29 TQ Intel

with a natural grace (the old adage of if it looks fast it probably is) and has marked himself as a star in waiting, Austin Carter too after his impressive 11th just behind Tauranga’s Lachlan Haycock.

More seasoned athletes will be desperate to avenge slow starts come Taupō. Janus Staufenberg will get his headset fixed after being caught in one of several bike crashes in Wānaka and will look for a clear run to eclipse his 9th. Count on a vast improvement too from Saxon Morgan, 8th at the U23 worlds in Abu Dhabiin November but strangely off the boil in 16th down South.

There are just 521 days from Conti Cup Taupō till the triathlon program at the XXXIII Olympiad begins and a mere 173 days till the 2023 Paris test event from Aug. 17-20. In other words, no time to waste to prove you have the goods to race for NZL with the Olympic Rings embroidered on your race suit. Bring on the remainder of an Oceania schedule that might soon make those initially reluctant to call races just a little more bold. –

The importance of the Oceania Mixed Relay Champs to NZL’s Olympic plans the results from Wānaka provided inconclusive evidence for IMNZ tipsters.

One absolute guarantee is that Aucklander Rebecca Clarke will race angry but calculated in Taupō after a wrong turn

WHAT’S ON WHEN

Feb. 17 - Oceania Cup Wanaka

Women’s Wrap HERE

Men’s Wrap HERE

Feb. 25 - Oceania Cup Taupo

Jnr W 8am /Jnr M 9.15am/Elite W 10.30am/Elite M 11.45am

Feb. 26 - Oceania Mixed Relay Championship

Jnr 1pm/Elite 2.30pm

Mar.26 - World Cup New Plymouth

Elite W 11am/Elite M 1.30pm

Times are subject to change. Visit triathlon.kiwi on the bike cost her and follow-theleader Dutchwoman Els Visser a title shot in Wānaka.

Visser looks in dangerous nick and it will be fascinating too to see if the decision by fellow silver medallist Mike Phillips (pictured) to hold a little back on the ‘Bike Glendhu’ run will pay dividends a fortnight hence. The 32-yearold Cantabrian is finally fit and healthy and set to perhaps provide defending IMNZ champion and short-priced 2023 favourite Braden Currie his stiffest challenge. Then again, after his Wānaka hitout for third and ample training time in Taupō, can 2014 Ironman world champion Sebastian Kienle turn back the clock at the second of his Kiwi “bucketlist” races? Triathlon.kiwi will be in Taupō to journal these and many more IMNZ questions online and for the next edition of TQ