Paralympic points on the line at ETU Champs

This Friday, Europe’s top paratriathletes will be in Lisbon, Portugal in the hunt for final Paralympic points before qualification for the 2016 Paralympic Games closes in one month. The sport class start lists are loaded with hungry talented ready for battle.

PT1 Two top contenders for Great Britain will line up in Lisbon with Phil Hogg and Joseph Townsend racing. Both are consistent competitors, who could make a real showing for the nation in Rio. But they will be challenged by Italy’s Giovanni Achenza and the Netherlands’ Geert Schipper and Jetze Plat. Although Plat has won the ETU title for the last two years, he and Townsend will need impressive finishes to stay in the bubble for Brazil.

While the women’s PT1 class will not compete in Rio this summer, Spain’s Eva Maria Moral Pedrero and Great Britain’s Lizzie Tench will go up against newcomers Fiona Mccormack (IRL) and Romy Pansters (NED).

PT2 Italian Michele Ferrarin returns as the reigning World Champion, but in last year’s ETU Championship in Geneva he was outperformed by Frenchman Stephane Bahier and earned the bronze to Bahier’s silver. These two men are the top-ranked athletes in the men’s PT2 sport class, but everyone else will be after points to improve their standing in the Paralympic qualification rankings. …

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