With ITU Leeds coming up this coming Sunday it's about time to pick favorites.
On the men's side we have Richard Varga returning to stretch out the swim. Closely behind him we ought to see Alistair, Jonny, Aaron Royle, Aurelien Raphael, Henri Schoeman and Vincent Luis. Those six ought to all make the front break away up the initial incline. Javier is not at Leeds this year and Varga will likely be still in recovery mode from Samorin so I'd expect only those six in the group that really gets away. Once they're off on the run I'm picking Jonny, Henri and Vincent for the top three. That is unless Alistair was playing opossum at Samorin . The temperatures are forecast to be in the low 60s*F with partly cloudy skies so no problems with heat exhaustion for the day.
On the women's side Flora looks totally unbeatable after her performance here and everywhere else last year combined with the clinic she put on at Yokohama this year. I was hoping to see Sophie Coldwell race again after her uber impressive Yokohama bike ride and am sad to not see her on the list. We ought to see Jessica Learmonth, and Lucy Hall up at the front of the swim along with Summer Cook and Flora with Jessica and Lucy but not Summer making it up that first hill as a threesome. Vicky Holland and Jodie Stimpson are absent from the roster but Ashleigh Gentle and Non Stanford will go hard on the bike and run looking for points. The main USA powerhouse girls as well as series leader Andrea Hewitt are not racing Leeds so after Flora In first place the next few are a bit of a toss up.
I'm calling Duffy, Stanford then Gentle for the podium.
Who are you all betting on?
Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.
On the men's side we have Richard Varga returning to stretch out the swim. Closely behind him we ought to see Alistair, Jonny, Aaron Royle, Aurelien Raphael, Henri Schoeman and Vincent Luis. Those six ought to all make the front break away up the initial incline. Javier is not at Leeds this year and Varga will likely be still in recovery mode from Samorin so I'd expect only those six in the group that really gets away. Once they're off on the run I'm picking Jonny, Henri and Vincent for the top three. That is unless Alistair was playing opossum at Samorin . The temperatures are forecast to be in the low 60s*F with partly cloudy skies so no problems with heat exhaustion for the day.
On the women's side Flora looks totally unbeatable after her performance here and everywhere else last year combined with the clinic she put on at Yokohama this year. I was hoping to see Sophie Coldwell race again after her uber impressive Yokohama bike ride and am sad to not see her on the list. We ought to see Jessica Learmonth, and Lucy Hall up at the front of the swim along with Summer Cook and Flora with Jessica and Lucy but not Summer making it up that first hill as a threesome. Vicky Holland and Jodie Stimpson are absent from the roster but Ashleigh Gentle and Non Stanford will go hard on the bike and run looking for points. The main USA powerhouse girls as well as series leader Andrea Hewitt are not racing Leeds so after Flora In first place the next few are a bit of a toss up.
I'm calling Duffy, Stanford then Gentle for the podium.
Who are you all betting on?
Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.