Triathlon: Kiwis to race together in Hamburg

Sam Ward at OTU Kinloch Triathlon, 2017. Photo / Scottie T Photography

New Zealand triathletes Andrea Hewitt, Ryan Sissons, Tony Dodds and Rebecca Spence will join forces to compete in the mixed team relay at the World Triathlon Series in Hamburg next week.

This will be the first time this combo come together for the race format with Sophie Corbidge unable to compete due to an injury.

The event will host over 250,000 spectators, and fans can expect fast and competitive racing across the weekend.

On Sunday, the individual events will take place across the sprint distance with Sam Ward and Tayler Reid joining the men's ranks.

Ward has been in Europe for three weeks and has built some strong training blocks under his belt for the weekend.

"Hamburg is one of the biggest races on the calendar, and it is a very cool place to race in. There are always massive crowds, and it is quite special racing through the city of Hamburg with so many people watching and screaming at you," he said.

The sprint format is always challenging with the transition area playing a critical role for all the athletes.

"The swim will be tough as it always is, I will be trying to have a good start and just be in the best position out of the water I can be. The bike is quite technical, so the first couple laps will be very important to be up near the front of the group to stay out of trouble and to save energy coming out of the U-turns and corners."

"T2 plays a huge role in theses sprint races as everyone is so close at the finish that 2 seconds can be 3-4 places at the end, so I will be focusing on this," he said.

Hewitt will be aiming for success as she enters the race fourth overall in the series, only two points behind Australian Ashleigh Gentle.

Individual events start this Sunday at 4pm. Mixed Team Relay is set to kick off next Monday just before 5pm.