Don't be a twat.

He is gradually switching to long course and this is a chance to evaluate his 'longer course' bike speed. He has performed well, against stiff opposition. That wasn't a given.
Now wind your neck in.

Thanks and hugs.

Let's be careful here throwing around the term "national champion." Alex Dowsett is the British National TT champion.

Graves won the "national championship" for an amateur TT series. That's a totally different thing - not even in the same zip code even though the likes of Wiggins, Millar, and Dowsett got their start in these local TTs, and sometimes return to do them for fun. It would be news if Brownlee came within 45 seconds of Dowsett. It's not nearly as much news that he came within 45 seconds of Graves - though still noteworthy.

Has there been an ITU superstar yet who's struggled in transitioning to long-course, non-drafting cycling? Honest question. All the guys I think of off the top of my head have seemed to have had zero problem.

Yep, but if the thread was about Lionel the ST crowd would be jizzing in their pants.

Lionel would have won so ya it would have been a lot bigger news!

In all fairness I think it's a lot easier for the average Slowtwitcher to relate more directly to Lionel rather than Alistair. Alistair has been racing triathlon for 18 years compared to something like 6 for Lionel. Alistair began early as a dedicated swimmer and cross country runner plus he had an uncle who did triathlons. He was lucky enough to be born into family with two physicians as parents who had the financial ability to make sure he always had what was needed when it was needed. He and Jonny have certainly worked their butt off over the years and made smart decisions in many ways but one has to admit they have had a pretty ideal road to travel if they wanted to be great triathletes. Yes they've had injuries to overcome but it might be argued that at least some of them were dud to poor choices.

Alistair's time trial result was certainly very good. It erases a bit of the tarnish his image acquired at the first Super League races where he seemed to come in overweight and under prepared. I know some are claiming he was sick for the race but I'm not so sure I really buy that.

I fully expect Alistair to be extremely successful racing 70.3s but still wonder how durable he'll be for the full distance. Jonny is injured again this spring missing Super League and now I see he's off the Gold Coast start list. Whatever the case it will be fun to have another super triathlete in the mix.

Hugh

---

Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Claiming ?

He was on the coverage the day he pulled out, he looked like shit and went to bed instead of commentating like they wanted.

this has been going on forever... I loved the old days when we would say that triathletes could teach the Pro Tour guys a thing about time trialing.

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I dont have anything to add to this thread -

but man I wish TTing was a 'thing' here in the US with those 100s of events over there - that would be amazing!

Well it's not really apples to apples, but at the Australian national TT champs this year Cameron Wurf rode a great race but got beaten by Rohan Dennis by 4 minutes. Then Wurf proceeded to hand it on the bike to all of the pro's at IM South Africa last weekend. In 2015 Nick Bensly got beaten by Roahn Dennis by about 3 minutes at the national TT champs, then proceeded to ride one of the best bike splits at IM Cairns as an age grouper 4-5 months later.

So I'd make a guess and say that anyone that come come within 3-4 minutes of national TT level is going to be right at the pointy end of a pro IM bike field.

Funny that. Graves used to do the same, just before he broke onto the LC tri scene and won on his 70.3 and IM debuts.

Not saying Brownlee will win on his debut, but that Graves used to and did win.

---

Swim. Overbike. Walk.

As someone who appears to understand the TTUK scene can you answer the question -

are you allowed to wear compression/knee length socks while competing? I thought they had to be lower than that.

Depends on the event, but generally you can wear what you like as long as it meets the minimum requirements for coverage. Most time trials in the UK are run under CTT regs and particularly NOT UCI, see link below. However if it is a British Cycling event then it is run under BC rules which do follow UCI regs. But under CTT regs you are generally ok as long as enough of you is covered. They do stipulate that sleeves are required (so no sleeveless triathlon kit) but there is an explicit exception to that for certain low-key events.

https://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/articles/view/11


Grill will be cross with me now for linking to an article containing the 3cm rule.


Also of interest, no minimum saddle set back relative to bottom bracket, so unlike racing under UCI regs you can ride a steep seat tube angle.

I do find it disappointing if not insular that the OP commented on a good performance which will have been of interest to many on the Tri scene and even more on the UK TT scene and was then somewhat derided.

I thank Knighty76 for posting as I was not aware of that ride.

---

My foray into time trialling at the age of 60
https://sixtyplustimetrialling.wordpress.com/