In a press conference held earlier today, representatives of the Formentera Council’s office of sport gave residents advance warning about the excitement set to sweep through the town of Es Pujols this Saturday: the third annual Triatló Illa de Formentera, the island’s own triathlon. As councillor of sport Jordi Vidal reported, the event dovetails with this month’s Descobreix Formentera a l’octubre (Discover Formentera in October) publicity campaign, which aims to promote a different, active brand of tourism. «What we want», explained Vidal, «is for Formentera’s visitors to enjoy everything the island has to offer in the low season too – both May and October».

Road closures from 2-6:30pm
The councillor took the opportunity to apologise to residents and tourists alike for the traffic interruptions to occur as a result of the trial on Saturday. From two to half past six in the evening, the flow of traffic will be cut from carrer Espalmador in Es Pujols to Sa Sequi restaurant on the Es Pujols-la Savina road.    

Athletes given till Saturday to sign up
A total of 200 athletes will participate, according to Manuel Hernández, director general of Unisport Consulting, the company that has coordinated organisation for the event. Citing the 168 names already registered, Hernández shared his hope that «last-minute registrations on Saturday bring that number to 200». From half past nine in the morning till half past one at midday, hopeful triathletes can sign up at the tent that will be erected at Es Pujol’s plaça d’Europa. Plaça d’Europa will also be the distribution point for number shirts for anyone else participating in the triathlon.

Triathlon stats
The CiF sports office staff specialist Daniel de la Dueña explained the choice of modalities available to participants – Sprint or Olímpica – and noted that a participant’s selection of the latter meant trials would be completed in teams. Three different disciplines are included in Saturday’s Triatló: swimming, cycling and running, in that order. De la Dueña pointed out that distances at the triathlon depend on a participant’s desired modality, but that the circuits used do not change; a triathlete will simply adjust the number of laps he completes according whether he has chosen Sprint or Olímpica.

For Sprint, distances are 750 metres swimming, 20 kilometres cycling and 5 km running, and for Olímpica, they are broken down as 1,500 m, 40 km and 10 km. Those triathletes competing as members of a team will follow Sprint distances. Sprint and team participants leave their starting blocks at 3:30pm, with completion expected within an hour. At 4:30pm the whistle will be blown to start the Olímpica modality, with final participants expected to have completed the last trials within the next three hours. More information can be found on the triatlonformentera.com website.

Núria de la Torre, a representative of sponsoring-company Trasmapi, expressed her hope that more events like the Triatló would be organised by the Formentera Council in the future. She reminded residents and triathletes of the discounts Trasmapi offers to participants and anyone else travelling in their company, and highlighted the additional support her company provides in the transport of volunteers and material for the event.