This weekend athletes will compete for the prestigious titles at Challenge Walchsee in the Austrian Tyrol. In the men's race Michael Raelert and Dirk Bockel will duel for the title, while in the women's competition Yvonne Van Vlerken will make an attempt to win the race for the fourth time.
As in previous years, the half distance race in the Tyrolean Alps is expected to provide fierce competition between the big names. In the men's race, in the absence of last year's winner James Cunnama, Roth 2013 Champion Dirk Bockel and the two-time 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert will meet. For the younger of the two Raelert brothers the start at the race in Walchsee is the first competition after a protracted knee injury. Raelert, who says that he deliberately took his time to get to a good performance level, is looking forward to the race in the Kaiserwinkl: "Andi won the race in 2012 and he told me of the scenic charm and the special ambiance of the race. That is why I'm really looking forward to this race and to experiencing all of that myself."
The man from Rostock will encounter – among others – Dirk Bockel. The winner of the Ironman Melbourne, who is presently recovering from Challenge Roth, can't wait to compete at Lake Walchsee: "I've been impressed by pictures of the race and the scenery for years and when I visited the route I was simply overwhelmed." Bockel is also looking forward to the course and the excellent field of starters which include Austrian Michael Weiss, Per Bittner (GER), Massimo Cigana (ITA), Markus Fachbach (GER) and local hero Thomas Steger.
Yvonne Van Vlerken, like no one else, knows how to win at Lake Walchsee. The exceptional athlete has won in the Kaiserwinkl three times already. And this year she aims to make it four! Two ladies have the potential to get in the way of this. Jenny Schulz, the current long-distance Duathlon ETU European Champion, will do her best to let the incredible series of victories of Van Vlerken come to an end. The demanding course might play into the hands of the former runner. A second German wants to have a say in who's to win. Daniela Sämmler, who's just won the middle-distance race at the Chiemsee Triathlon and finished in the top ten at Challenge Roth.
Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl takes place on Sunday 31 August – for futher information and live updates please visit www.challenge-walchsee.com.
