ORANGE Cycle and Triathlon Club president Michael Lockyer’s confidence isn’t dented despite an 11th hour swap of venue, taking Sunday’s Orange Inter-Club Triathlon Series leg to Dubbo.

Thanks to the need to monitor water levels in Dubbo’s Macquarie River and schedule the Inter-Club race accordingly it was deemed necessary to move Sunday’s race down the Mitchell Highway.

However, with Lockyer confident his club is leading the series - although he’s not sure of exact points tallies - the Piranhas president said the shift could actually give Orange an advantage.

It means Lake Canobolas hosts the final leg next month.

“We’ll definitely be sending out a call to arms for the Orange race,” he said.

“We had about 300 starters in the last year’s race, so we want to get that many again. As many as possible anyway.

“We’ve seen so far this year that Mudgee haven’t been as active, whereas we’re still getting a lot of competitors travelling and competing, so I’d be pretty confident we’re in front at the moment, even with the division system having an impact on the points.”

Lockyer said the Piranhas will be looking to match, or even eclipse, their outstanding performance at the Bathurst leg on Australia Day.

“Our junior men, the under-20 guys, were incredible that day and have been for a while. They were eight of the top 10 in Bathurst in that division,” Lockyer enthused.

“That’s not to discredit anyone else, particularly our women who also do well, but those guys are doing really, really well.

“The club invested in the junior five or six years ago and we’re starting to really reap the benefits.

“We’re hoping they put in another good performance and that everyone else does too, so we can go into the Orange leg with a wet sail.”

On Sunday in Dubbo, competitors will contest the mini (150m swim, 4km cycle, 1km run), enticer (350m swim, 9km cycle, 2km run) or sprint (500m swim, 18km cycle, 4km run) races.