Tiszaujvaros is a small town. If you start walking from its centre, in a short space of time you will find yourself staring out into the vast, green expanse of the Hungarian countryside.
In the summer, there is a slowness to it that is hard to come by elsewhere. When you stand still, between the trees and the Soviet-beige buildings, and focus, more often than not you will hear nothing at all. Quiet isolation envelopes all aspects of the town, as if the outside world does not quite exist.
Every year, though, for a week at a time, the outside arrives and the town crackles into life. With TriWeek comes a festival of triathlon the like of which is hardly seen anywhere else in the world. Along with the European Junior Cup, the World Cup barges its way into centre stage and in the flick of a switch the town is transformed and pulses with anticipation.
For the most part, the arriving athletes fly into Budapest and then sit back for the long drive to Tiszaujvaros. On the way, the town creeps up, offering nothing of note to suggest it is close. It simply appears all of a sudden. It is that contrast between the sleepy start to the peak of TriWeek that can be the most disorienting aspect.
Between 1997 and 2019, the Tiszaujvaros World Cup, or Tiszy, as it is affectionately known, enjoyed an uninterrupted run as the summer highlight of the town. For over two decades it has been a rite of passage for international triathletes, too, counting Javier Gomez Noya, Katie Zaferes, Sophie Coldwell and Ashleigh Gentle among its past winners.
In many respects, it is completely unique.
To start with, the World Cup itself takes place over two days. The athletes contest semi-finals on the Saturday and then return on the Sunday for the final. Both races take place over the Sprint distance and offer a challenge of energy conservation, pacing and strategy seldom seen in a single day event.
Over the two days, the courses change too.
On the Saturday the bike consists of two 10km loops, taking the athletes beyond the town and then back. Likewise, the run consists of three laps along a mostly non-descript course.
It is on the Sunday, though, that the event truly comes alive.
The bike course is switched, taking on multiple laps to pass through transition and the roaring banks of fans. This year, there will be eight laps of 2.5km to provide maximum exposure to the cacophony lining the streets. An extra lap is also squeezed into the run, turning it into four laps, again to ensure the crowds get their fill.
Across both days, the swim course remains the same. It is here that perhaps the most dreaded aspect of the race can be found.
With no sea or lake or major river to swim in, the athletes race in a small pond at the heart of the town. Space is at a premium and the three laps of 250m are among the most violent on the international circuit.
The athletes barely have a chance to breathe before the first buoy upon them and the fighting starts. Pressed to the outer edge of the pond, the athletes can practically smell the breath of fans lining the banks. A single moment of hesitation at the start or a slip or a missed stroke can often make for a highly claustrophobic affair.
When the mood strikes the town, the suffocating effect does not end once the swim is done. The noise builds throughout the run to T1 while the oppressive heat pounds down. There is simply no respite.
That noise, though, forms the crux of Tiszaujvaros’ great appeal.
It is seldom the case that a World Cup, or even WTCS event, takes over a town in the way that triathlon does in Tiszaujvaros. It completely captures its surroundings and for a time it seems you cannot move without bumping into yet more rivals or reminders of the the event.
At its peak, the event offers a level of support virtually unseen anywhere else.
The longevity of the event and the town’s growth as a training hub has also played a major role in the rise of Hungarian triathlon. With a new crop of exciting Juniors coming through and men vying to qualify three men for next year’s Olympic Games, the sport in the country is in rude health. A lot of that can be traced back to Tiszaujvaros.
Having not hosted the World Cup since 2019, the expectation is that the return of the event this year will draw major crowds. Although the town has hosted European Cups in the past two seasons, the World Cup should give it an additional sharpness.
If Tizaujavros is one of the few places in the world that triathletes are feted as rockstars, it is also one in which they are able to come closest to celebrating like one. After the race, Tiszaujvaros has frequently been home to after-parties that have become nights of legend. Many athletes scramble to catch the coach back to Budapest after the event more worse for wear from the revelling than the actual racing.
Tiszaujvaros, then, is an institution of triathlon and one that everyone will open their arms to fondly welcome back. Walk around it at any other point of the year and the reason might not be abundantly clear. However, it has a special spot in the imagination of the sport.
When the World Cup returns to the town this weekend, then, it will represent more than just a race. It will be Tiszy.
