THE XTerra-Albay fires off today with around 300 triathletes from 18 countries looking to conquer the unspoiled terrain at the foot of Mount Mayon.
The race will feature a 1.5-kilometer swim in the Lidong Beach and will traverse a 35k off-road bike course.
Among the 300 triathletes, there will be 13 pro triathletes led by defending champion Bradley Weiss.
Weiss will try to defend his title against former grandslam champion Ben Allen of Australia, Guam’s Cameron O’neal and Charlie Epperson together with Michal Bucak of Crotia, Taylor Charlton of Australia, Hong Kong’s Hsieh Chung Sing, Australian Brodie Gardner and Cebu’s Joseph Miller.
In the distaff side, top contenders are Australians’ Dimity Lee Duke, Jacqui Slack and Lizzie Orchard as well as Guam’s Micko Carey. The Filipino elite division won’t be short of entertainment as some rising Filipino triathletes will be seeing action such as Billy Biag of Camsur Tri Team, Boholano Emmanuel Comendador of Paseo de Loon, Rosalito Dagoy of Motorace, Dexter Nonato of TWF-Reliance, Franklin Peñalosa of Green Planet Bikeshop, Benjamin Rana of Active Health Elite Team and Alfredo Sarrosa.
Also gunning for the crown are Noemi Andrea Galeos of Tri-Generals, Angelica Yvonne Limcojo of Team BMC and Anna Marissa Remigio of Team David’s Salon.