this is the essence of bike racing.

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Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

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When has Varga ever had a super strong run? Never in my recollection. So, once in the break, he has two choices, work hard and hope to build a big enough lead into T2 to have a chance to podium, or not work, let the chase pack catch them, and guarantee no place on the podium. If the chase pack was disorganized, or there was a crash in the chase pack, they could have entered T2 with a lead of 1-2 mins and that could have been enough. Didn't work this time.
And beyond that, he's a professional. Being in a 4 man break gave him and his sponsors a higher profile on TV. Same reason cyclists make suicidal breaks in bike races when they know they're on a hiding to nothing.

Ya, a better strategy would be to sit up on the swim, hang with the 50 man pack in the bike, and then get 49th and 50th. You are a genius, maybe they are looking for a coach.. (-;

Look, when you are the top swimmers and can split the field, and have willing bikers to force the break with you, that is your only strategy. It could just as easily been a 2 minute gap, you just never know what is gong to happen. 2 minutes and many of the chasers will not catch you in the run, and you have gotten the best place possible for yourself, not to mention that it appears the guy you were working for won the race( which is a victory for yourself in team racing)

I completely understand he essentially worked as a domestique, and it was a victory for his "team mate", I just wondered if that was his best strategy and prospect of a win

There also seems to be a more formal relation where it is in his interests t help the Brownlees. Maybe for cash, maybe for training with them, maybe just for foot rubs.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Richard Varga, like most triathletes, will probably never win a race, and may only have a couple of podiums in his entire career. So why does he do triathlon? Because it is exhilarating fun. And his motivation is to train to be as good as he possibly can be. What we saw last week was Richard doing the best bike leg of his entire career and he was leading the race for 70 minutes. He proved he is one of the best bikers in ITU. And he even ran pretty decently to come 15th. For Richard it was a great performance. Alternatively, he could have done less on the swim, sat at the back of the bike pack and watch while Gwen Jorgensen wins...

I thought it was an amazing swim - the conditions didn't appear to help and the field just split, it clearly works in JB's favour and the way he encouraged all of them to work was really impressive, and the ones that failed to bridge that gap in the swim just got stuffed. JB / AB obviously have a domestique in Varga that is of huge value as Graves clearly couldn't support him at the weekend. It was just tactically interesting - as was the way the wheel pretzeled.......

I just wondered if that was his best strategy and prospect of a win //

He cannot win, just like 90% of the other guys there. Most know they are fighting for a top 10 spot at best, don't think those like Varga have any delusions of grandeur. Even if he was not working for Jonny, his best tactic is to hammer the swim, work with a group as hard as he can on the bike, and hold on for "HIS" best possible place. If/when he ever gets his stand alone 10k down below 31, then he may be able to add some nuances to his race strategies, but until then he is quite limited in what will provide him with his best race..

Remember that Varga came 7th in Auckland as a result of the same general tactics. Calling him a domestique is selling him short.

I only meant it in the sense that he doesn't have the run to hang with JB, not as some slight on his ability

I don't think that's being a domestique at all. I just think the dude was playing the only card he can play. hammer the swim/bike, and work with whoever's going to work with you, and then hold on best you can. people used to bag on the big germans for hammering the bike at ironman, but really: was jurgen zack going to magically ride 'with the pack' and then uncork a 2:36? no, he's an uber-biker. so he uberbikes.

-mike

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Great point! Same thing could have happened at GC. If the chasers aren't as organized, if Gomez and his crew get with the front four, etc. etc. they could have come off with a bigger lead on the pack. It is his only logical choice.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

It's my unscientific opinion that by running with uber runners you'll boast your run legs, VO2 max, etc. for the next race. Varga's strategy was solid IMO.

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I would tend to unscientifically agree with you there.

I also think that there is a lot for him to gain, in terms of tactical awareness/development, by putting himself in the mix at the front regularly.
He's not going to learn much sitting in the pack.

Jonny Brownlee was working as hard as anyone on the bike and leading from the front as he always does. Vargas had an amazing ride, but just isn't quite strong enough on the run to hold on to JB.


If you want an example on an athlete letting others do all the work on the bike before blitzing them on the run, then just watch every women's ITU race this year.

If that was a Gwen dig, I'd say you missed some from his last race - she did a few pulls. A few too many, I'd say. With the current dynamic, the only reason she should pull is to show she can. There is no Mola in the chase pack to hold off.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

It's been answered already but Varga did absolutely the right thing. For a strong swim/biker with limited run ability then you've always got to push the swim and bike and hope to build a big enough buffer by T2 to hold off the faster runners. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it's his only option. His absolute worst option is to roll into T2 with 30-40 other guys.

I'd guess that Varga will almost certainly never podium let alone with win a WTS event but the bigger the buffer he can build at T2 then the better his chances of scoring a Top 10-15, winning more prize-money, gaining more world ranking points, more exposure etc etc.

I think Varga is a fantastic athlete but at the WTS level his run is not quite fast enough to be a serious podium contender however I love the way races.

People forget that Varga has had some impressive performances. He was sixth on the infamous Kitzbuhel mountain course in 2013, 7th at Stockholm in 2013 pursuing the Brownlee swim bike tactics, 9th and 7th in Auckland this in 2014 and 2015 respectively. On the Stockholm short course last year, he and the Brownlees got into a 3 man breakaway but his bike handling let him down and he fell off the back. The Brownlees got a one minute lead and Alistair said that had Richard not fallen, the gap would have been bigger. And he would have come very close to a podium (his run was only 45 seconds slower than the fastest run of the day).

So he is doing absolutely the right thing and those who dismissively label him the Brownlee's domestique are spectacularly missing the point.

The embarrassing question is why don't more people with good swim and bikes commit like Richard?

I think they try, don't they? Kanute has benefited from that approach. Zaferes tries, although I don't know if his cycling is strong enough. Same with the cycling for Schoeman. Maybe Lagerstrom could?

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Exactly, and how many guys can swim and bike that fast anyway, even if he "only" runs 31:55 off the bike. Sh***t, 99.999% of all tri guys would kill to SBR as fast as Varga.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Varga is improving year after year. Johny wouldn't have won this way this year without him.

Since a lot of people are doing conclusion. Laurent Vidal did a recap on the race for us. Gold Coast was a special race where the place on the pontoon did play a lot with the current. Without the current, I'm quite sure that first pack would have been bigger.

Javier Gomez missing the first pack was a first.

http://www.trimes.org/...dal-lessons-learned/

Great to read his perspective - very interesting! 49% Kiwi, right?

The one thing I question is his characterization of the U.S. talent ID program. I assume most of the current women at the WTS level are college recruitment program folks, not athletes moving up from juniors, U23, etc. Perhaps soon, but not yet. Right?

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Thanks Alex, as usual Laurent's analysis is first rate and obv he speaks from his extensive experience racing ITU for many years. Very cool to hear his insights!!!

One other question i was wondering if you could shed some light on: how fast would Varga swim a 1500 scm in the pool, vs what would the Brownlees, Gomez, etc do, vs Mola and Murray??? I've read various opinions on these guys' speeds and just wondered if you had seen any actual time trial results??? I've heard times around 15:30 cited for Gomez; would Varga be 20-30 sec faster, i.e., 15:00 to 15:10???

Cheers,

Eric

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

FWIW I've heard he's gone sub 4 for 400LCM.

In terms of a 1k in a 50m pool, if you can hold 1.05-1.07 you will be front pack and sometimes in the Varga pack.

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http://twitter.com/willrc91 --- instragram.com/willrc91

The Brownlees and their training partner Rhys Davey have set up a stationary pool and underwater treadmill facility (http://www.aquatread.co.uk) and at the launch, they got Richard Varga to see how long he could swim into the flume at maximum setting. The general consensus was that he would not be able to swim for more than a couple of minutes. He was wearing a wetsuit and managed over 10 minutes! This equates to 14 minute 1500 pace (the wetsuit being the crucial factor of course). So no idea of his times in a conventional setting but he is a class apart. There is a mini documentary podcast on the website where you can hear him doing it!

Richard Varga is clearly very suited to IM racing :)

If you are interested in how Richard Varga has acclimatised to Yorkshire traditions, see if you can spot him here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dEaer2tzuc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtuAQw5kA6E

Ah, thanks for that info Will. That puts him in pretty elite swimming company. Andy Potts went 3:58 at the '96 oly trials, and 15:38 for the 1500 lcm, back when he was a pure swimmer. I always like to hear pool times since they are really the only truly standardized way of comparing swimmers.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

You gotta fight for your right for party.


You have some athletes with slow swim time able to find their way in open water.
Right now, the importance of your place on the pontoon is major. Swim times don't show your abilities to change the tempo.

but yes, Varga is in his own league with athletes like Aurelien Raphael.

Thanks Alex. Speaking of swimming, if ITU were to make triathlon a truly equal sport, and made the swim 3000 m instead of 1500, do you think Varga and Raphael would dominate??? Just out of sheer genuine curiosity...:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Sprint distance is already showing that a gap can be done. It's not only about the distance but also about the swim course configuration.

Good point:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

My opinion is no one can swim :56 / 100m without the benefit of the wall, even with a wetsuit, for more than 2-3 minutes. By no one I mean "on the planet," much less a triathlete. Keep in mind guys who go 3:4X in the 400 are killing it off the walls twice per 100.

But I think he is clearly better than everyone he competes against (in the water!) and I think *maybe* he should consider changing sports to OW swimming.

 
Thanks Alex. Speaking of swimming, if ITU were to make triathlon a truly equal sport, and made the swim 3000 m instead of 1500, do you think Varga and Raphael would dominate??? Just out of sheer genuine curiosity...:)[/quote]
And making the Sprint 1500 - 20 - 5 would be good too for setting up swim break aways.

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And making the Sprint 1500 - 20 - 5 would be good too for setting up swim break aways.[/quote]
Absolutely!!! Basing the races on a 1.5K sw/5K rn template would make for a much more balanced race wherein it would not always be won on the run, as seems to be the case about 99% of the time now. Ideally, ITU would extend this even to the longer races, e.g. 6K sw/80K bk/20K rn and 9K sw/120K bk/30K rn. Of course, i realize these ideas are pure fantasy:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

If Varga (and the Russians) were thinking rationally they should of waited for the Gomez group to catch up and then for this larger pack to work against the Mola pack. This would of worked well and they would have put time into the Mola pack without sheeling themselves. This however wouldn't of been in JB's interests as he would love a buffer against Gomez and Mola, so he 'encourages' those with him to work for him, as Varga is his mate he would be more inclined to go along with this and help his buddy out, if he had thought rationally and not worked for Jonny he probably would of got a top 10 as he did in Auckland with a larger lead pack putting time into the chase pack. Overall does Varga get more out of his triathlon career being the Brownlees' bitch... sorry mate ;-) than he does doing his own thing, probably the former??

Which is preferable: to come 15th having at least put yourself in a position to do very much better. Or to come 15th having raced conservatively and rationally but never created the possibility for you to do better?

The Brownlees espouse the former attitude (remember Beijing when Alistair came 12th but heroically tried to win). Most of the women at the moment prefer the second option. Which is the more exciting to watch? Which is the better mindest to have?

For me, the most impressive aspect of Varga's race was that he could still run himself into 15th despite flogging himself on the bike. That has surely given him more confidence in his abiltiies and I'm not sure you could learn that just from training.

Well said, FB. I'm all for the heroic efforts.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."