The Dutch triathlete, Marit van den Berg, is expecting strong competition this weekend during the Africa Triathlon Cup at Maselspoort on the outskirts of Bloemfontein.

Van den Berg is one of several international competitors entered for the women’s elite race. The event has attracted rather small elite fields, but they will be competitive nonetheless.

The triathletes will have to complete a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.

Van den Berg is familiar with the course after finishing 5th at Maselspoort last year. She has been in South Africa for a couple of months already and the climate is ideal while in Europe they are only starting to move out of winter.

She told OFM Sport that while the field is small, it will be competitive and it will be great if they get a lot of support.

“I think it is quite strong because all the South African girls have to race there for the Olympic qualification, but it's also nice to see some other athletes from other continents that came over to race here,” said Van den Berg.

“We'll have an exciting race and hopefully a lot of other athletes, age groupers and people will come out to watch us.”

Van den Berg added that while she is excited for the race, the conditions in the Free State do make it quite tough and challenging.

“The weather is much better than in Europe, the people are awesome and it's nice to get some nice early races in the season to score some world rankings points.

“I'm excited for Sunday's race, but it will be a tough one because the altitude, heat and humidity at Maselspoort are pretty harsh.

“I raced here last year and finished in fifth, so I'm hoping to do better this year.”

Dylan Nortjé (left) can be considered as one of the local favourites - Morgan Piek

The Africa Triathlon Cup will take place on Sunday and the men’s elites’ race will start at 12:00. The women’s elites will be in action from 12:45.

Women's elite field - Tanja Stroschneider (Austria), Vicky van der Merwe (South Africa), Shanae Williams (South Africa), Bridget Theunissen (South Africa), Minori Ikeno (Japan), Himeka Sato (Japan), Marit van den Berg (Netherlands), Andie Kuipers (Zimbabwe), Henrika Parviainen (Finland), Jordan Tissink (South Africa), Anika Visser (South Africa).

Men's elite field - Jean Gael Laurent L`entete (Mauritius), Siefeldeen Ismail (Egypt), Luke Bate (Australia), Seifeddine Selmi (Tunisia), Leon Pauger (Austria), Dylan Nortjé (South Africa), Noah Künz (Austria), Dan Tomiuchi (Japan), Shaun Wolfaardt (South Africa), Joshua Steytler (South Africa), Matthew van Coller (South Africa), Gustave Philemon Dendo (Central African Republic), Guy Dede Newan (Central African Republic).

Morgan Piek OFM Sport