The ITU has confirmed that the World Triathlon Series will arrive in Leeds on 11-12 June 2016, offering the final opportunity to see Team GB triathletes swim, bike and run on home soil before they compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Advertisement
Leeds takes over as UK host of the World Triathlon Series after a long run at London’s Hyde Park, which will be under construction in 2016 to allow for the building of a cycling superhighway throughout the UK capital.
London 2012 gold medallist Alistair Brownlee said: “Triathlon has come from a sport that hardly anyone knew about, to in 2016 there being a World Series race in my home city of Leeds.
“In Leeds the entire city is going to be behind the triathlon. It’s going to be the major event of the summer, and I think the whole city will get behind it. Hopefully hundreds of thousands of people are going to come out to support the sport.”
Amateur triathletes will have the opportunity to compete on the same course as the elite competitors in mass-participation races, and the event will be supported by a range of cultural activities in the build-up.