The schedule for the first division in the 2024 Bundesliga is starting to take shape.
The competition will kick off in Kraichgau on 25th May, marking the ninth time that a stop has been held at the venue. Tübingen will also return after hosting a successful round in 2023. Next year it will welcome the teams on 21st July and the event will represent the seventh time Tübingen has appeared on the circuit.
The timing may prevent any of Germany’s Olympic qualifiers from racing in Tübingen seeing as the Games will be only a fortnight later. Equally, it could provide an ideal last minute hit-out for those racing in Paris.
Later in the year, the Bundesliga season will conclude in Hannover on 7th September. Hannover also hosted the season finale this year. In a shift, next year it will accommodate the German Championships too.
Unlike 2023, the German Championships will not be integrated into Die Finals, the broader collection of national championships that bring an array of events into one city on the same weekend. This year, the German Championships were held in Düsseldorf in July and covered the third stop of the series.
In 2024, Die Finals are scheduled to take place in Frankfurt in June. With the German Championships for triathlon slated to take place in Hannover, there will likely be no connection between the two events.
The remaining events for next season are still to be fixed. However, one stop that will not be returning is Schliersee.
With its dramatic race up the mountain from Schliersee to Spitzingsee, the event offered a unique challenge on the triathlon calendar. Unfortunately, it has been formally cancelled and will not be running in the immediate future.
The Schliersee triathlon thus follows in the footsteps of the folding of two Bundesliga teams, EJOT Team TV Buschhütten and Mey Post-SV Tübingen. The loss of an iconic event and both the men’s and women’s Bundesliga champions is a worrying portent for the long-term financial health of the sport.
With the disappearance of Buschhütten from the men’s and women’s competition and Tübingen from the women’s, there will be three new teams in 2024.
KOCH Tri-Team Freiburg have been promoted from Bundesliga Süd and will join the women’s top division. Meanwhile, Nikar Heidelberg and Ratingen 08 have been promoted to the men’s first division.