This makes a lot of sense to me - especially with a twingy calf.

I think some of the folks going Congress her a hard time truly believe in the principles they're saying, but I think some just don't like Holly. Her rapid rise seemed to rub some the wrong way last year.

Finally, do we know about her and Super League? Being a Brit with recent ITU experience and long course success, it seems like Jersey would be a natural fit. She isn't listed on the website (although Pallant is), but they still have Alistair Brownlee, so it can't be totally current.https://superleaguetriathlon.com/athletes

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I am in Chattanooga and watched the race. Many crashes (i saw 6) in the first 400 meters of bike course. Huge cracks in the road and tires were getting stuck as you had to make a slight turn. HOLLY LAWRENCE crashed on her bike, not getting out of the water. They will make changes this AM and route the men down the center of the road. This was a disaster yesterday, one athlete was knocked out for over 90 seconds after hitting this seam.

So back off and give Holly a little slack. She had a slow swim yes but worked hard to bridge up. I am sure the body was not feeling well after that and she decided to pull the pin. She went down pretty hard on the bike. I like the fact she isn't making excuses.

I hope that second paragraph wasn't for me. I never said anything negative about her.

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blog

I hope so. It just seems that the announcers were maybe trying to, I don't know, disparage anybody who didn't show up a little bit.

I also noted they were bit disparaging of the age grouper who was running with Ben kanute today.

It's not like the M dot Brand has been fantastic about their coverage anyways, but it was interesting to see. Lots of passive aggressiveness

Subtle Barb's really irritate me. I hope they're listening to what people like Lionel say, because when it comes down to it, he's right.

Sorry not at all. I simply replied to the thread :)

MRW - Thanks for this info that no one else has even mentioned. Great info to know, and kind of surprising no one rode the start of the course enough to see that these cracks were going to be a big problem. I mean, even in the races I do, they usually circle the potholes and cracks with brightly colored chalk so that you can see them before you're right on top of them.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Exactly. After the 4th crash we started standing in the road yelling at everyone to slow down and hug the center line. After 10 or so minutes we would have to switch roles as it was so much yelling making sure everyone was alerted. They sent "officials" out but once that was done the majority of athletes were through. I have a few photos I will try and upload of The cracks etc...it was scary just watching.

This photo is where the seems started and this section is what caused the one athlete to flip over the bars.

Sponsors don't often know even what is best for their athletes in the first place. I am amazed how little sponsors actually know about the sport of triathlon, how hard it is, and the 100% dedication it takes to all things life that it takes to be a World Champion in this sport. They are the same ones next month that will force their athletes to sit outside, in the middle of the day, as the sun, heat and humidity drain the life energy out of their athletes, so they can capitalize on their sponsorship. The reality is that it is incredibly short-sighted. If they really cared, they would be more cognizant of that.

Fans will be fans. Fans come in all shapes, sizes, and views. You can never please everyone. The reality is that building a fan base comes over time and if you end up sick, injured, burned-out you will minimize your fan base anyway.

Most people in triathlon do it for the love of the sport. Some get really good and their interests start to change. Money, fame, sponsors, can make you lose sight of all of that. I have seen plenty of athletes go as quickly as they came and that is bad for the sport and the individuals.

My own personal views on this situation is that I am rather ambivalent about it. We don't know all the details and we don't need to all the details. Personally, I am not a fan of DNF 70.3 and I don't mind jogging it in. In jogging it in though the athlete should be prepared from vicious attacks by the trolls. Ironman is a whole other beast that it is downright dangerous and career aging (not in a good way). To go thru the motions is way too much risk. If you go for it at World Championship and want to walk it in. Fine by me and I think you could gain some respect from others.

I noticed Trek, being a Madison company, really asked a lot from Tim and Holly this summer when they came out to do some work at HQ. Beside many other activities they had them out for a "fun community jog" which is such a low yield in the Madison audience. While a few may know who they are, and a few more may have wanted to run with the "World Champs" one morning. I just didn't see the value nor the week long endeavor in total. I am sure it was structured around some training but it was poorly activated. But they would have had more value by having local pro and Ironman Champion Jackie Hering come out as far as I am concerned for a run.

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"Just to finish"...in the top 10 at the World Championships? She rode into 2nd place for fuck sake. As for moving on to the next big race, does she have something big planned in the next couple of months that we don't know about? I kind of consider this race to be about as big as it gets for her right now. It's not like this was mid-season and she had more important things to consider down the road. If she had an actual injury or illness that would threaten her health by continuing then fine, but that's not the story that came out of her own mouth. I'd be shocked if she quit simply because Ryf was crushing her. And it's not as if she was suffering and falling back through the pack. It really makes no sense at all.

She rode into 2nd place for fuck sake.//

And what kind of effort do you think that took? Think she just transported to that spot from so far behind? You ever blow up in a race before because you went too hard at some point? You don't have to answer because every one has, and even the best pros have those days still occasionally. It doesn't matter what place you think she would have gotten, you have no idea really. She could have been toast at that point and could have only slogged in, having to walk a lot of the run. Or she could have been 10 or 15 minutes away from that point, since anyone that trains and races like a pro knows when that point is certainly coming, she pulled the plug before total meltdown. I don't think she just quit because the win was out of the question, but I don't know that for sure either.


All we know is what she said and I find it quite reasonable for her or any pro to pull the plug once the writing is on the wall, or they have actually hit that wall..She is a consummate pro and acting like one. Her job is to win money, win races, and represent her sponsors. You don't get to decide what that looks like, nor do I. I do however understand what she did, did the same thing myself more times than I can count. 15 year pro career and not one sponsor complaint and I certainly was able to race more often than a lot of my contemporaries. And I don't regret one single DNF I ever had, and do regret a few races I toughed it out it. A couple of those tough it out ones gave me my little mechanical friend that sits just above my heart, sure wish I could have those few back to do again..

We'll just have to agree to disagree about what it means to act like a professional, which is fine. Although you say "Her job is to win money, win races, and represent her sponsors. You don't get to decide what that looks like, nor do I". That's partially true. There are many ways to go approach winning money/races. Not all of them are equally respectable, IMO, and that directly reflects how someone represents their sponsors. I absolutely get to decide what my opinion of someone is and if their values, and therefore the sponsors that support them, are in line with mine. If her sponsor's perspective is "win or give up", then I'm not particularly interested in supporting those companies. It's simply not the way I view life and not the sort of example I think we should be setting. Maybe in the coming days she'll provide a better explanation that indicates she was making a judgement call based on her long term health. In which case everything changes. Until then, she simply quit because she wasn't happy with how her day was going.

I would think there is a good chance she was only at the start line for her sponsors. And knew before the race she is not at her best.

Everybody is free to think what they want. But I do think she made the right call.

But Ryf isn't an ordinary rider. Stronger than the rest of the women's field and most of the men's field on the bike. One of the few female triathletes that can benefit from a disc.

but she avg'd less than 40km/hour! ha

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

The 5km climb would've knocked her average down a couple of notches. After the climb, many of the good riders got up to terrific speeds on the descents (some men reporting 80kph+) and Ryf's average of the back half of the course would have been 40+.

it was a joke, citing Sutton's avg speed comment regarding the use of discs. of course she should have used a disc

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

Gotcha ;-)