World Triathlon confirm Professional Triathlon Organisation Tour as long distance triathlon world championship

World Triathlon and the Professional Triathlon Organisation (PTO) have announced a new, season-long triathlon world championship that will start in 2024.

The PTO will become the World Championship Tour of long distance triathlon in the new deal.

PTO CEO Sam Renouf and World Triathlon president Marisol Casado confirmed some of the details ahead of further news to come in October this year.

The competition will start in March or April 2024 and will comprise five continental championships and one world championship, in order to establish a world triathlon champion, a practice that had not yet been established for the sport.

Renouf explained: “We are excited to announce a partnership between World Triathlon and the Professional Triathlon Organization, to establish a new season-long world championship for long distance triathlons.

“The main objective is to help triathlon go mainstream, to do that we need a season-long narrative that tells the story of the athletes, and that’s really what we’re seeking to create today.

“This is just like the relationship between the FIA and Formula 1, a more established sport. In Formula 1 you have a season-long narrative, the athletes start in Bahrain I think, and you go all the way through the year and crown a world champion and FIA is the world governing body. Exactly the same thing here: World Triathlon is the world governing body and PTO is like Formula 1.

“We’ve created a Formula 1 calendar, beautiful locations around the world, the very best athletes to compete to be the world champion.”

He continued, adding that the competition would confirm the location and precise dates of the events to come, in October.

“There will be at least six stages, that will be announced today, that will be the world championship and five continental championships, so Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and Americas, and those will be the five stages plus the world championships,” he said.

“These events will be held all around the world. We haven’t announced the calendar yet or the dates – that will come in October. And the competition is both for professional athletes and also for amateurs, so it will be an opportunity for amateur athletes from all around the world to race to be the world champion.”

Renouf predicted that there would be benefits for athletes and spectators alike by producing a competition that will see the same figures from the sport coming together more regularly than they have in the past.

He said the development would produce, “Really quite significant changes for the athletes. Previously they’ve been quite fragmented in their racing. Now there’ll be a cohesive calendar where they’re racing the same athletes again and again throughout the year, and this is really something we only really see at the moment at one or two races so now whether you’re a professional athlete or a fan, you’ll be able to see the athletes going head-to-head all through the year.

“What we announced today will start next year, in March or April, and in October of this year we will announce the calendar. We will say where the locations are, what the dates are and who the athletes are.”

The world championship will take place over a season-long tour, with points awarded over the course of the season.

Races will be 100 kilometres in distance (2km Swim, 80Km Bike, 18km Run) and operate under World Triathlon rules.