Ellice ready with full tank

New Plymouth triathlete Clark Ellice is one of four New Zealanders looking to round off their challenging world championship series with a podium finish in Budapest this weekend.

Ellice will use the recent death of his grandmother as inspiration when he competes in the series finale in Hungary.

His season so far has been a steady one but lacking a big result.

The 28-year-old's best placing was a creditable 10th in the Hy Vee ITU World Cup at Des Moines when arguably the best field of the year assembled to chase the biggest purse on offer in the sport.

Since then, Ellice has finished 17th in London and 33rd at Kitzbuhel, Austria, to be ranked 44th in the weekend's racing.

Ellice has been fine-tuning his preparation with British athletes Stuart Hayes and Michelle Dillon and loving every minute of it.

"Training in Loughborough [England] has been amazing with a true team of professionals around me, eating, sleeping and training the very stuff that helps me believe in greatness," he said this week.

"Stuart Hayes and Michelle Dillon are a dynamic duo and I have a lot to thank them for in allowing me to be a part of their programme for two weeks.

"The plan now is for it all to come together this weekend in Budapest."

Ellice feels he is in great shape ahead of the most important race of the season.

He won't lack for support from the sidelines, with his mother Bev Ellice, of New Plymouth, in Hungary to watch him compete.

"The body has never felt better, the head clearer and the motor is running on a full tank of Taranaki fire," he said.

Ellice will be joined in the elite men's race by Palmerston North's Kris Gemmell, Martin van Barneveld, of Wellington, and Ben Pattle, of Auckland.

Meanwhile, Inglewood's Edward Rawles contests the junior (under-19) men's event and has spent the last part of his buildup as a member of the New Zealand training camp in Germany.

"There are 79 starters in my race, which makes it the biggest field I have raced in," Rawles said from Budapest yesterday.

"I am expecting the race to be very fast so there won't be a lot of time to think about things. It will come down to pure racing instincts."

- © Fairfax NZ News