Press conference highlights from The Hague and Palamos

July is certainly not lacking in triathlon action, with nearly every weekend boasting a World Triathlon Series, World Championship or World Cup event. This weekend we are lucky enough to get two of them, which means twice the action. The Hauge- Kijkduin is hosting the Cross Triathlon World Championships on one seriously challenging beach course, while Palamos welcomes a World Cup for a flat and fast Olympic distance race. While the Cross Triathlon Championships will be contested on Saturday and the World Cup on Sunday, they each hosted a press conference today. Here are the results.

Kijkduin ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
In The Hauge, Kris Coddens (BEL) and Ben Allen (AUS) opened with comments on their training focus this season with Coddens hoping for an extra challenge from mother nature tomorrow, having said, “I am hoping for a choppy sea tomorrow, so I can make more of a difference.“I grew up near the beach and spent a lot of time there swimming and surfing. A rough sea would certainly be in my advantage.”

On the women’s side, Renata Bucher (SUI) looked forward to the tough circuit, “This is a power course. Totally different from any other cross triathlon.” To which cross triathlon legend Conrad Stoltz (RSA) added, “This type of course totally changes the dynamics for the race. It will be hard, and a lot of running with the bike in hand.” Allen surmised that the race would be won on the run.

Meanwhile, reigning women’s champion Lesley Paterson (GBR) spoke of her hopes to make a difference on the swim tomorrow. “A race like this can not be won on the swim, but it surely can be lost on it.”

And with so much focus on Olympic disciplines this week, Stoltz couldn’t help but add that he hopes the “exciting and action packed” race would one day be added to the Olympic programme.

Palamos World Cup
Meanwhile, over in Spain, focused turned to the race’s undeniable beauty and debut of Palamos on the World Cup circuit. Mexico’s Claudia Rivas kicked the press conference off by saying, “It’s always beautiful to compete next to the beach. It’s a pretty course, I like that it has climbs and declines and a little of everything.”

Her male counterpart, Crisanto Grajales spoke on using the race for important ranking points. “It will be a difficult race. The humidity conditions are similar to some parts of Mexico where I live. I’m looking to do as well as possible and get as many points as possible to climb in the ITU rankings.”

Focus then turned to the Spaniards, with Ainhoa Murua saying, “Even though I had a difficult winter, I’m excited for the race. I’m told the circuit is technical and hard and with the hot weather it’ll be even harder. But this heat and humidity helps me. I just hope we have a lot of people cheering us on this Sunday.”

Teammate Francesc Godoy agreed whole heatedly. Hailing from nearby Barcelona, Godoy plans to “give my all and to be in the Top 10 would be great.” And although Godoy has raced a lot this year, he commented that “when you compete at home, you always give your all. An athlete has few opportunities to compete at this level at home and this year I’ve had two. To have family and friends close helps you give 120% and perhaps for that reason, have good results.”