Oceania Triathlon

The 2022 Multisport World Championships Targu Mures continues on Wednesday morning with the Cross Triathlon titles the next on the line. With a sun-baked course and high temperatures expected, conditions should be wildly different from those encountered at El Anillo Extremadura in Spain last year, when Loanne Duvoisin (SUI) and Arthur Serrieres (FRA) battled through the mud to take the titles, and both will be hungry for more success here.

The 1km swim follows the curve of Muresul Sports Complex lake, up and back before transitioning to the mountain bikes with a 3.7km link to five 4.5km loops through the Transylvanian forest, with 180m of climbs and descents. Two laps of the 3.5km run will round out the action, and you can follow it all over on TriathlonLive.tv.

—
It was a French one-two in 2021, Arthur Serrieres following his XTERRA European title with an emotional world title, and it is a course that the 27-year-old knows well after winning the European Cross Duathlon title here in 2019.

Compatriot Arthur Forissier was the man in second last year, but after his world title win in Pontevedra, also in 2019, conditions may suit him a little better with a tougher and more technical course to deal with than in Spain.

The hugely experienced Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) will be chasing a sixth world title, while Lukas Cocar (CZE) will want to use his explosive swim to create as much of a gap out of the water as possible. New Zealand’s Sam Osbourne returns to the multisport stage for the first time since his silver in 2018 and is in red-hot form heading into Wednesday’s race after recently capturing his 14th XTERRA tour win. 

Netherlands’ Joep Staps will know the course well after his cross duathlon effort on Monday along with local favourites Szabolcs Kovacs and Mihail Chindris (ROU), while Ben Allen and Taylor Charlton represent Australia, the latter making his World Triathlon debut.

It will be another fascinating battle between Loanne Duvoisin and the Italian pair Sandra Mairhofer and Eleonora Peroncini in the elite women’s race. Switzerland’s Devoisin delivered a brilliant run to take the title in Extremadura last year after Winter Triathlon World Champion Mairhofer had dominated the bike course, while Peroncini’s gold in Monday’s cross duathlon will have given her great confidence on a course that plays to her strengths.

Former French national champion Alizee Paties will want to build on her top 10 finish in Spain. USA’s former elite triathlete Amanda Felder returns to action for her first taste of Cross Triathlon action ready to test herself on this demanding course, as does New Zealand’s Samantha Kingsford, former Age Group World Champion back in 2012 and fifth-placed at the 2018 Fyn Cross Triathlon World Championships.

Romanian medal hopes lie with Agnes Tuzson, fifth in Monday’s Cross Duathlon race, while France’s 2019 European Champion here in the 20-24 age-group Solenne Billouin will return to Targu Mures to make her elite debut on Wednesday morning.

Full start lists can be found here.