World champions and legends of the sport will head to Auckland for the final time for the Asia-Pacific Championship. Five-time world champion Craig Alexander will have to overcome a stellar international field if he is to add the Asian Pacific crown to his glittering collection at the IRONMAN 70.3 Auckland triathlon.
Alexander, with three IRONMAN and two IRONMAN 70.3 world titles to his credit, will cross the Tasman with the belief he is in the shape to win on the iconic waterfront course.
The race on Sunday 18 January doubles as the official Asia-Pacific Championship and comprises a 1.9km swim in the Viaduct Harbour, 90km three-lap bike over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and 21km two-lap run along the waterfront.
Alexander will need to bring his best form to overcome a superb field, announced today for the third Asia-Pacific Championship in Auckland, one of three regional titles around the globe.
The inaugural winner Annabel Luxford, a former world champion, is top seed for the women’s race where she also faces plenty of challenges including two-time IRONMAN New Zealand winner Meredith Kessler from USA and New Zealand’s best, Gina Crawford.
Top seed in the men’s race goes to the 2009 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Terenzo Bozzone, who was third in his home race last year. He is joined in the top seeds by brilliant Australians Tim Reed and Tim Berkel and the remarkable Cameron Brown.
Alexander, who was seventh in Auckland last year, returns in better mind and body.
"I have got into quality work much earlier and I am in much better shape but you have to be for the Asia-Pacific Championship," Alexander says. "The last two years with the quality of field assembled in Auckland then you have to be in top shape to compete and I think I am this time.
"I really enjoy racing against the best people and these bigger races have better fields. Most professional athletes want to race the best people. That’s the case with the field in Auckland and it’s an outstanding course that I really enjoyed last year."
For Bozzone it is an earlier return to racing than expected after an injury-plagued 2014, but a rare chance to race in a major event on his back door.
“I am excited because IRONMAN 70.3 Auckland is such an iconic race and a great showcase for Auckland and a great showcase for New Zealand,” Bozzone said.
"I hope I can be in contention and put on a good show like last year. It is daunting going into the first race of the season. As long as I can tick off my main objectives then I will be happy but if I could come away with a win would just be a great start to the year but we will take it one thing at a time."
Reed enjoyed three IRONMAN 70.3 wins and seven podiums in 2014, coming off a third placing in the rich Bahrain race last month and seventh at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
Brown, at 42, had one of his best years in 2014 with three wins and five of his six major races on the podium while he zoomed home after a penalty for sixth last year.
Add to that a plethora of exciting Australians led by Tim Berkel, seventh at the IRONMAN World Championship, 2013 IRONMAN Australia winner Paul Ambrose, super-talented James Seear, Leon Griffin and Joe Lampe.
The Kiwi charge will come from the likes of Callum Millward, Simon Cochrane, James Bowstead and Wanaka winner Dylan McNeice.
Luxford, the former under-23 world champion, won three times in 2014 with four second placings including Auckland and Abu Dhabi, and is the class act to beat in the women.
American Kessler, third last year, had six wins and was fourth at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in another outstanding season.
Crawford enjoyed one victory with eight podiums in a superb and consistent season including another top-10 performance in Hawaii.
Others likely to challenge include Australian Kym Coogan, fifth last year, and Kiwis led by the well performed Anna Russell and Melanie Burke with interest in the burgeoning talents of tyro Amelia Watkinson, who won on the Gold Coast last year and is guided by highly decorated coach Chris Pilone.
The event carries a NZ$90,000 prize purse for professionals and qualifying places for age group contestants for the 2015 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and is based at the Viaduct Events Centre, action kicks off from 6:15am.
The full professional fields are:
Males:
Terenzo Bozzone (NZL)
Tim Reed (AUS)
Cameron Brown (NZL)
Craig Alexander (AUS)
Tim Berkel (NZL)
Paul Ambrose (AUS)
James Seear (AUS)
Tyler Butterfield (BER)
Leon Griffin (AUS)
Joe Lampe (AUS)
Carl Read (NZL)
Clark Ellice (NZL)
Dylan McNeice (NZL)
James Bowstead (NZL)
Josh Rix (AUS)
Leigh Strabryla (AUS)
Marcus Hultgren (SWE)
Mark Bowstead (NZL)
Matt Franklin (NZL)
Matthew Pellow (AUS)
Nick Baldwin (SEY)
Reilly Smith (USA)
Simon Cochrane (NZL)
Females:
Annabel Luxford (AUS)
Meredith Kessler (USA)
Gina Crawford (NZL)
Rebekah Keat (AUS)
Nikki Butterfield (AUS)
Amelia Watkinson (NZL)
Ali Fitch (AUS)
Amanda Bohlin (SWE)
Anna Russell (NZL)
Julia Grant (NZL)
Kristy Hallett (AUS)
Kym Coogan (AUS)
Melanie Burke (NZL)
Tamsyn Hayes (NZL)