Triathlon: Chance for Samuels to show her form

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Five of the country's leading six triathletes will line up in the third round of the eight-leg world series in Yokohama today.

The only absentee is Andrea Hewitt, who is with her fiance Laurent Vidal as he recovers from a heart attack suffered last month.

Of particular interest will be the performance of Nicky Samuels, the Wanaka-based athlete, who is fighting for redress after being omitted from the team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Samuels, who is placed 13th on the ITU ranking list, was listed as a reserve for the mixed relay but has appealed the decision. It has taken several weeks for the review panel to make its decision, which is expected in the next few days.

A strong performance from Samuels would not hurt her argument.

Ryan Sissons, Tom Davison, Tony Dodds and Kate McIlroy will all line up in Yokohama. Auckland's Sissons is sixth on the world series rankings after the legs in Auckland and Cape Town.

With the world No 1 and 2, Spain's Javier Gomez and Britain's Jonny Brownlee lining up, along with Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, in his first start to the season, the pace should be hot.

"I have raced here three times and always seem to go reasonably well so hopefully I can get a good result," Sissons said.

Dodds competed in the World Cup event in China last weekend, his first race since breaking his elbow in New Plymouth in March.

"This is the first Olympic points race for Rio so hopefully I will post a strong result, get the process right and get the points rolling towards Rio."

The women's field will feature the three placegetters from last year's race, American Gwen Jorgensen, Australian Emma Moffatt and Britain's world No 1 Jodie Stimpson.