NEWS

Llanos, Berasategui Headline Field at ETU Long Distance Champs

By Brad Culp | 24 Jun, 2010

Spanish long-course triathlon standouts Eneko Llanos and Virginia Berasategui headline a top-notch field at this weekend’s ETU Long Distance Triathlon Championships in Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque Country.

Llanos is from Vitoria-Gasteiz and is no doubt looking forward to racing in front of a friendly crowd. The Spaniard made a name for himself in 2008 when he finished second to Craig Alexander at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. He has since won numerous high-profile triathlons including the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon and the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Triathlon this year. Llanos took top honours at the 2003 ITU Long Distance World Championships, also held in Spain. He is perhaps best known for his off-road talent and has won the XTERRA Triathlon World Championship in Maui, Hawaii on three occasions, including last year.

Follow the race via live timing here at triathlon.org/live.
triathlon.org/live

Llanos will have plenty of tough competition coming to defeat him on his home turf this weekend. Other top long-course athletes on the start list are Denmark’s Jimmy Johnsen and Martin Jensen, South African Raynard Tissink and Portugal’s Sergio Marques.

Click here for the complete men’s start list.

Berasategui also hails from the Basque Country and is the reigning ETU Long Distance Champion. At last year’s championships in Prague, the Spaniard dominated her competition, winning by more than eight minutes. Berasategui also won the 2003 ITU Long Distance Championship. She finished third at the Ironman World Championship last year, the best finish ever by a Spanish woman.

Looking to keep Berasategui from earning a repeat win will be Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow (the reigning ITU Long Distance World Champion), Italy’s Martina Dogana and Edith Niederfriniger, Finland’s Tiina Bowman and Denmark’s Lisbeth Kristensen.

Click here for the complete women’s start list.

Click here for more information on the ETU Long Distance Triathlon European Championships.
Triathlon.org

Athletes competing in the event will face a 4-km swim, 120-km bike and 30-km run. The finish line will be located inside the Fernando Buesa Arena, home of the Caja Laboral basketball team. The event begins at 8:00 am local time on Saturday 26 June. Vitoria Gasteiz was recently announced as the host of the 2012 ITU Long Distance World Championships.

Homepage photo courtesy of Jay Prasuhn

Follow the race via live timing here.

Related Event: 2010 Vitoria-Gasteiz ETU Long Distance Triathlon European Championships
26 - Jun, 2010 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Women
1. Virginia Berasategi Luna ESP 06:14:46
2. Jodie Swallow GBR 06:19:02
3. Edith Niederfriniger ITA 06:41:01
4. Eva Ledesma Calvet ESP 06:42:33
5. Tiina Boman FIN 06:47:14
6. Lisbeth Kristensen DEN 06:53:59
7. Valentina Filipetto ITA 06:56:26
8. Martina Dogana ITA 07:01:41
9. Venla Koivula-Huttunen FIN 07:08:47
10. Zeljka Milicic CRO 08:06:47
Results: Elite Men
1. Eneko Llanos Burguera ESP 05:35:34
2. Martin Jensen DEN 05:37:00
3. Jimmy Johnsen DEN 05:49:19
4. Mikel Elgezabal Fernandez ESP 05:53:58
5. Pedro Gomes POR 05:56:50
6. Richard Calle Martinez ESP 05:57:36
7. Jarmo Hast FIN 05:59:22
8. Andrej Vistica CRO 06:04:11
9. Karl-Johan Danielsson SWE 06:07:59
10. Petr Soukup CZE 06:09:06
Results: 60-64 Male AG
1. Josep Lluis Aran Catalan ESP 09:21:39
2. Serge Nayssens FRA 11:27:26
Results: 55-59 Male AG
1. Lothar Manderscheid GER 07:35:45
DNF. Christian Fort FRA DNF
Results: 55-59 Female AG
1. Montserrat Clavero Sanchez ESP 09:16:39
Results: 50-54 Male AG
1. Pedro Oviedo Montoya ESP 06:44:07
2. Gerold Müller GER 07:06:03
3. Felix Castrillo San Rafael ESP 07:19:11
4. Pedro Rodriguez Recuenco ESP 07:33:24
5. Paul Donnelly GBR 07:49:15
6. Esa Ojala FIN 07:50:36
7. Vicente Calabuig ESP 08:08:21
8. Peter Hayward GBR 08:18:17
9. Ricardo Sanz Martin ESP 08:22:40
10. Jose Maria Sanz De Galdano ESP 08:30:54