Australia and Ukrainian Favorite for the Overall Victory
In the 35th edition of the Triathlon Holten, which takes place on Saturday, June 29, top athletes from no less than 30 countries will start. They are competing this year in Holten for points for the ITU World Ranking, which are of great significance for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Dutch athletes are well represented. Rachel Klamer is absent this year.
Yuliya Yelistratova Highest Ranked Female
Klamer won the Triathlon Holten for the sixth time last year. The seventh victory for the athlete from Beuningen will have to wait at least for a year. Klamer will miss ‘her home race’ this year due to her participation in the World Triathlon Series in Montreal. Yuliya Yelistratova is the clear favorite to succeed Rachel Klamer. The Ukrainian, currently ranked forty-second in the world rankings, is the highest-ranked female triathlete starting in Holten. Brittany Dutton seems to be the biggest competitor for Yelistratova. The Briton holds the 109th position in the world ranking of the International Triathlon Union ITU, making her the highest-ranked triathlete after the Ukrainian.
Callum McClusky Favorite in Exciting Men’s Title Race
The title race among the men promises to be an exciting one this year. The title defender is also absent among the elite men. The Spaniard Ignacio Gonzalez Garcia crossed the finish line last year as the fastest male triathlete but will not start this year. The same goes for the 2017 winner. The South African Richard Murray,
partner of Rachel Klamer, secured his first win in Holten in that year. This year the chances among the men are close together. Australian Callum McClusky, who won the sprint triathlon in Dnipro (Ukraine) earlier in June, seems to be one of the contenders for the overall victory in the thirty-fifth edition of the Triathlon Holten. He is currently ranked one hundred and fourteenth in the ITU world ranking, making him the highest-ranked triathlete starting in Holten. McClusky faces competition in Holten from Ben Dijkstra from Great Britain. The Briton is currently ranked one hundred twenty-fourth in the world ranking. Calum Johnson and Lestyn Harret (both also from Great Britain) complete the quartet of triathletes with the highest ranking. They hold the one hundred thirtieth and one hundred thirty-eighth places in that ranking, respectively.
Dutch Triathletes Well Represented
In total, athletes from 30 different nationalities will compete, divided over the elite and juniors, during the thirty-fifth edition of the Triathlon Holten. The Netherlands fields a significant number of triathletes in both the elite men’s and elite women’s categories. Respectively six and ten compatriots will compete in the two categories. Among them is Pim Venderbosch from Didam, whose father has already won the triathlon in Holten four times. Also, the Dutch triathletes are well represented among the junior men (11) and junior women (9).
