teamTBB Alaska Philippines Team

Race Preview - April 21st-22nd 2012

Koh Samui Triathlon, Thailand

Sunday April 22nd
Distance: 4 km swim • 123km bike • 30km run

teamTBB - Philippines athletes racing
Caroline Steffen
Dave Dellow
Ali Fitch

teamTBB - Thailand athletes racing
Aaron Farlow
Matt Bailey

Xena, Dave, and Ali hot off the offical launch of teamTBB Alaska Milk Philippines will lead a star-studded teamTBB crew also including Aaron Farlow and young gun Matt Bailey to race at the Koh Samui Triathlon in Thailand this weekend.  This will be a unique long course event that promises a star-studded stacked field, a challenging course, and very hot humid conditions.  This is the first year of the event, since last year just weeks before it was due to go ahead severe flooding washed roads away and made it impossible to hold the event. This new race is very attractive to top professionals as it has a huge prize purse in conditions similar to the Kona Ironman in Hawaii later in the year. For the age group athletes, it is an amazing location to race and enjoy a holiday in paradise.  The weather will be very hot and humid.  The race starts with a long swim in the sea moves onto a challenging bike and finishes with the run where the heat and humidity will be the biggest challenge facing the racers.  The men's field is stacked in addition to our Dave and Aaron.  There are many top Irondistance athletes including Cam Brown, Dirk Bockel, Faris Al Sultan, and Steffan Poulat to name a few.  The women's side is not nearly as stacked our Xena is the clear favorite.  But Ali will have some good competition including Belinda Granger and Jo Lawn and a few other top Ironwomen from around the world.

Xena says that she feels ready to go and is looking forward to a fun race.  Ali is also very excited especially coming off her first win with teamTBB just a few weeks ago.  She has no expectations but has had a good number of solid weeks training in the heat and hopes that will be to her advantage.  And Ali is ready to compete and go for a podium against the top Ironwomen in the field.  Aaron is also very excited to race after a great block of training after his New Zealand 70.3.  Aaron has been training hard with the team on the Sunshine Coast and is confident in his preparations.  He is hoping that he and Dave are atop the podium on Sunday.  After his breakthrough race at IM Melbourne, Dave has racovered well and has been training hard with the team on the Sunshine Coast.  He said that his training has been going really well, and he is excited to have a good one backing up on his form in Melbourne.  While young gun Matty has been training hard, he is ready to fly and show those old boys how it is done.

Best of luck teamTBB stars!  Go for the podium and fight hard. 


Find out more: http://www.triathlonsamui.com

Ironman South Africa, South Africa

Sunday April 22nd
Distance: 3.8 km swim • 180km bike • 42.2km run

teamTBB - Germany athlete racing
Diana Riesler

Diana is excited to kick off her Ironman season in South Africa this weekend.  After a strong 3rd place there last year, she will be looking to move up the podium this year.  The race will be challenging and promises to be fast.  The weather could be anything from very hot and humid to cool and windy.  But regardless, Diana will be ready to battle for the win.   will lead a star-studded teamTBB crew to race at the Asian Pacific Ironman Championship in Melbourne this weekend.  This will be a unique Ironman race that promises a star-studded stacked field and a fun challenging course.  The race will start with a swim in the sea move on to flat but windy bike course, and finish with a fast run course.  The weather could be anything from hot and humid to cold and wet.   The women's field will include not only our Diana but also top contenders including Natasha Badmann, Virginia Berasategui, Simone Brändli, and Anne Basso.

Diana says that she feels ready to go and is looking forward to a great race.  Diana has finally been able to have a good training block with weather the cooperated to allow her to finally train outside over the last 6 weeks.  She has no expectations but has had a good number of solid weeks training and is ready to test her fitness.

Best of luck Diana!  Go for the podium and fight hard. 


Find out more: http://www.ironmansouthafrica.com

Good luck, we wish you the best mechanical luck!