The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today announced changes to the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series and World Cup calendar.  Stockholm has been added as a new host city, replacing Lausanne, which had to withdraw from the series due to insufficient funding. 

The event will still take place on 25-26 August and includes the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships as well as the sixth round of the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series.  A total prize purse of $170,000 USD will be on offer across the two races.  It will mark the first time since 1997 that the Swedish capital will host an ITU event and is seen as a great boost for triathlon’s growth in the Nordic region. 

The new schedule for the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series is:
April 14 - Sydney, Australia
May 11-12 - San Diego, USA
May 26-27 - Madrid, Spain (final race in Olympic qualification)
June 23-24 - Kitzbuehel, Austria
July 21-22 - Hamburg, Germany (sprint distance)
August 25-26 - Stockholm, Sweden (sprint distance, and includes the Mixed Relay World Championships)
September 30 - Yokohama, Japan
October 20-22 - Grand Final - Auckland, New Zealand (includes Junior, Under23, Paratriathlon and Age-Group World Championships)

Click here for more on the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series

ITU also announced changes to the 2012 ITU Triathlon World Cup season.  The Guatape World Cup in Colombia, originally scheduled for 1 July, has been re-scheduled for 9 September due to local challenges with staging the event in July. 

For the first time, ITU World Cup events will take place over a sprint distance and those events will be:
July 8 - Edmonton, Canada
July 14-15 - Tiszaujvaros, Hungary
October 7 - Cancun, Mexico

The event in Tiszaujvaros will be held over two days and will feature a new format with the semi-finals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. 

Click here for more on the 2012 ITU Triathlon World Cup Series