4 Irish triathletes fancied to make triathlon finals

Reid ranked No 1 in Hungry

Ireland will be well represented in Hungary for the Tiszaujvaros ITU World Cup with Aileen Reid, Bryan Keane and Conor Murphy leading the charge for the seniors while Emma Sharkey will race in the junior women's event.

Last year saw the introduction of an exciting sprint semi final and final format with the top finishers and fastest losers going through to the final. The format adds another dimension to racing with competitors needing to gauge their effort in order to progress though to the final and still have a chance of making the podium.

The women's race has two semi final groups with world number 12, Aileen Reid lining up in the first semi final as the number 1 ranked athlete. Should she progress to the final, Aileen will likely meet some of the top Aussie's including current Duathlon World Champion, Felicity Sheedy-Ryan.

The men's race contains 114 athletes split into 4 semi final groups. The Irish duo of Bryan Keane and Conor Murphy go off in semi final number 3 with Cork man Bryan Keane the number one ranked athlete amongst them. Conor Murphy from Armagh has been on the rise this season and starts ranked number 4.

With so many battling it out for the final it will be important for both Keane and Murphy to get off to a fast start and finish amongst the top 7 to be guaranteed a start in the final.

Frenchman Gregory Rouault has won two World Cups already this year and will be looking to add another victory to the list. Also likely to challenge in the final will be U23 European Champion Florin Salvisberg and the powerful Russian Alexander Bryukhankov.

Emma Sharkey thrilled the crowds in Athlone just last month when she claimed bronze at the ETU European Cup showing she is in good form. Having spent a number of weeks in warm weather training she will be well prepared for this outing. Heat number 2 contains 30 athletes with Sharkey requiring a top 14 finish to be guaranteed a place in the final.

Double Junior European Champion Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain will be heavily fancied to go all the way.

The 2013 Tiszaujavros ITU World Cup gets underway when the first elite women's semi final starts at 2:30pm on Saturday 10 August. Semi finals will start in waves every 20 minutes, followed by the first men's heat at 5.10pm. The finals will follow on Sunday 15 July with the women's at 4:45pm followed by the men's final at 6.00pm.

Follow the action live at: twitter.com/triathlonlive