"We are thrilled to have so many multisports on the calendar for 2013," said International Triathlon Union (ITU) President and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Marisol Casado.

"While triathlon is the cornerstone of our organisation, we are committed to the development of all multisports.

"The growth of these disciplines is a great asset in the advancement of our sport across the world."

In addition to the winter triathlon, which involves running and mountain biking on snow, as well as cross country skiing, the multisport calendar includes three duathlon events, long distance triathlon, cross triathlon, and aquathlon.

The ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be the second multisport world championship to take centre stage in the 2013 season on June 2 in Belfort, France.

The race will be decided over a 4 kilometre swim, 110km bike and 30km run, approximately three times the Olympic triathlon distance.

Cross triathlon, which consists of swimming, mountain biking, and cross-country running, will have its World Championships on July 13 in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Dutch city was the location of this year's successful Cross Triathlon European Championships.

Ottawa will host the 2013 ITU Duathlon World Championships

Up next will be the three duathlon competitions, starting with the elite world championships as part of the World Games on July 26-27 in Cali, Colombia.

Only the elites will race the 10km run, 40km bike, 5km run race in Cali, which marks duathlon's debut in the World Games.

The Canadian capital of Ottawa will host the ITU Duathlon World Championships for mixed relay, junior, under-23, age-group, and Paratriathlon categories on August 10-11

The duathlon portion of the calendar will conclude with the return of the Long Distance Duathlon World Championships to Zofingen, Switzerland for the third consecutive year in a continuation of ITU's partnership with Powerman.

The grueling 10km run, 150km bike, 30km run will take place on September 8 and marks the 25th anniversary of the Powerman Zofingen.

The 2013 ITU World Championships for Aquathlon — a 2.5km run, 1km swim, 2.5km run — will coincide with the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final on September 11 in Hyde Park, the London 2012 Olympic venue.

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