JETTING OFF: Triathletes Marcus Wale and Keith Ritchie who will represent Great Britain in Isreal in a couple of weeks time.

ST Neots traithletes Marcus Wale and Keith Ritchie – who have both qualified to represent Great Britain at sprint triathlon – are in the final stages of their preparations for the European Championships which will take place Israel on April 20.

The duo have been preparing for the race for six months since achieving the qualifying standard in September 2011.

“Preparations have been going really well,” said Wale, adding: “But we checked the weather forecast for Eilat and it is currently topping 34 degrees.

“We can prepare for most things but that kind of heat is going to be our biggest enemy”.

The pair head out to the Red Sea port of Eilat on Wednesday, April 18, and will have just two days to acclimatise prior to the race which will start at 7am on the Saturday morning..

Meanwhile, triathletes from all over the country will be in St Neots in May when the town’s Nicetri Triathlon Club hosts a leg of the English League sprint triathlon series.

The race will be over the sprint distance, which is a 750-metre river swim, a 12-mile cycle and a 3.1-mile run. It will be held on May 20 with a mini-sprint race for those who would like to try out the sport but who don’t feel too confident about completing at the greater distance. Both races are open to the public.

For more information, visit www.nicetri.co.uk