Under-23 triathlon world champion Jake Birtwhistle and multi-sport talent Cam Wurf headline the names confirmed for Saturday’s state series race at George Town.
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Set to represent Australia in April’s Commonwealth Games, Birtwhistle will use the race to help kickstart his 2018 season and will find stiff competition in ironman Wurf, who broke the bike leg record at Kona earlier this year.
“This will be the first form guide to see where things are at,” Birtwhistle said of Saturday’s race.
“I’ve never raced Cam so I’ll be interested to see (what happens)... I’m hoping I’ll have him covered on the swim and I’d imagine the run, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens on the bike.”
Wurf won’t be the only rower-come-triathlete in the mix thanks to the presence of former world champion Ali Foot, while Kate Pedley - a top-20 finisher in last year’s 70.3 ironman world championships - heads the women’s field.
Sophie Moore and Catelyn Turner look set to battle out the junior female category while William Blackaby will be hard to beat in the junior males.
Launceston Triathlon Club president Oliver Cook said he was anticipating a true spectacle come 10am Saturday.
“This would be the strongest field that’ll be in a triathlon in Tasmania this season I would have thought,” he said.
“You won’t find a stronger field.”