JUST six professional athletes will be vying for the Ironman 70.3 Ballarat women’s title.
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And there is every chance the title will be heading abroad, with German Mareen Hufe and Canadian Melanie McQuaid shaping up as the main challengers to Australia’s Madeline Oldfield.
Hufe and McQuaid were at the Ironman 70.3 Ballarat press conference on Friday, but both had taken a different route to the city.
Hufe competed in Mandurah last week and finished seventh as she battled jetlag, while McQuaid was forced to withdraw with a chest infection.
However, both feel they are returning close to their peak for the Ballarat race.
McQuaid, a former cyclist on the Canadian national team, said her health continued to improve day by day.
“It will take me a while to get back up to speed but I’m hoping to be right by race day,” she said.
Hufe hoped a poor run leg in Mandurah could be put down to jetlag.
“I arrived three days before the race, so I was still suffering from a bit of jetlag but I feel all right now,” she said.
“I hope to repeat my swim and bike legs and hopefully have a good run this time around.”
Oldfield comes into the race on the back of a second place at the weekend’s Murray Man Triathlon in South Australia.
“I am recovering pretty well from Murray Man,” she said. “I’m still a little sore and tired, but I’ve been taking it fairly easy over the past few days, so I’ll hopefully start to feel better and be ready to race.”
PROFESSIONAL FIELD
MEN
Michael Raelert (Germany)
Terenzo Bozzone (NZ)
Ruedi Wild (Switzerland)
Luke Bell (Australia)
John Polson (Australia)
Luke Whitmore (Australia)
Josh Rix (Australia)
Matt Bailey (Australia)
Jamie Huggett (Australia)
Ben Huggett (Australia)
Todd Israel (Australia)
Matthew Pellow (Australia)
WOMEN
Madeleine Oldfield (Australia)
Melanie McQuaid (Canada)
Mareen Hufe (Germany)
Kristy Hallett (Australia)
Jessica Mitchell (Australia)
Tracy Douglas (Australia)
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au