When you say 'triathlon', you mean 'non-drafting triathlon', right? Otherwise I think there are many young talents in ITU that may make your list ahead of Mendez when considering possible raw talent for the future (in draft or non-draft).

Why do you think he is the strongest runner? AB as far as I know has the better pr and crushes the run in everything he enters (except superleague). I think Murray is a huge talent, but think it will be a couple years before he is ready for 70.3, I think he is still best suited for sprint/oly as of now.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I meant like literally *strongest*. This is different than say fastest runner. Murray to me seems like very much a strength athlete which translates really well as you go longer and longer.

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This poll shouldn't surprised me but really Sanders over Gomez or Frodeno? Lets all pick the chap with the great back story over previous 70.3 and IM world champs. Murray is an interesting wildcard. Yes he was great at Super League but Gomez/AB. Plus when they were much younger he beat AB to the world duathlon champs. However Gomex/AB have let him win a few early session races for a few years now. Then when the racing gets serious he isn't in contention. I can't see why it will be any different. Yes the swim isn't as fast in 70.3, as ITU, but it's longer and there is less of a pack so less drafting. I suspect AB/Gomez will have more of a lead coming out of T1 and will not be waiting.

"When you say 'triathlon', you mean 'non-drafting triathlon', right?"

what i mean is, at 21 or 22 or however old he is he's already very close to the best overall triathlete in the world right now when you throw offroad into the mix. who's the men's version of flora duffy? if you ran an xterra race, and a 70.3, and an ITU WTS race, and you through all the times and places together to make an overall winner, who beats this guy?

and as has been pointed out, his bike position reeks.

mexico has had really good triathletes in the past. but never a world beater. i'm eager to see this guy rise to the top.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

The poll was who is the best 70.3 Athlete..............

Not who is going to win the 70.3 WC.........I could definitely see your argument for that one race.

But, I honestly think anyone would be hard pressed to make an argument how anyone on that list beats Sanders in a 70.3 TT or even a 70.3 NON-Championship race.

Not directly to you but what's the sang? Evolve or die...

The athletes that are winning 70.3 WC are the ones that have evolved and adapted to the current rules and style of racing. It's still racing. They aren't doing a pool TT, trainer ride for max watts, etc. Tim Reed and Jan deserve more credit for adapting to the current rules/style of racing and winning.

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Another location.



Also, given that you know how individual aero testing is I'm surprised your proselytize your shoes as much as you do...

I'm really struggling to follow your logical here? In a race format that doesn't exist and in races that where all the top athletes aren't there Sanders is unbeatable? My money is always on the athletes that win the races everybody wants to win. What would be Javier/Jan/Alistair.

PS I hope Sanders proves me wrong and laughs in my face :)

I get that....and I stated that if the poll were who will win the 70.3 WC or even who would win in a race between these fellas....... Your argument is much more valid and we can talk all day about that.....To be fair though I do think Sanders wins it this year.

The poll was "Best 70.3 Racer"

I honestly don't think you can make an argument for any of those guys other than Sanders to win a "Regular Season Championship" or "70.3 MVP" on the 70.3 Ironman Circuit.

0.27 CdA???

Okay that makes sense. They kept mentioning during superleague that Murray had the fastest 10k leg in a trip but haven't found it. There are though a lot of other factors than pure strength to consider. Murray has been better at sprint compared to Olympic which is why I think it will be a few years before he has the endurance required for 70.3.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Right but the thing with Murray is that in the ITU Murray's weakness is the swim. Often times in a sprint the swim doesn't separate so neither does the bike. In an olympic the swim often separates and Murray is in the chase pack effectively out of the race. He then hammers and often runs his way to anyone but Brownlees and Gomez. Doing multiday event is sign of strength in and of itself. Island House was another good showing of what Murray is capable of.

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Gomez won Xterra worlds in 2012, so I'll go out on a (very, very sturdy) limb and say he'd probably beat Mendez.

interestingly, i've heard that mauricio isn't really ''allowed'' to race ITU WTS. that was what was told to me, but i'm not exactly sure how it could be true. but mexico's leading "international" level triathlete OTHER than Mauricio, Grajales, is pretty much hoping that Mauricio WILL never race draft legal, because he'd probably crush Grajales.

but, the question you ask in the quote above:

who is the best overall triathlete in the world right now, all types/distances <4hrs considered...

i think mauricio might very well be that person. BUT, i didn't vote for him in THIS poll.

no way, not under those conditions.

Gomez is already an Xterra World Champion, a 70.3 World Champion and an ITU World Champion. Until someone else can claim that, why would you chose anyone else?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

The problem with this poll and this thread is that there are two different measures being applied here. One is perceiving the 'best' 70.3 athlete as the person who wins the WC. The other way is on some sort of MVP amalgamation of 'best' as being across a season based on a number of races.
The second option will always be subjective as it brings personal bias and geographic location into the equation, hence Sanders is considered likely be the 'best' by more people as he has won a number of races in certain places and he has a certain back story and origin.
I guess though that this poll and discussion is based on the inexact nature of triathlon, exemplified by Kona being considered (and self promoted) as the ironman length race WC when it could be counter argued that it caters for certain kinds of athlete.

crush Grajales? Really? Grajales is one of the most consistent runners on the ITU circuit.

Yeah, there is no comparing the ITU swim to Xterra or 70.3. Grajales has enough trouble. Is there any way Mendez is up there?

He sounds like a great kid and will be fun to watch - TRS just had a good interview with him. I'm just not sure his swim would be up to WTS standards.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

My understanding is that Dan was specifically talking about up and comers (U23 athletes). So Gomez does not qualify here.

Pretty sure Mauricio would be the top athlete from Mexico in ITU racing.

Javier Gomez

you think he'd go better than 2nd in a wts race? Lol

Except he doesn't race ITU.. and there is normally a reason for that. Generally anyone good enough to race ITU does, those that aren't able to cut it try other styles of racing. Pretty much every young person I know of who races 70.3 or longer or differing forms of tri chose these distances once they realised they weren't quite the level they wanted to be in ITU. Many then suddenly have great success once changing over. Xterra is a different skill set, yes, but there is no denying he chose a form of racing with a diluted top end. I don't believe Mauricio would beat many of the top ITU u/23 guys in the world at the moment if they were put in races together.