The first XTERRA Finland will have a small, but quality field. Olli Miettinen is the Finnish Cross triathlon Champion (It was on the same course) and will be the local athlete to watch. Cech veteran Jan Honza Kubicek will be strong, he was 7th last week in the middle of a big pro field in Belgium and has been an XTERRA elite racer for years. He will have competition from Pavel Andreev, the Russian winter triathlon champion who has done well in other XTERRA’s and Cross triathlons. Like Kubicek, he is not a strong swimmer but will be very strong on the bike and run. It will be nice to have him back, maybe again directly from Siberia where he lives. Another strong athlete with the same profile is Oivind Bjerkseth from Norway. He started in Malta and almost sank on his first open water swim, then finished second in Cyprus in the Duathlon. We’ll have Czech Pavel Jindra, Barret Fishner from the USA hopefully recovered from an injury at XTERRA Portugal. And of course we will have an eye on 4 Finish Elite men: Nieminen, Heikkilä, Mustonen and Lieto, and we might have a surprise.
For the woman, we have only two in the pro category; Cecilia Jessen who has competed in Malta, Cyprus and Belgium and is 6th in the Euro tour ranking. She can jump to 3rd after this race if she wins. Louise Fox from England will start the season with us on this race, and a good finish can put her onto good times after some personal trouble, we wish her the best. We expect Louise will lead the swim and possibly stay on the front all the way.
We have about 20 age group women who will start and may have a surprise from a strong local MTBiker or trail runner. This can happen when we start in a new country. Athletes sometime don’t know our sport and can be very competitive.
We have also some famous Euro AG coming here to chase some big points! Didier Bucheler after a very bad day at home in Belgium, is leading the 50/54 category, and will come here to secure even more his ranking. Same with Christophe Maury who was not in Belgium. “The Frenchman” is smart and knows where he can get big points. Marco Lanzetta from Switzerland is leading by far the 55/59 with 4 races on his basket, will be here to be almost untouchable !
For the women we have Maria Kring and Maria Sturluson , who were 2nd and 3rd on the 40/44 Euro tour ranking last year and are coming from Denmark.
Elite Men
Øivind Bjerkseth, NOR
Jan Kubicek, CZE
Olli Miettinen, FIN
Barret Fishner, USA
Pekka Nieminen, FIN
Simone Calamai, ITA
Samuli Heikkilä, FIN
Pavel Andreev, RUS
Jonne Tuomas Mustonen, FIN
Panu Lieto, FIN
Pavel Jindra, CZE
Elite Women
Cecilia Jessen, SWE
Louise Fox, GBR