EUROPE CALLS IN THE BIG GUNS…

The Collins Cup announces Chrissie Wellington and Normann Stadler as European Team Captains

Fast on the heals of announcing legends Dave Scott and Karen Smyers as USA Team Captains, The Collins Cup has upped the ante by appointing Great Britain’s 4-time Ironman World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, and Germany’s twice Ironman World Champion, Normann Stadler, as European Team Captains.

Both were honoured with their appointments, and the outspoken German was not shy about Europe’s prospects, commenting “Europe will win. The only question will be whether the USA or the Internationals gets stuck with The Broken Spoke trophy.”

Here is the full announcement – any guesses on who the captain’s of the international team will be?

THE PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETES ORGANISATION ANNOUNCES CHRISSIE WELLINGTON AND NORMANN STADLER AS EUROPEAN TEAM CAPTAINS FOR THE COLLINS CUP

The Professional Triathletes Organisation today announced the appointment of Chrissie Wellington, 4x IRONMAN World Champion and lRONMAN distance world record holder, and Normann Stadler, 2x IRONMAN World Champion, as Team Europe Captains for The Collins Cup. The Collins Cup is a first of its kind global competition in which teams of professional triathletes odeom the USA, Europe and the rest of the World (the “Internationals”) will compete to determine which region dominates the sport of triathlon.

Modelled after golf’s Ryder Cup, The Collins Cup will be a long-distance team competition among USA, Europe and the Internationals. Each team will consist of 12 professional triathletes, six men and six women. (Click here to see The Collins Cup–How It Works.)

Chrissie Wellington commented, “I am thrilled to have been selected as one of the European Team captains for the inaugural Collins Cup. Triathlon is such an amazing sport – innovative, forward thinking and truly open to all. The Collins Cup marks a hugely exciting and important new addition to the race calendar, with the best male and female athletes in the world racing head-to-head in a fantastic new format. Not only that, there’s the opportunity to be involved in a whole weekend of tri-related activities, enabling us to celebrate everything that’s great about our sport. Together with Normann, I can’t wait to captain the European team in this unique debut event!”

Normann Stadler stated, “It is a privilege to be able to serve as a European Captain with Chrissie. The Collins Cup, with its Ryder Cup format, will produce an exceptionally exciting and dramatic event. The Points System particularly suits the European style of racing, where we go all out from the starting gun, as opposed to some of the strategic “cat and mouse” waiting styles of others. European athletes like Ryf, Frodeno and Kienle race not just to win, but to win by big margins. We will be taking this approach at The Collins Cup, and it is very unlikely that Team USA or the Internationals will be able to withstand this type of onslaught. Europe will win, the only real question will be whether the USA or the Internationals gets stuck with The Broken Spoke trophy.”