The Olympic countdown begins with the 2006 ITU Madrid World Cup
The 2006 ITU Madrid World Cup to be held next Sunday 4 June is the first international event for the Beijing 2008 ITU Olympic Qualifying Ranking. This ranking will take place between 1 June 2006 and 15 June 2008.
The events necessary to obtain points for the ITU Olympic Qualifying Ranking include the World Cup races, the World Championships and the Continental Championships. The top 50 women and men in the Spanish capital will get points provided the winner’s time is not exceeded by 10%. For the fourth year in a row, the 2006 ITU Madrid World Cup will be part of the ITU Triathlon World Cup, which includes 16 events through out the world taking place from March to November. The 2006 ITU Madrid World Cup will be this year’s sixth event and the first one in Europe. The world’s top triathletes will participate in Madrid. Each World Cup event includes the same courses (1.5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running) and offers the same prizes for both women and men. For the second year in a row, the 2006 ITU Madrid World Cup coincides with the World Environmental Day. In 2004, the ITU Madrid World Cup received the ISO 14001 Certification, which standardizes the environmental politics requirements for companies and events.