[reply]Did he already qualify for kona??? and will lessing manage to get a spot?[/reply]

I don't think either one qualified yet. Chris has been injured and Simon hasn't done well in any race yet, although he will probably hold on today for a spot, but I don't think he will frighten anyone there now (unless he is doing the rope a dope thing).

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

liteo said on IM live he was taking a spot, and lessing probably will.

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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan

As Frank alluded to, it's sadly unlikely Lieto or Lessing will be much of a factor in Kona after today...but it will be cool to see Chris try to shake things up on the bike.

Very happy for Lieto---good to see him back on form, and also kudos to Lessing for gutting it out. Definitely a tough day on the run up there.

From IMLive:

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Lessing struggles in for fourth

Simon Lessing looked like he was going to cruise to an easy win earlier today ... in the end he struggled to a fourth place finish.

He will get that coveted Kona spot, though!
08:42

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Whoa, did u guys know chris lieto has only been racing triathlon for 6 years??? atleast thats a stat from his website

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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan

lieto will not be a factor on the bike in kona. he had a huge tailwind from osoyoo to the line. it was quite strong the last 25 miles. he can't ride with stadler, sindballe, hundertmark, taubert. the fact that he's looking at 53 - 55 on the swim, well, thanks for playing chris.

I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be a factor on the bike in Kona. Before he got injured again this year he rode really strong. Look at Ralphs for example where he had the best split with a 2min penalty included, plus he's been riding really strong before at races like WF etc. Anyway looks like there will be quite a few strong bike riders in Kona this year.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

Is that on your agenda mate after IMWISC?

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

i just don't see it happening unless he recovers quite quickly. there is no doubt that he can ride, but he's got to come out of the water in a better position to be a factor. stadler can get away with it, lieto not so much. we shall see.

lieto will not be a factor on the bike in kona.

He won't have much to lose by pushing the pace on the bike, as he won't really be expected to be a factor overall. For sponsors and for perhaps setting up next year it would not be surprising to see him let it loose out there on the Queen K. He's a much stronger cyclist than you give him credit for, tailwind or no.

But as we all say, we shall see what unfolds on 10/15.

Hey Bjorn, how is your prep for Wisconsin coming? I hope Norseman didn't take too much out of you! I'll be there to; if you lap me on the bike I'm going to push you over!! :)



-Colin

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

I think you'll see Chris swim much better in Kona. A few years ago he was one of the best long course swimmers. Swimming near Bjorn and Tim DeBoom and such. And recent results show that he can bike pretty close to Sindballe, so he could be a factor. I don't see him top 5, but he could flirt with top 10 and/or top American depending on DeBoom.

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Justin in Austin, get it? :)

Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T

Not this year. I'll follow it on IMlive as most people I guess.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

Chiris is a very strong rider no matter where he is. If he is on form he is capable of a top 10 Kona finish.

It's going well I think and I feel fully recovered after Norseman. Always hard to know before the race has started though.

Good Luck!

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

The guy can ride a bike.

http://www.insidetri.com/news/fea/2707.0.html

Chris rules and he's HOT! I'm also sure he appreciates your thoughts.

geez, well that explains everything. i'm sure your a big ryan whatever his name is fan as well.

i'm quite confident that chris a) could care less what i have to say and b) will draw no inspiration from my words.

bicyling 112 in kona is a different ballgame. no doubt chris can ride but he has a full mary to think about in the sweltering kona heat. unless he's going for broke, i don't see it happening. if he had qualified months ago, i would give it a higher probability.

I'm not predicting he is going to win either...just that he'll be able to stick around on the bike if he really wants.

I was mostly trying to get a rise out of our slowtwitch non-tri roadie population who like to emphasize how bad triathletes are on the bike (despite splitting our time between 3 disciplines). I'm sure any one of them could take Lieto down in a "real race". ;)

ot

I'm guessing that qualifying at IMC wasn't his first plan - injury knocked him out of IMAZ and he was riding strong coming off of Ralph's.

I live in the same town as him and we get plenty of heat (and wind) out here so I don't see that being too much of a problem for him. The short recovery might - but, then again, he has had a few injuries over the past year - so maybe he is rested? I don't think he'll contend for overall, or come anywhere close, but I bet he has a very solid ride.

it's the humidty that kills.

if chris had never had the accident with his foot, he could have been the real deal. he still is pretty amazing given the injury problems he has had to address over the years.

Good point...humidity is not something we deal with out here.