I agree. I voted for him. After watching what he did on the Super League Triathlon, I'm not sure anyone could run with him.

Superleague is still different than a 3.5hr continuous race. Everyone else on that list save the Brownlees and Mola have proven more than capable at that duration. I wonder how many people know who Mauricio Mendez even is, which is depressing. That guy crushed Galveston with one of the worst professional bike positions I have ever seen.

 I wonder how many people know who Mauricio Mendez even is, which is depressing. //

No kidding, but we could only pic one so I did not pick him either. But if it were top 3 I would have had him in my picks. He is winning everything he enters and is super young still. Once he learns more tactics to go along with his outstanding talents, he may very well be the best 70.3 guy someday. I'm actually more interested to see what he can do at ironman. Give him a couple starts to figure out the race and its complexities, and I bet he breaking up that German podium that looks like the Berlin Wall 40 years ago.


If you have a product that sponsors triathletes, here is a big hint for you. Sign this kid as quick and for as long as you can. It will never be as cheap, and in a year or two he will be out of reach to most once he finds the right agent. Him and Patrick Lange were my two picks to sponsor(in my fantasy league) last year, Patrick is probably already now out of touch for a relatively cheap deal anymore.

It's probably because he is so passionate

Wow. That position...

Ha! I'm surprised it took a week and a half for that bike position to show up on slowtwitch. Shocking, where is specialized on this?!!?!

You can only pick one..........he would have been my second pick.

I just don't see anyone beating Sanders in anything but a championship race. And I think that's is going to be an extremely tough task this year and for a few more years to come.

I am well aware of Mendez. He is choking up in that shot no idea if that is representative of how always rides. At the point of the course the wind was blowing so hard over the bridge + large expansion cracks etc. Who knows. But those shoes...

---

---

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

Patrick Lange stock has certainly risen, but with any of these guys, they could have a promising career or they could be done tomorrow with a career ending injury. The sport is brutal. The volatility and risk is high. For those few picking up Lange before Kona they probably got a fantastic deal.


Total tangent but I left a comment on Facebook regarding your skinsuit testing many years on this thread. Any chance you could respond with your thoughts. That article is here

---

---

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

Perhaps even more interesting (you didn't even know who Mauricio was maybe 5 months ago) is that not a single person of the 400 who have voted so far have chosen the current 70.3 world champion.

I voted for him too! He wouldn't loose much in a HIM swim and would be one of the first into T2. He's a thoroughbred, and I imagine could run around 1:10 in a 70.3.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Total tangent but I left a comment on Facebook regarding your skinsuit testing many years on this thread. Any chance you could respond with your thoughts. That article is here

Sure, so here is what you asked me back then:

First off, I see you said you had "used" jammers. Do you think the fact that they were used at all affected anything. Also how are you are eyeing these 100 times. Are you using an analog pace clock, digital pace clock, stop watch.

1. Of course any used suit is going to be a tiny bit slower than a brand new one, so yes there is some minute slowdown in the jammers, but not relevant really to my overall tests, and they were consistently the same jammers.


2.It was digital for the timing. I would never use analog for something like this, really increases the margin of error in the times. With digital I can get within a couple tenths in the send offs, and you get an exact number to look at when you finish. Of course you could be anywhere in that one second, but I take into account when the number flips and if it is like a tenth before, I rounded up on the split times.

Ok so it was digital off the clock on the wall. You weren't timing it with a stopwatch.

---

---

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

Ok so it was digital off the clock on the wall. You weren't timing it with a stopwatch. ////


Yes on this particular test, but in the past have used a digital watch too, but with others doing the timing. This really is the most accurate as then you can factor in 1/10's of a second. But the way I did it is good enough to spot general trends and there was no confusing data to throw a monkey wrench into my results. In every case they were faster, and by about the same margins +/- a second.

Now I think I pointed out that this was a very narrow comparison. In reality for me it would be the difference between the suit and a shaved down body with a new racing jammer. That certainly would have tightened things up, but of course was not practical for so many tests. In the end it is really just the compression that is the major difference, so probably the one second per 100 we saw during the suit wars..

Too funny. I was going to pick him and then thought of this position and realized it may be a few more years for him.

---

https://twitter.com/mungub

Who?

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

well he is up 1% since posting so he is already on the move ;)

---

---

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

I always deemed Rich to be more of a fast twitch/huge anaerobic capacity Kind of guy. Maybe like Whitfield was.

But I might be off with that assumption

And I think he could pull over one hell oft a 70.3 anyway. But may be not as suited as for Sprint/Short course.

But then again Lionel seems also suited for short power bursts and is still a killer long course athlete.

---

10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

i guess it says a lot if the combined podium from last year 70.3 gets 3% or so of votes
and and out of top 10 athelte 30%
if all those in the list were there the swim would get faster the lead pack bigger and the fast runners likely be fresher off the bike
not neccesarliy in favor off sanders.
I think in a small field 30 % or so for sanders is fair at a world champ race with very deep filed its way too high. and one would assume that the field this year will be deeper than last year.
location and year after the olys.

one would have to agree that murreys run is so strong that it should get more than 1or 2 or whatever %.
Fact is it is way harder to predict the 2017 70.3 world podium than the 2016 olympic games podium.

Unfortunately for Sanders I am not sure Chattanooga is going to help the situation out on the bike other the giving Sanders a realistic possibility of making the back of the front group in the swim. I think he can do well in an upstream start swim. If he makes the group that could really change things up but he needs to develop some really short, but high top-end power to snap the group and pull away. A good solid 2 mins at 460-480 should do the trick.

---

---

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

Bigger issue - No Andy or T.O.? They should be an option and not lumped into "other".

I stuck mendez on the poll for a reason. I don't know if he's even going to 70.3 worlds, but to me he is the most interesting raw young talent in triathlon today.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

If I remember correctly, in his victory speech at Texas 70.3 he said he looks forward to testing himself at 70.3 worlds.

---

https://twitter.com/mungub

Nah, that win was more of a game plan, rather than being the best. Reminds me of Dave Scott vs Mark Allen: Allen played the game right and won, but he didn't go out there and push the race. He bought time...Timbo did the same, and I think less of him and Mark Allen for it (smart on their part, and victorious, but less "wow factor").