The list is long – Will Draper, Pierre le Corre, Henry Räppo, Pieter Heemeryck, Kieran Lindars, Frederic Funk, Daniel Bækkegård, Ellie Salthouse, Caroline Pohle, Marta Sánchez, Katrine Græsbøll Christensen, Lena Meissner, Justine Guérard, Elisabetta Curridori, and many others: over 80 of the world’s elite are ready to go head-to-head on 24 May at Challenge Family The Championship at the iconic x-bionic sphere in Šamorín.

During The Championship, Challenge Family’s flagship event which is qualification-only, it’s all about prestige. The stakes are high, the attention is intense, and everyone wants to win. While defending champions, Kristian Høgenhaug and Hanne de Vet are absent, many of the world’s top athletes are at the start line to claim the prestigious honour of adding The Championship to their resumé.

Men’s Favourites

Among the men, the top favourites are Frederic Funk (GER), Will Draper (GBR), Henry Räppo (EST), and Pierre le Corre (FRA). Funk is the most experienced athlete of this group on The Championship course having lined up no less than six times, and has stood on the podium for half of them, but he has never secured the win. It is an open secret that Funk is committed to claim the title; he will do everything in his power to make the race as hard as possible from the very first kilometres of the bike leg to break apart the field. Regardless of his specific race plan, Funk is traveling to The Championship in top form and looking to deliver his best performance ever.

The same applies to the rest of the field, with particular interest in Daniel Bækkegård (DEN). After a difficult period, he is in the midst of a comeback year and hopes to return to the form that saw him dominate the sport at the highest level a few years ago. Equally interesting is the participation of Will Draper, who has won or podiumed at numerous Challenge Family races in recent years. He became European Champion last year in his long distance debut at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam and now has his eye on the next step in his career: winning the prestigious The Championship.

In such a deep field, there are many more men to watch. On paper, names like Jannik Schaufler (GER), Mathias Petersen (DEN), Harry Palmer (GBR), Damien Le Mesnager (FRA), Michele Sarzilla (ITA), James Teagle (GBR) and former champion, Florian Angert (GER), may not be the primary favourites, but they have all proven in the past they are capable of great things and major surprises.

Women’s Contenders

Surprises could also be in store for the women’s race, though there are several clear favourites who, on paper, have the best chance at a top ranking. Ellie Salthouse (World Ranking #13) is the favourite, but the Australian star is closely followed by Germany’s Caroline Pohle, who sits at 17th in the world rankings and recently dominated the Anfi Challenge Mogán-Gran Canaria. Including these two women, 11 women from the world’s top 100 will be on the start line:

· Marta Sánchez (ESP) (#26)

· Katrine Græsbøll Christensen (DEN) (#30)

· Lena Meissner (GER) (#37)

· Justine Guérard (FRA) (#48)

· Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) (#49)

· Anastacia Damm Nielsen (DEN) (#60)

· Lisa-Maria Dornauer (AUT) (#80)

· Minttu Hukka (FIN) (#92)

· Lilli Gelmini (ITA) (#96)

The beauty of the women’s race is there are specialists in swimming, biking, and running lining up, ensuring the competition will be exciting across all disciplines and could truly go either way. Who will ultimately come out on top will be revealed when the athletes cross the finish line at the iconic and fully sold-out x-bionic sphere on 24 May.

Alongside the pro races is a sold-out field of over 1,200 age group athletes racing across several disciplines during the weekend. From beginners in the Tryathlon to the the best of the best Challenge Family age groupers battling it out for the honour of age group champion in The Championship, the weekend is a true celebration of sport across all ages and abilities.

All the action will be broadcast live and free-to-air at www.challenge-family.live and on Instagram @challengefamily. The livestream will feature expert commentary from Belinda Granger and special guests from 8:15am CEST with a race start time of 8:30am CEST for the pro men and 8:40am CEST for the pro women. A finish line camera will run for the duration of the race until the last finisher crosses the line, allowing every athlete’s friends and family watching from afar to share in the emotion and celebrations of The Championship.

For further information, visit www.thechampionship.de.

Full professional start list can be found here.