What is the Bundesliga Triathlon Series?

Benjamin Eastman

The Bundesliga is the premier triathlon circuit in Germany. Much like the French Grand Prix, teams race across five events to compete for the series crown. At the bottom of the first division, teams can also be relegated while others earn promotion.

Having launched in 1997, this year will be the twenty-fourth iteration of the series. The series has maintained its Sprint distance format over the years although of late there have occasional moves to innovate.

In 2022, sixteen men’s teams and fourteen women’s teams competed. Each men’s team put five athletes on a start line while the women’s teams had four athletes.

This year, there are due to be sixteen teams in both the men’s and women’s first division.

In the women’s series, the top-3 finishers per team combine to earn points for the team. The best team per round earns 20 points while the last team receives 5 points. For example if a team has three athletes finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd then they will earn the 20 points.

For the men, the top-4 finishers per team count and the top title also receives 20 points.

The season will kick off one week after the start of the French Grand Prix in May.

2023 Season

  • 20 May – Kraichgau
  • 25 June – Schliersee
  • 8-9 July – Düsseldorf
  • 23 July – Tübingen
  • 2 September – Hannover

Amidst a busy triathlon calendar, there will some clashes between the Bundesliga, WTCS and French Grand Prix.

Round two in Schliersee will occur on the same weekend as WTCS Montreal. Similarly, the final race in Hannover will clash with the French Grand Prix event in Quiberon.

On the other hand, the racing in Düsseldorf and Tübingen fall either side of WTCS Hamburg so could make for ideal racing opportunities around Germany’s home WTCS event.

2022 Winners

Men’s Top-3

  1. EJOT Team TV Buschhütten – 98 points
  2. HYLO Team Saar – 85 points
  3. Hep Team SUN- 78 points

EJOT Team TV Buschhütten are the defending men’s champions. As will be seen in the team preview to follow, they have a star-studded cast that would be the envy of any team.

Men’s Race Winners

  • Kraichgau – Lasse Nygaard Priester (HYLO Team Saar)
  • Berlin – Lasse Lührs (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten)
  • Schliersee – Mark Devay (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten)
  • Nürnberg – Simon Henseleit (Hep Team SUN)
  • Hannover – EJOT Team TV Buschhütten (2+2 Format)

Women

Triathlon Potsdam won the women’s title last time after a close battle with Buschhütten.

  1. Triathlon Potsdam – 98 points
  2. EJOT Team TV Buschhütten – 90 points
  3. Triathlon.one Witten – 81 points

Women’s Race Winners

  • Kraichgau – Laura Lindemann (Triathlon Potsdam)
  • Berlin – Laura Lindemann (Triathlon Potsdam)
  • Schliersee – Lisa Tertsch (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten)
  • Nürnberg – Lena Meißner (EJOT Team TV Buschhütten)
  • Hannover – Triathlon Potsdam (2+2 Format)

Expect close battles for both the male and female team titles this year.

With a prize purse nudging EUR 50,000 there will be a significant financial incentive for teams to step up too.

Watch this space for a full preview of each team coming this week.

Related posts