The event is being staged by British Triathlon in partnership with Lagardère/Upsolut on the weekend of August 15-16 next year.

 

Dextro Energy will be the title sponsor for the series, now to be known as the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series.

 

It will consist of seven World Championship events and a Grand Final, all featuring live television.

 

A record $2 million (£1.3 million) will be at stake in the battle to become ITU’s 2009 world champion.

 

The Hyde Park event will see the best triathletes from around the world race head to head for the £125,000 prize purse in and around Hyde Park, the location of the triathlon at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

 

The event will be entirely within the Park, insidethegames understands, but will not use the proposed 2012 bike course because of the massive disruption to traffic that would cause.

 

The full route to used in 2012 will not be tested until 2011, it is understood.

 

The London event will be the fifth race in the World Championship Series, following on from Singapore, Madrid, Washington DC, Kitzbühel and Hamburg.

 

The Series continues after London with a race in Yokohama before the Grand Final on Australia ’s Gold Coast on September 9-13.

 

The race weekend will include the British Youth and Junior Triathlon Championships and there will also be a disabled competition.

 

Alongside the elite racing there will be an open entry triathlon for newcomers to the sport, and the event aims to engage with the local community through offering opportunities to volunteer and spectate.

 

British Triathlon president Sarah Springman said: “British Triathlon is delighted to have been selected to host one of the races in the new ITU World Championship Series.

 

"This has given British Triathlon an opportunity to further raise the profile of one of the country’s fastest growing sports in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

 

"Hyde Park will provide an incredible backdrop for one of the most exciting and dynamic Olympic sports.

 

"The event will offer a magnificent opportunity for our athletes and officials to prepare on home soil ahead of the 2012 Olympiad.”

 

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Bringing the ITU Triathlon World Championship Series to London in 2009 is an excellent idea and an opportunity to establish Hyde Park as one of our key Olympic venues.

 

"As London builds towards 2012, the World Championship Series will showcase electrifying sporting action against an unrivalled central London backdrop.

 

"Londoners and visitors alike will see some of the world's best athletes compete in the heart of London - but they will also be able to have a go themselves at the same venue.”

 

Wales’s World Triathlon Champion Helen Jenkins (née Tucker) said:  “I am really looking forward to competing at the ITU World Championship Series event in London, it will be fantastic to race in front of a home crowd.

 

"As athletes we can really show off our sport and raise its profile at such a prestigious location.

 

"I am looking forward to competing as part of a strong British team at the event, and hopefully we can provide the crowd with something to cheer about."

 

The ITU secretary general Loreen Barnett said:  “The new series is a significant step forward in the history of the sport.

 

“Given this is the first year of the series and with the current global economic crisis, this is a very successful outcome.

 

"We’re proud to take this series to great cities that have shown tremendous support.”

 

The year-end bonus pool will be almost triple from previous years, with $700,000 (£468,649) being presented at the end of the series. 

 

Each World Championship event will feature a $150,000 (£100,424) prize purse with the Grand Final offering $250,000 (£167,375).

 

Paul Coleman, ITU managing director for the series, said: We are creating a distinct top quality sports product that offers outstanding opportunities for our athletes, sponsors, host cities and television broadcasters.

 

"We are delighted to announce that the 2009 events schedule will include some of the world's most renowned cities."