The International Triathlon Union have confirmed the eight-race schedule for the 2016 World Triathlon Series ©Delly Carr/ITU

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) has announced they have confirmed there are two debutants among the eight cities who will host a World Triathlon Series event in 2016.

Cozumel in Mexico has not played host to a World Triathlon Series race before but they have been awarded the 2016 Grand Final, scheduled for September 11 to 18.

The other debutant will be Leeds, a race that will give British Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee and brother Jonathan, a world champion and the bronze medallist at London 2012, the opportunity to compete in their home city after it was chosen as UK's candidate last month.

The event is due to take place on June 11 and 12.

Abu Dhabi will stage the opening event for the second year running, on March 4 and 5, before the Series, which brings together the world’s top triathletes together over eight weekends in the year, switches to Australian city Gold Coast, which returned to the 2015 calendar following a five-year hiatus and was recently announced as the chosen host of the 2018 Grand Final.

The following event, which will be held in Yokohama, Japan, is particularly vital for the athletes as it will be the last to offer Olympic qualification for Rio 2016.

The Japanese leg is scheduled to take place on May 14 and 15, before the European segment of the calendar gets underway in Leeds.

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee will get the chance to compete in his hometown as Leeds will host Britain's World Triathlon Series leg in 2016
Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee will get the chance to compete in his home city as Leeds will host Britain's World Triathlon Series leg in 2016 ©Getty Images

Following the race in Yorkshire, the Series goes to the Swedish capital Stockholm, on July 2 and 3, before it makes its usual visit to Hamburg on July 16 to 17.

The German city has staged a World Triathlon Series event in every year since its inception in 2009.

After the Series takes a break for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Edmonton in Canada is due to host the final leg before the Grand Final, the dates which are still to be announced.

The Series itself is one of the focal points of the sport of triathlon and Javier Gomez Noya of Spain heads an all-Spanish top three in this year’s event on 3,507 points.

He is followed by Mario Mola and Fernando Alarza, while Alistair Brownlee is currently fifth. 

In the women’s competition, American Gwen Jorgensen leads on 4,000 points ahead of compatriot Katie Zaferes and New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt.



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