For Dutch short distance triathlete Rani Skrabanja race season started with the ETU race in Quarteira, Portugal, at the beginning of April. She set herself at the head of the junior field immediately in the swim leg that took place in the sea, passed the buoys on the 1.5k swim course in third position and kept this position when sprinting into the first transition to get on her STEVENS Xenon.

“At the beginning there were seven of us leading with only 25 seconds ahead of the chasing pack“, recounts Skrabanja who could keep up with the diversely hard working riders in the leading group for the whole 40 bike kilometers with only a short interruption and got with them to the second transition before heading on the course of the concluding 10k run.

“I took it slow on the first few hundred meters in order to be able to really push hard later on“, the pro athlete said. “Unfortunately my legs were more tired after the exhausting bike ride than I thought and I could not perform like I would have wanted to.“

Nevertheless Rani Skrabanja is happy with her 13th place – “I stayed within the four percent range of the winner’s time“ – and is glad to have won herself a slot for the junior European Championship that will take place in June in Kitzbühel, Austria.

But first, the young triathlete wants to focus on another race: her first Worldcup race on June 4 in Cagliari, Sardinia – “provided I make it on the starting list“, she says and will probably keep her fingers crossed for herself.