, it has already attracted an impressive field as athletes look to get in a final race of the season.
Who’s there?
A stacked French men’s team will lead the way in Tangier with Dorian Coninx and Pierre Le Corre slated to race. Both are in tremendous form; Coninx is coming off a bronze medal at the Paris Test Event while Le Corre won WTCS Sunderland.
Paul Georgenthum, a WTCS medallist from Hamburg in 2021, is also due to start. Tom Richard and Valentin Morlec then complete what is a formidable French squad.
Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, the winner of the European Games, headlines the Norwegian men’s team. He will start alongside Casper Stornes and Sebastian Wernersen. Having originally been on the start list, Gustav Iden was substituted out.
Jonas Schomburg will lead the German team with Jannik Schaufler, Jonas Osterholt, Cedric Osterholt and Eric Diener for company. Meanwhile Spain will be represented by Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, David Cantero del Campo, Angel Sanchez Carreras and Nan Oliveras. Notably, Oliveras will start after winning the African Cup in Larache earlier in the summer. With previous success in Morocco, he will look to make the most of his World Cup chance.
Britain will be sending three men to Tangier. Ben Dijkstra, Hamish Reilly and Hugo Milner each have speed to burn on the run and, over the Sprint distance, could make a splash.
Austria and Canada will be sending four men. For the former, Tjebbe Kaindl, Martin Demuth, Leon Pauger and Alois Knabl will be starting, while the latter’s team will be comprised of Tyler Mislawchuk, Filip Mainville, Josiah Ney and Brock Hoel.
Switzerland will also send a quartet of athletes in the guise of Michael Ziegler, Maxime Fluri, Fabian Meeusen and Sylvain Fridelance. Luke Bate and Callum McCluksy will be representing the Australian men.
Several countries will be sending one man to Tangier. Headlining this group is the European Super Sprint champion Ricardo Batista. Richard Murray, Matthew Wright, Márk Dévay and Nicola Azzano are also among the solo representatives for their countries.
On the women’s side, the European Super Sprint champion Mathilde Gautier will lead the French team. Audrey Merle, a World Cup winner, will also be starting, as will Lea Coninx.
Germany will be at close to full-strength in Tangier as Lisa Tertsch, Selina Klamt, Tanja Neubert, Marlene Gomez-Göggel and Anabel Knoll take to the start line. Tertsch has been lethal at the World Cup level while Gomez-Göggel logged a personal best WTCS finish earlier in the summer. Any of the team, though, could trouble the podium.
The British team will consist of Sophia Green, Olivia Mathias, Hollie Elliott and, perhaps most notably, Vicky Holland. You can read more about Holland’s return to the sport here.
A Spanish quintet of Marta Pintanel Raymundo, Noelia Juan, Maria Casals Mojica, Sara Guerrero Manso and Anna Godoy Contreras will race in Tangier. Hungary will be represented by Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer, Noémi Sárszegi, Márta Kropkó and Zsófia Kovács.
Austria will send four women to the race. Lisa Perterer will be racing after claiming the silver medal at the Weihai World Cup while Julia Hauser, Tanja Stroschneider and Therese Feuersinger are also in line to start.
Belgium and Australia will each have three women starting in Tangier. Jolien Vermeylen, Claire Michel and Hanne De Vet will race for the former while Charlotte McShane, Emma Jackson and Kira Hedgeland will be competing for the latter.
A large South African women’s team will also participate. Amber Schlebusch and Shanae Williams will likely lead the way with Hannah Newman, Vicky Van Der Merwe and Bridget Theunissen also pushing for high finishes.
Elizabeth Bravo is due to be the only starter for Ecuador while Dominika Jamnicky, Tilda Månsson and Solveig Løvseth find themselves in the same boat for their respective countries.
Main talking points
Home hopefuls
Morocco will have two athletes starting at their home World Cup.
WTCS medallist Jawad Abdelmoula will likely shoulder the bulk of the home hopes. He is a previous World Cup winner having claimed a gold medal in Tongyeong in 2021. With his running speed, he could produce a special performance over the Sprint format in Tangier.
Badr Siwane will also be racing and could be primed for a break-out performance. He won the Pan Arab Championships earlier in the year and could be due a personal best result at the World Cup level.
The event will be a milestone for triathlon in the country so if either of Abdelmoula or Siwane can get onto the podium it would be the icing on the cake.
Post-Pontevedra power
The World Cup will come a week after the WTCS Final and World U23 Championships in Pontevedra. As a result, there will be a several athletes trying to carry their end of season taper through to another race.
Some will continue on through the autumn World Cup swing, however for the most part the athletes that race in Pontevedra and Tangier will be very close to their end of season break. A mixed bag of performances can therefore expected. For some, the additional rest could inspire some rapid displays as rest works its wonders.
On the other side of the spectrum, Tangier could prove a race too far for some athletes that will be at the end of a six month season.
With much of the field likely to be in different states, the racing could turn out to be rather unpredictable.
Landmark moment for Morocco
Morocco has hosted two African Cups already this year in addition to the three it put on in 2022. To go with that, it also hosted the African Championships last season.
The country has therefore become a focal point of growth in Africa and could be the next country to make great strides on the world stage.
With a home WTCS medallist to display to the crowds, the organisers will hope that the event can go a long way in inspiring a new generation of Moroccan triathletes. If the sport is to continue to grow and diversify, the success of events like Tangier will be essential.
You can view the full start lists here.
