iron_mike wrote:
-all respect to brent, but like the others i'd suggest some caution in interpreting his brazil result. the other guys went pretty quick, and liz lyles went comfortably sub-9 as well. on the other hand, if it was a totally draft-free, accurate course, sub-8 might have cooked him and could leave him flat for kona.
I'm not sure where you got that it was a " totally draft-free, accurate course" in Brazil... There are several reports of it being a draft fest, especially for the leaders as a pack of cars and motorbikes was at the front, providing shelter.... Mike Aigroz made it pretty clear in
his tweets about the race, and there is also a
TRIMES article about the race that provides a similar perspective, and AlexEmetic (if think it is his pseudo, here) usually benefits from a bunch of athletes' feedback. It is in French, so I do believe most of the people didn't hear from it...
So, even if I am Canadian, I would disregard this race in evaluating the ability of Brent McMahon to be a contender for Kona based on these reports....
Coming back to the overall subject of this thread, when it comes to Lionel Sanders, I believe his destiny is in his hands, its seems his mental and approach to the world are both his biggest advantages and also his biggest hurdles.... He comes across as very stubborn in his approach and somehow very amateurish. If he could change that, listen to advice, find good people to help him for everything he is not mastering (swim, bike technical stuffs, and even PR....), he would probably be a contender. I understand that he's had a bad experience in the past, and might be reluctant to work with people, but it is not alone that he will face the challenges that come with preparing an A-race. Even at a lower level, having a buddy system in place, with one person to look from the outside and prevent you to do stupid things just before the race, should be a must; and at one point, close to a race, a coach/safeguard should be that person who reassures you and keeps common-sense prevailing....
And after 2016, the window of opportunity is closing even more. You already have incredible competitors, like Frodeno, Kienle, Raelert (that people often forget...), etc... and the density will probably increase when Gomez and some other ITU guys move on to WTC races... Not all of them will translate into good full-distance racers, but some probably will ...