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The 2024 World Triathlon Cup tour hits the Chinese city of Chengdu on Monday 29 April. Ten years on from the first edition, this time around there is the promise of some extra Olympic spice on the menu.

With one month to go the end of the Paris 2024 Qualification Period, every race is amplified, every result counts and every spot on the rankings is even more hotly contested. So the first Olympic-distance World Cup of the year will provide big goals as well as plenty of challenges, and should offer a stern test of where the athletes are at this early stage of a hugely important season.

After the two-lap, 1.5km swim, athletes will transition into a six-lap 40km bike, each loop with fast, rolling corners and two leg-busting dead turns, then it’s a 4 x 2.5km-lap run to the tape. Watch all the action over on TriathlonLive.tv.

Schomburg and Priester going all-in

While Monday racing is something out of the ordinary, this is a course that the two top-ranked German athletes know well. Number one Lasse Nygaard Priester raced here in October, finishing 22nd after a poor swim left him too far off the pace to challenge despite a huge run effort. Jonas Schomburg was among the names to tackle the course for the first time back in 2014, as well as finishing 17th six months ago. Both will want to deliver this time around.

Priester’s World Cup win on a tough Karlovy Vary course back in 2021 remains his best result to date and one of four career podiums overall, while Schomburg’s first World Cup medal also came in the Czech hills, with bronze last year. Two fearless athletes, one place on the Paris 2024 start line the ultimate prize.

Hungarians on the hunt

Like Germany, Team Hungary are in a great position to qualify the maximum three men for Paris. Bence Bicsak finished 7th at Tokyo 2020, was fourth here in 2023, and is on paper the strong choice, but the 28-year-old has struggled recently to find race consistency that can allow his undoubted run ability to really shine. Bicsak’s last podium was bronze at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2021 against the best in the world, so he knows he has it in him. This would be a great time to rediscover that form.

Mark Devay and Gabor Faldum are the other two Hungarian names in the frame for Paris. Both race here, both have been in solid form of late, arguably Faldum’s 12th place at the Test Event ahead of all three compatriots the most eye-catching evidence of his potential.

Tayler Reid ready to redeem

An unfortunate equipment penalty saw Tayler Reid (NZL) miss out on a podium in Woolongong, a moment that could light the fire of a big display here in China. A medal at his first-time hit out in Chengdu would be the perfect moment to show Team New Zealand that he is the man to join Hayden Wilde in Paris, and would certainly boost the chances a full trio of Kiwi men at the Games.

Third in the Asia Triathlon Championships a week ago, Junjie Fan is the top-ranked of the home athletes and starting his fifth World Cup. Aoba Yasumatsu continues to pursue his path to Paris for Japan, and Azerbaijan’s Rostislav Pevtsov chases a remarkable sixth podium here after one gold, three silver and a bronze to date. Fresh from E-World Championship silver in London, Britain’s Max Stapley (GBR) will want to reiterate his Olympic credentials on a continent that has seen some of his best results at this level, including silver in Yeongdo last August.

The first official event of the year for Team World Triathlon, the development squad helping athletes from nations with fewer resources to reach their Olympic goals, Chengdu also welcomes Tyler Smith (BER) and Vitalii Vorontsov (UKR) onto the start line, while Badr Siwane of Morocco also starts with his Games debut still a possibility if results go his way.

Further names to watch looking to covert their recent displays into medal-winning performances include Denmark’s Emil Holm, Italy’s Michele Sarzilla and Chilean Gaspar Riveros as this Olympic season gathers some serious momentum.

Full start lists are available here.