ROTH, Germany (February 22, 2012) - The Challenge Family global series of long distance triathlons today announced a partnership with the European Triathlon Union (ETU) that will see Challenge Kraichgau and Challenge Roth host the Long Distance Triathlon European Championships in 2012.
Challenge Kraichgau (10 June 2012) is Europe’s largest half iron distance event and will host the 2012 Kraichgau ETU Challenge Half Distance Triathlon European Championships for Elite and Age Group athletes over the 1.9km/90km/21km distance. Challenge Roth (8 July 2012) is renowned as the home of European triathlon and is the largest iron distance race in the world. Roth will host the 2012 Roth ETU Challenge Long Distance Triathlon European Championships for Elite and Age Group athletes over the 3.8km/180km/42.2km distance.
ETU’s Eugene Kraus and Denis Jaeger said the proven quality of Challenge Family events ensured the European Long Distance Championships would be delivered to a high standard. “Challenge Family races are renowned for their quality and we are delighted to enter into an agreement between ETU and Challenge,” they said.
Felix Walchshöfer, CEO of Challenge Family, is delighted to deliver the European Championships and said Challenge was looking forward to a long-term collaboration. He said, “We are extremely happy to be working closely with the ETU in delivering the European Championships in 2012 and beyond. Europe is home to many of the world’s best long distance triathletes and linking the European Championships with Europe’s two leading long distance races, ensures they will receive the high profile they deserve.”
The president of the German Triathlon Federation (DTU), Martin Engelhardt, said he was delighted the concept of a partnership between ETU and Challenge had come to fruition. “Together with the General Secretary of the DTU, Matthias Zöll, we have talked about this topic at the European Presidential Meeting in January and now we have Germany hosting two European Championships at two of our iconic races,” he said. “This provides us with a great opportunity to show the international triathlon community how well Germany delivers world class events.”
