Endurance 13 back in action

Manama : The Bahrain Endurance 13 Team returns to action this weekend at Ironman 70.3 Dubai and Ironman 70.3 South Africa to kick off the new year. 

The Dubai line-up boasts Daniela Ryf, Caroline Steffen, Javier Gomez and David Plese racing alongside HH Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, while Jodie and James Cunnama take on their home race in South Africa.

Switzerland’s Ryf is back to defend her title, won at the inaugural edition last year and is again the first leg of the Nasser Bin Hamad Triple Crown with a million-dollar prize for winning each race of the series up for grabs and rearing to go after a training camp in Cyprus.

Compatriot Steffen is fit and ready after a good training block in her new home in Port Macquarie just north of Sydney.

Spaniard Gomez’s participation signals his return to top competition and Dubai will be his first big race test after winning the Rotorua Half Ironman on holiday in New Zealand at the end of last year. The 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Champion was beset by illness and injury last year and was unable to race at the Rio Olympics.

In the 2017 race of Ironman 70.3 South Africa, sees Briton Jodie Cunnama’s seventh time to race in Buffalo City and holds a record six consecutive wins, while her longtime South African partner James will be hoping to do well on home soil.