Not a clue, but I'm going to throw out the first guess and say crossing the double yellow on an open course.

Busted for drafting....3x

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

3 times drafting penalty

---

leslie myers
http://www.foodsensenow.com

Is he vying to be first round draft choice of vw?

Seriously? Once can be called an honest mistake. Twice is suspicious. Three times? Is that any different to cutting the course is or doping?

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Depends on context. I could see him maybe getting into a passing bitch fest with some other rider and just losing it.

Perhaps it was a case of being Rapped multiple times;)

Hugh

---

Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

yes 3 times raises a curious eye, hopefully someone finds out

MR actually raced the whole course and crossed the line first. No joke. He knew he was disqualified and said he wanted to race to the finish and contest the DQ.

At the finish, they interviewed him as the winner and he said he was happy to ride with such a strong rider like Cam Dye.

Second place had no idea he was actually the winner until he was in medical.

Yes. It is different IMO.

Now that is a cheap shot.

A few things:

1. I can see on the Silverman course how he could end up re passing without dropping back on the rollers. It would be really easy to do if you don't pay attention especially with riders of different watts per kilo and watts per CdA. Not an excuse though.

2. Did he stop at the penalty tent after his 1st penalty. If you don't stop, it is an immediate DQ. No need for 3 penalties. One penalty and not stopping at the tent is a DQ.

I think it's different, and given all of the AGers who see is as a "strategy" worth more than the penalties, I'd say most of the tri world feels that way, too. I'd love to see longer penalty times for drafting offences.

On another note, how insane would those emotions be if you were the 2nd place guy who learned he won after the fact? Almost more thrilling than breaking the ribbon.

---

https://www.strava.com/athletes/10327392

Don't they pull AG'ers transition bags if they get DQ's before T1 or T2? Not the same for pros?

Hopefully he at least referenced the appeal during the winner's interview. If not, seems a bit unsportsmanlike.

I pulled this move as a junior when I got dq'd for a bs "yellow line" violation 6km into a 130km provincial championship race. I ignored the commisaire's requests to leave the course, I jumped in breakaways all day, and ended up with a full page of fines and citations for my efforts. Kind of a lose-lose no matter what. It feels shitty to quit a race that you prepared and paid for but you kind of muck up the works for others if you stay in-justified or not.

---

Professional Athlete: http://jordancheyne.wordpress.com/ http://www.strava.com/athletes/145340

Coaching Services:http://www.peakformcoaching.com/

It would be interesting to hear from Reid on this as I believe this is his first 70.3 win, may be kind of a downer to not get to run through the tape as the winner.

Seems really bizarre, most races you couldn't get popped three times even if you tried on purpose! I would find it odd if someone got popped drafting three times in a whole season

There was no tape for men or women. Not that Reid knew that.

I was actually the first person to tell him that he was likely the winner. At the time, I wanted to be sure he knew it wasn't official but that raelert had indeed been DQ'd. He was shocked but was in awe and didn't want tI believe it. I bet he asked 100 people after that.

Yep that was my first 70.3 win. It was too bad not to brake the tap but I think it will just make me more hungry for my next win.

Congrats on the win. Any info on the Raelert DQ?

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

not real I only saw him on the bike once. But it was 3x a drafting penalty that he did not serve.

Raelert wrote on his Facebook page that he wasn't aware of any punishable offence. He wrote he was accompanied by a referee on a motor bike for the whole 90 km.
It's not the first time that pro athletes seem to be baffled by drafting penalties (see also Schildknecht at IM Texas); my perception might be biased (or not) to notice such things happening mainly to European athletes in the US.
Without suggesting anything sinister, I'm wondering what is required in order to be a referee at such a race. How much experience do you need to have before you're riding with the lead group of the pros? How much experience does the head referee have, who briefs all the refs before the race? And please don't answer anyone "the rules are the rules", as judging the gap between two riders is not an easy task. Between "that's clearly less than 10m" and "that's clearly 10m+", there's also "that's probably <10m" and "this may be <10m", and this grey area can be very significant. Don't think of drafting offences as being binary.
I'm not saying Raelert should or should not have been DQ'd, but I'd be really curious to see some video footage of the punishable offence(s). I think it would be a good idea for referees to have helmet cameras.

---

Achim Traut

I was under the impression that the ref, when giving a penalty, would show you a card from the motorbike to communicate the penalty? If this is the case I can't see how Raelart would miss three penalty cards? There is some key missing details to this story.

Indeed... To me it's like soccer, you can't really miss the yellow/red cards. It's not like there is a "lost in translation" issue there.

In today's day and age, there is no reason that every official should not be wearing a gopro or similar. Not that the video should necessarily be made public to armchair quarterbacks like you and I, but it should exist. USAT has a stringent and outdated policy for it's officials of writing down extensive and verbose description to fully describe what they see so that they have evidence in case of protest, including what kind of bike and kit the person is wearing and where precisely the offense occured. Instead of doing that on the back of a motorcycle, a head-mounted camera would eliminate the need in addition to providing plenty of footage for official's training.

There are always 3 sides to every story.....

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

are you kidding me? how about going over to Europe and having an american flag on your bib and see how much you get harassed by refs. I was a spotter at IMTX and I can assure you the refs were watching ALL athletes that day as I was with the lead cyclists for the entire race. they didn't pick on anyone and they handed out a ton of drafting penalties. The Marshalls for IM races for the pros are paid by Ironman and are all very knowledgeable of all the rules. These aren't local triathletes volunteering. As for ref's wearing helmet cam's...that is typical of society today. the onus falls on the athlete to NOT cheat or violate rules. NOT on the ref to prove the athlete did. society is full of it's someone else's fault not mine attitudes.

---

Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs

meh. i don't think course-cutting is much of a big deal on slowtwitch. . .

-mike

---

____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I think you may be misinterpreting. I don't think he was saying that refs are targeting Europeans, but rather that Europeans may find 10m to be a little longer in North America than Europe and thus find themselves getting dinged here. I don't necessarily believe this, but I think that is what he is getting at.

re: video, at least in the US, USAT puts the onus on it's officials to gather the evidence in order to defend the penalty in case of protest. This is done with paper and pen on the back of a motorcycle. I hypothesize that in the day and age of gopro cameras that this evidence could be better collected that way. That does not mean that I do not agree with you that the onus should not be on the referee to produce evidence to defend his decisions, however current protocol in USA is that it is.

---

Jason Pedersen
RunPd.com - Running as fast I can since '93
@jasonpedersen

Yeah, that's screwed up right there.

Just wanted to make sure this sticks.

Apart from the fact that paying referees doesn't guarantee in any way that they are knowledgable, they are, to the best of my knowledge, not paid by Ironman, but by USAT (which in turn is being paid by the race organizer (WTC in this case)). A USAT referee over the course of a season may be officiating at a few races which may have different formats and may be run by different race organizations, and different rules apply.
As for the regulation regarding drafting I found the following (and it could be more if I include locations outside the US):
Length of the drafting zone (beginning at the leading edge of front wheel)
7m (USAT, non-elite)
10m (USAT, elite, IM age group, ITU non-elite)
12m (ITU elite, IM pro)

or clear space between bikes of
6 bike lengths (IM pro)
5 bike lengths (IM age group)

These are already 5 different definitions! To complicate things further, the time you can take for a pass may be 15s (USAT elite and non-elite), 20s (IM age group, ITU elite and non-elite) or 25s (IM pro), and how quickly an overtaken athlete has to drop out of the drafting zone could be "immediately" (whatever that exactly means, USAT non-elite and elite), 5s (this seems just plain ridiculous, ITU elite and non-elite), 20s (IM age group) or 25s (IM pro). [Note that the wording of the IM rules is not even clear what applies in case of a pro passing an age grouper (or vice versa)].

Assuming the referee has done his homework and knows exactly which rules apply for the race he's currently officiating, now he sits on the back of a motorbike and has to estimate the gap between two (or possibly many more riders), stop the time of passing manoevers and it's obvious that there are a lot of judgment calls to be made (and I think with the pros in the lead group I don't think there are really instances of blatant drafting offences as there are in the age group fields). And if you do have a pack of 10+ age groupers all drafting, how is the referee supposed to hand write the bib number and other details of every athlete after showing each of them the blue card, all on the back of a motor bike?
Don't kid yourself in thinking that for every drafting penalty it can only be the athlete who's at fault. And even so, what harm would it do to have the evidence available? I've been a referee myself at a few races this year (in Switzerland), and I for one would welcome any technology assisting me to assure I'm making the right decisions.
And an instance of a pro like M. Raelert receiving three drafting penalties without realizing any wrongdoing seems so bizarre, that it should (also in the interest of the sport) be resolved.

---

Achim Traut

I have no facts on the case, but sounds like to me that perhaps they gave him one penalty and tried to get him to pull over to a tent 3 times maybe? 3 different drafting penalties sounds fishy to me, that would mean each time he would have had to sit the tent and jump on some slower riders, and then do it again for a 3rd time!!

I think perhaps he was just not clued to the fact that you had to pull over, or more importantly, that he had to pull over for a stop, and maybe that happened 3 times? Guessing this also since he did in fact cross the line first, so he definitely did not serve 3 separate box stays. No one is that much better than everyone else..

What is also strange is that MR has usually come across as a very nice guy in interviews... I know it's not saying much but still kinda weird.

Same guy that also swore black and blue he did not go the wrong way at Challenge Dubai this year despite all the others that did so admitted so...even though they unwittingly cut the course, they acknowledged it, yet MR continued to protest his innocence, then threw a tanty on the way out of the hearing.

Remember what they said about all those 'nice guy' cyclists that turned out to have been dopers... Even nice guys can say one thing and do another and this is pretty hard to believe he knew absolutely nothing about being given 3 cards even if he didn't agree.

This is 100% True. I was there. kicking chairs over and the likes

---

Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs

Those sentences don't make sense.

Yes, the athletes are required to obey the rules. BUT, if the ref accuses an athlete of a violation and hands out the punishment at the same time (a bit Judge Dredd style), why on earth shouldn't the ref be required to prove it? That's how every criminal justice system worth its salt works. You accuse, you prove it.

---

Greetings from the German Wine Route,
Roland

If only this were the criminal justice system.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

The pros still use the pro rules and the AG'ers use the AG rules. It can make some apples and oranges out there though.

This has been an issue numerous times with the female pros getting commingled with the fast AG men. I think there was some mini uproar in the recent past when a WPro got a drafting/blocking penalty or two riding with the AG men. Her complaint, and probably rightfully so, was that it was extremely difficult for her to ride within the rules since the drafting/blocking/passing rules were different to everyone around her. That stated, I can't recall why she was stuck riding around a group of fast AG men instead of her WPro counterparts. Either she wasn't the best of swimmers or the wave spacing was too close.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Is there no official statement from WTC on this yet?

When do they ever issue an official statement about issuing penalties?

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

WTC generally does not issue a statement (and rarely responds on social media) to pro penalty issues.

Just by chance I ran into Michael at the Bellagio on Monday. Obviously, I didn't want to press the DQ issue but he told me "it was a misunderstanding".....and I let it go. He appeared to a very nice guy, chatted for a few minutes, and was very accommodating with my picture requests. Just a brief add to the thread.

After speaking with the official, I can second this. When he told Michael he was DQ'd at T2, Michael was confused and blamed it on language barrier.

Also, I never saw a thing on the course, and the official was even a little washy on information about 3 blue cards, but I saw a video posted online and Raelart was totally alone at one section of the bike. Just over 2 hours on the bike and 3 blue cards... I would just assume he was on the back wheel of Dye the entire time. Which leads me to think that he was DQ'd for a blue card and missing the first tent. That's just my .02

Honest question, if he really had a basis for challenging a DQ (no idea if he did or did not), wouldn't he have to finish the race? Get the feeling the manner in which he crossed first rubs some people the wrong way, but he had to finish it, right?

My understanding is position fouls are final and as such there are no protests or appeals.

---

Race Reports, etc -- Bob's Bikes

I'm with Chris... he had to cross to get a time and then contest. You can't contest at T2, it takes too long.

But CW is also right, he had no leg to stand on. Officials knew that when he was on the run and didn't understand why he continued to race.

Better idea would be to make the drafters run more. Additional 1 KM for each drafting call.

Forget GoPros. Refs should carry tasers. If you keep running after you are DQed, you get dropped.
...and you'll probably shit yourself.

Lol! That's harsher than a DQ!

---

https://www.strava.com/athletes/10327392

The refs are well trained and do a very good job IMO in US.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

As far as I remember, they did just that in Challenge Roth this year.
They made a point about doing it somewhere far out from start/finish/transition though - in order for it not to become a public shaming.

---

if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

Michi just apologized publicly on Facebook to officials, Taylor Reid, and the RD.

"As far as I remember, they did just that in Challenge Roth this year.
They made a point about doing it somewhere far out from start/finish/transition though - in order for it not to become a public shaming. "
-----------------
you are right - that is what they did and they called it the K of shame. They also had 80, yes 80, draft marshals on motos....basically 1 per k on the 2 looped course - they were EVERYWHERE! They also worked proactively to prevent drafting b/f a call was made. I had not seen that before and thought it worked well.

---

David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

I have to admit I like this process of trying to be proactive and get things to stop before you ruin someones day. Jimmy gets the kudos for driving this process for WTC.

But it all starts with the number of draft marshals on the course. But, if the RD would design a course which was not draft encouraging, and either not have as many racers, different kind of swim starts, etc.
any of these would help minimize the drafting some of these races have. Since so many I do are either in the hills, or do not have thousand of folks, I see very little drafting. Not zero, but nothing like
some of the races talked about on ST. I just would not to do them. Why, would be a waste of effort worrying about getting a call and having to justify it on ST. :)

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Shame it took so long..

Eh, not bad for a German.

I could over hear the radios where I was helping out on race day. They said right away not the winner because he is DQ'd. He was carded for drafting, multiple times, he did not stop at penalty tent. He wanted to contest it so officials requested paperwork to do so, but after the head official reviewed things and I assume talk with official out on course, head official called it officially and that was the end of that.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
Laura

---

if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

I still don't understand how a Top Level Pro can get 3 drafting penalties in a 70.3?

Sounds like 4 "mistakes" in one race to me (3 penalties plus finishing after dq). I don't see how that happened, you'd have to try pretty damned hard to get 3 draft calls in one race. Unless there's still something missing here. Why wouldn't you just take the time to explain what happened?