jcgiraSHT wrote:
A quick look a the list shows that at least 11 athletes are already qualified:
Long, Landry, Sperl, Dubrick, Riele, Foley, Hamilton, Quenet, Klau, Arishita and M. Weiss.
It may be important for the IM Pro Series KQ contenders : Wilkowiecki, Magnien who may get one of the 4 slots for the WC. Mikki Taagholt who finished 6th at the 2022 70.3 WC there should be near the front. Guerbeur (FRA) who won l'Alpe d'Huez tri last year could benefit from the bike course.
So far, among the IM Pro Series contenders, only Currie is qualified for the 70.3 which gives him a boost for the Series, indeed, at the WC even a 8'20 (=500 points) difference to the winner gets as much as a win elsewhere. If Currie has a good race in Texas, he will be the early favorite for the season.
Here's a comprehensive list of those (on the start list) who already have a start for Taupo:
Findlay Paula Thek Grace Lewis Danielle Salthouse Ellie Hering Jackie Curran Kate Cymerman Amy Lumkes Gabrielle Long Sam Laundry Jackson Sperl Maximilian Dubrick Marc Riele Justin Foley Trevor Arishita Michael Hamilton Ben Weiss Michael Quenet Nicholas Klau Ari