Duathlon World Champions Headline Starters in 2016 Powerman Philippines

By Wires December 1, 2016

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More than 700 duathletes will conquer the roads of Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Philippines this Sunday for the Powerman Philippines World Series. Powerman’s featured category will be the Powerman Classic, featuring a 10km run, 6okm bike, and a finishing 10km run. Aside from having a Powerman Classic, the Maybank Powerman Philippines World Series will also feature the Powerman Short(5km run–30km bike–5 km run), the Powerkids (for kids ages 6-12) and the Powerteens (for teens aged 13-19).

The deep field of Duathlon World Champions who will fight for the men’s elite title includes Odeyn Seppe (BEL), Gael Le Bellec (FRA) and Thomas Bruins (NED). Local competition will come from Philippine duathlon specialist Joey Delos Reyes of the Standard Insurance team as well as the country’s top ITU athlete John Rambo Chicano.

In the women’s field, reigning Powerman World Champion Emma Pooley of Great Britain is the favorite to win the women’s title. A time-trial specialist, she will face stiff competition from the Philippines’ Monica Torres, who is the defending Powerman Philippines Champion and Miriam Van Reijen (SUI), ranked no.4 in the world ITU duathlon ranking. 2015 Powerman Philippines runner-up Airi Sawada of Japan is also in the starter’s list.

The run course will be mostly flat to false flats, all within the confines of Clark Freeport Zone, a former US military base in Pampanga, 80kms north of Manila. The bike course is also mostly flat, with only a long gradual low gradient climb to Porac in SCTEX freeway the only difficult part of the course. Expect normal heat and crosswind in the freeway, but it is usually forgiving in this time of the year in the Philippines in terms of temperature.

Powerman is a premier race series across the world and has been present for 27 years in 30 different countries. For the first time too, the Maybank Powerman Philippines World Series will be a qualifying race for the Powerman Duathlon World Championships which will be held in Zofingen, Switzerland in 2017.

“Maybank welcomes this partnership with Powerman Philippines,” said Miss Pollie Sim, CEO International of Maybank Group. “This is a milestone for Maybank as it is the first time that the Group is in support of an endurance sports event. Through this partnership with Powerman, we are hoping to connect and strengthen Maybank Philippines’ relationship with the community through sportsmanship. We are hopeful that with such involvement, we are not only nurturing talents from the region, but also building collaboration with our ASEAN and global community at large.”