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This time, it won’t be simply an ETU event, but also the elite Swiss National Championships, therefore all local hot shots will be at the start line on Sunday…

But first things first: Lots of ITU World Cup athletes will be starting together with young participants who might use this event to get used to world class level. Water temperature in Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) was 19,6 degreees today, that might favour the weaker swimmers in the field who will be quite happy to be allowed to use their wetsuits. After the 2 laps of swim, the competitors will exit the water into transition situated next to the lake and move on to the 6 laps of bike: the athletes will face one major climb each lap. The course first leads next to the shore of the lake, then takes a sharp right hand turn and then all the way up to the U.S. embassy. After a 1 K downhill section the athletes will find themselves on the quais again to start their next lap. The run course is quite flat - with just one smaller climb each 2,5 K lap – along the quais again.

Accoring to the reports, the weather should be optimal on Sunday: 20 to 25 degrees and sunshine with some overcast – fair conditions for our athletes, both elite and age-groupers, who will be racing in the morning.

So let’s see who are athletes to watch: local hero and Lausanne bronze medalist Sven Riederer is definately one to watch, just like swiss routinier Reto Hug, who both might get along well with the hilly profile. Maik Petzold (GER) proved his good form a few weeks ago at the ITU World Cup in Hamburg, former European champ Andrew ‘AJ’ Johns (GBR) is always keen on swiss events, and don’t forget about Shane ‘Snuffy’ Read, who is a solid competitor as well, and uses this competition as preparation for the World Championships later this year in Gamagori, Japan.

At the women’s race, there are some favourites as well: Sydney Olympic bronze medalist Magali Di Marco Messmer had great performances in her comeback year and young local Nicola Spirig just has proved her great form last week at the European Championships. But last year’s overall World Cup winner Anja Dittmer will be definitely one to watch despite just finishing a hard training camp, and so is Mieke Suys, who finished in the top ten last week at the Europeans.

But don’t forget about the young athletes: they will surely seek the opportunity to reach to the level of the favourites, or to even beat them…

Check www.etu-triathlon.org and www.triathlon.org tomorrow for the race results and post race press release. Picture galleries and video footage will be available on the coming days.