PTO World #1 Sam Long will chase a first ever victory over the 100km distance next month, after the American was confirmed for the first edition of the San Francisco T100 on June 8-9.
Having picked up five podiums already this season, Long is the in-form athlete of the Tour right now, and after podiums in Miami and Singapore, will rightly begin this race as the odds-on favourite.
However, this doesn’t mean the Boulder native won’t have his work cut out for him, with top athletes such as Marten Van Riel, Magnus Ditlev and Alistair Brownlee all making the trip out to the West Coast.
Who can take down Long?
After picking up an injury during race week in Singapore, Miami winner Ditlev will look to bounce back with another victory Stateside in June, as the Danish star continues his bid for the T100 Tour title.
[Photo Credit – PTO]
Other overall contenders include Pieter Heemeryck, who finished third in Singapore last month, plus Mathis Margirier of France, who was third in Miami behind Long and Ditlev and will be a real danger man.
British duo Alistair Brownlee and David McNamee have both picked up Top 5 finishes so far this season and will look to impress, with Brownlee, who pulled up with an injury in Singapore, still chasing a first ever T100 Tour podium.
Dark horse Van Riel will compete after WTCS action in Yokohama and Cagliari, as the Belgian, alongside Spanish legend Javier Gomez, looks to make an impression in his first race over the 100km distance this season.
Finally, Jason West, the American star of 2023 who has faced a lacklustre start to the season, will be hoping to find his form of old and race well in front of a home crowd. The best runner in the field, the American is more than capable of winning this race on his day.
Who won’t be racing in San Francisco?
Of the athletes not racing, last year’s PTO Tour European Open winner Max Neumann misses a third consecutive race on the Tour in San Francisco, as the Australian’s time on the sidelines now stretches to almost a year.
Frenchman Leon Chevalier is also absent, as is Daniel Baekkegard of Denmark, with Sam Laidlow rounding out the quartet of originally contracted men who won’t be racing next month in California.
Youri Keulen, who currently leads the standings after winning the Singapore T100, was recently awarded a permanent contract on the Tour for this season, but will not be taking to the start line in San Francisco.
In addition to the contracted athletes set to race, there will be additional wildcard slots on the line to be announced by the PTO in due course.
The full list of contracted T100 Tour athletes racing is as follows:
Sam Long (USA)
Magnus Ditlev (DEN)
Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
Jason West (USA)
Mathis Margirier (FRA)
Rudy von Berg (USA)
David McNamee (GBR)
Frederic Funk (GER)
Bradley Weiss (RSA)
Aaron Royle (AUS)
Clement Mignon (FRA)
Rico Bogen (GER)
Alistair Brownlee (GBR)
Ben Kanute (USA)
Marten Van Riel (BEL)
Javier Gomez (ESP)
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