Austria Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten: 8 weeks to go

Cam Brown heading for Austria

Cameron Brown has added his name to the list of 565 athletes signed up for the debut Ironman 70.3 event in St. Pölten. The six-time Ironman New Zealand champ will take on, among others, world duathlon champion Leon Griffin for the win.

Austria Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten will take place on June 2nd 2007 at 2 PM at the Lake Viehofener See in St. Pölten near Vienna.

Brown becomes the top seed for the event. In addition to his six New Zealand titles Brown has also finished near the top at the Ford Ironman World Championship, including a pair of second and third place finishes.

Griffin, from Australia, is the current duathlon world champion and will start at the Austria IRONMAN 70.3 as well.

Austrian’s slated to compete include Werner Leitner, Austria’s top finisher in Hawaii last year, and Gernot Seidl, who recently finished fifth at Ironman Malaysia. Other top Austrian’s to watch for include Norbert Domnik, Norbert König and Daniel Niederreiter.

The female starting list is also very competitive. Hungary’s Erika Csomor finished first at the Ironman Austria in 2004. Edith Niederfriniger, from South Tyrol, is also one of the favorites. In 2006 Niederfriniger finished first at Ironman France and earlier this year she finished second \at the Ironman South Africa. Holland’s Heleen bij de Vaate is also set to compete after finishing fifth in South Africa. The Austrian female pro field is lead by Monika Altenreiter.

The kick-off of the Austria IRONMAN 70.3 is the opening of the Expo, the IronKIDS Triathlon, Company Triathlon Challenge and Fun Triathlon Challenge on Friday, June 1st.