Dev looks like Seb and Andi are both doing Germany which is early July. I imagine Frodo is doing it as well but don't see him listed.

Thorsten as usual does some interesting analysis for both Frankfurt and Roth https://www.trirating.com/page/2/

Oh, and my money is on Jeff Symonds for the win at Frankfurt...

If you are German it makes sense to race in your own country.
If I am not totally wrong, IM Germany actually gets media coverage.
Good for the sport, good for the fans, good for the athletes and good for the sponsors.

Your national bias is showing. He'll be lucky to make the podium.

Frodeno will do IM Austria

What is this 'media coverage' you refer to, sounds very European?

I do hope you are right! While I do not know Boecherer and his strength, I'd like to think Kienle vs. Lange is cycling vs running and would love to watch that battle. And I also really, really like Lange's blue Canyon...

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Also I wonder if Frodo well redline and try to take his own Roth record lower at Klagenfurt, or as a minimum take away Don's Brazil "moto enhanced" IM series best time

As much as I like Jeff the pragmatist side of me will take that bet.

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Okay, what's the wager?

Should we wager a set of SuperSonic tires or should we choose a more neutral (non-German) tire???

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Maybe a better wager is who among these three guys does the following:

1. sub 2:42 run
2. sub 4:10 ride
3. sub 7:45 IM

Lange had a foot or leg injury earlier in the year and wasn't running for a bit. I don't think he planned to wait this long to validate (after he qualified at Texas last year I believe Faris has him shut it down until Kona). Will be interesting to see how he races Germany or whatever he does.

The race is usually shown live on a local TV station with great quality

Will Wiltshire swim on top of Frodo again in Klagenfurt?

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No offense to Jeff but...

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who ever chose the term "validation" instead of qualifier or prerequisite or similar should be pummeled. I think we all feel Frodeno's status is valid. sigh.

Yes, Germans always like to support their local races which is good for the sport there
I also believe that Frankfurt does pay a bit $$ to the pros to be on the start line, constant battle between it and Roth to get the best. Roth definitely pays, Rinny for sure and i sure Frodo was given some $$ so that they can use his "world record attempt" as its marketing campaign!

Shouldn't any Symonds bet involve crank arms?

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Just a few remarks:

• IM Klagenfurt/Austria (with Frodo) might be too warm for wetsuits. Not sure how many minutes Frodo needs more w/o wetsuit, but certainly would make it more difficult to break records.
• "Media coverage": All-day live stream from Roth (with Frodo as co-host) and some live TV coverage. Live stream from Frankfurt and a couple of hours on live TV.
• Big German triathlon names like Kienle, Boecherer, Lange or Frodo get a lot of media attention when they race in Germany (or Austria), plus some extra $ for showing up in those races. And racing just three months before Kona does not seem to hurt if you look at the Kona results from the last three years ;-)

What is the point of validation?

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The difference is that Kienle, the very under-rated Boecherer and Frodo pretty much rest up after Kona til April (ish), so it doesn't hurt them racing Frankfurt. Its a good strategy
Other who race all year round is a different matter

Right. Plus, if you are in a good shape and are within the top 3 or 5 in a race that includes Kienle, Lange and Boecherer (2, 3, 5 in Kona last year) , you know that you will have a good shot on Kona three months later...

What is the point of validation?
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On paper, it's to force recent champions to put IM stress on their body. Everyone else has to do an IM in order to compete in Kona, therefore, the former champs do too. Plus, it gives the WTC some marketing hype. Come see _______ (Jan, Sebi, Rinny, etc.) race! Where the WTC fails miserably is that they do nothing to actually market these events and the pros do a horrible job at making their race schedules committed.

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