On September 14, the European Championship Long Distance will take place at Challenge Almere-Amsterdam: a European title race over 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running. Dutch national coach Rik van Trigt has now announced his Dutch professional team for the race: six Dutch men and three Dutch women will compete for the podium.
In the men’s race, Pim van Diemen, Jorik van Egdom, Tom Oosterdijk, Erik-Simon Strijk, Marijn Markusse and Robert de Korte will compete on behalf of The Netherlands. Pim van Diemen finished fifth at last year’s European Championship in Almere and is now aiming for a perhaps even higher ranking. In any case, he is in perfect shape, as Van Diemen recently became Dutch Champion Middle Distance.
Jorik van Egdom, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and finished fourth with the Dutch triathlon team, will make his debut in Almere. In addition, it will be only his second race over the Long Distance.
As for Dutch women, eyes are on Marlene de Boer, Dieuwertje Bax and Heleen Moes. De Boer is one of the favorites for victory; last year she finished second at the European Championships, just behind Els Visser.
