An uber thread, where we just create lists of the best single discipline multisport athletes?

Phil Graves had a crack at Ironman Wales last September after a long time off with injuries. He was first off the bike on what is a tough bike course but struggled with run fitness with limited run training (due to the injuries) and finished second overall. There's never a lot of big names at Wales with it being so close to Kona so overall placings aren't exactly a great point of reference to compare to the other people on your list but it shows he still has the potential as a race winning pro in the sport if he can get on top of his injury problems.

And Albert Zweifel (Cyclocross World Champion in the 80's) and Daniel Keller (with big hairy legs to boot), if we go into Duathlon/Zofingen.

now females ( a start)
emma carney
/quote]

??

Yesterday Graves did a 100 mile time trial with a 13 mile run off the bike so I suspect he will be on an Ironman start line again fairly soon

It'd be great to see him back racing consistently and fit again at IM.

Going back to the original point of this thread. Whether one like's it or not, Tim has substantially improved his cycling or at least his non drafting approach. It seems that he's moved on from being coached by Julie Dibens. Does anyone know exactly what he's been doing differently?

I think he's been doing a lot over overgear work on the bike for a numbet of years. Maybe it's starting to bear fruit.

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He is still coached by Julie Dibens for swim and run, with Matt Bottrill (multiple UK time trial champion) coming in fairly recently for the bike

Such a cynical crowd here. The lead camera bike couldn't have been that close:



Oh...

I know this will not be popular, but I vote to take Starky off. We are talking triathlon here. Uberbiker implies they are winning races on the bike. There are plenty that can ride fast when they go on a suicide mission and follow up the bike with a 4hr run/walk. If we are talking Ironman, he is not on the list. he has never been a factor in any race with real competition and it is unlikely that he ever even makes it to Kona again. IIRC his only IM win is FL 2012?

is there a big draft benefit from the moto behind you

thanks Matt, really do appreciate your thoughtful honest analysis..

is there a big draft benefit from the moto behind you //

Ya, and that guy on the moto behind must have a hell of a selfie stick to get those head on shots!!!!

IIRC, Starky was the first American male to go sub 8.....and he has done it twice (it just so happens that he didn't win one of those times). So, yes the guy is a superb triathlete.

And I disagree with uber biker meaning winning races. To me, uber biker means you are a better biker than most others.....and Starky definitely fits that description.

Full disclosure: I may be biased since Starky was the one handing out medals at the finish of IM Florida 2013 (and not Del Corral).

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Ain Alar Juhanson almost fitted in the duathlin category as he liked a race with a shortened swim. Great biker though.

Where would you say Mac Martin and Chuckie V slot in as cyclists?

Not to get off topic, in case anybody cares 3 whereabouts failures post 2010 is at least a 1 year suspension some times 2 year. I'm sure there's slack given to emergency illness, child birth, death... Obviously some federations are some lenient than others (Russia v USADA)

https://www.usada.org/...g/results/sanctions/

My two cents on his "explanation" only really explains the last failure. Not the first three... WTF.

I had one whereabouts failure in 2011. I flew home for Thanksgiving on miles and decided to stay an extra couple days since there wasn't a change fee.
USADA came knocking at my door and I wasn't there. They called me and I said I was still in VA. After that ONE failure, I freaked out and always made sure I stayed in top of it.

Ah...the good ol days when 3 whereabouts failures only resulted as a 3mo suspension in the off season...

What if Tim's time is perfectly legit, legit course, no moto draft, drugs or anything else hinted at in this thread to discredit where does this kind of form put him in potentially for Kona 2017?

Forget about Tim. What about Kienle who spanked him in both the bike and run at St. George and has a pretty darn good track record in Kona already.

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Ok sure. Let's entertain that.

Tim probably had the best bike set up. Ceramic bearings, fast tires, wind tunnel time at Specialized, etc.

He also had a small entourage. This is huge. An unfair advantage if you don't have one that really supportive. And "you need anything? --- yeah, 10L of water, can you find some and carry it up?"
(I'm guessing they can be draining too.)
It's hard going up against athletes that have people picking you up, carrying bags, fine tuning bikes, running stupid errands that pop up, taking care of the little things...

In the ITU, Gwen had Pat. The girls like Jodie Stimpson in the "D-squad" didn't have a right hand man. In Auckland 2013 Gwen's taxis when to the wrong hotel. The address and hotel had literally the same names and street addresses. One was "north" the other "south."

They checked into the first hotel and realized the mistake
When they arrived at the correct hotel, I was headed out for a run and ran into them in the lobby. Gwen walked upstairs with a backpack and left Pat with 3 months worth of luggage (and two bikes). When I met them for dinner they were jovial and you'd never know Pat was downstairs alone that afternoon with 6 heavy bags. When Gwen says Pat's everything...she's not exaggerating.
Sarah Haskins had Nate. Pretty much the same thing.
Massive amount of help tend to add up after a while.
Tim had plenty in Brazil.

Say what you want about the Moto....

You can also say what you want about a guy smaller than me (66 or 147) riding sub 4:12.

The little guys don't TT that well on flat courses. Did you see Nairo Quintana (58kg) lose the 2017 Giro in the final day to Tom Dumoulin (71kg)?
NQ had to put out more watts per kg to go the same speed as a bigger guy. The bike basically weigh the same and front surface area is slight more but advantage diff when you factor in 20 extra pounds bed of muscle and power.

If the "all time über list" who's a little cyclist?

No one...

This.

I have no idea about his current situation, but there will always be that cloud.

With the current times in IM racing, I wonder if we will look back in a few years and ask how did we not see that... Kinda like the speed of the peloton in the 90s/2000s.

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The guy who says Starky is never a legitimate threat, I'm not so sure about that statement. If Starky had not been hit by a truck, his Texas performance might of had Matt Hanson worried a little bit. I saw Starky out sprint Tim O'Donnell at Eagleman in 2014. Starky is certainly not a great runner, but there's no doubt that he's an uber biker.

The uber biker list is so hard to determine. As mentioned previously, some of these guys are powerhouse bikers who are smart enough to know not to blow up their race for a great bike split. Jan has proved his bike prowess by outbiking Kienle multiple times in 2015. As someone else pointed out, Macca was a powerhouse biker. McCormack was far too tactical to blow up his race with the knowledge that he could easily chase down those who blew it all for the bike. It's a tough list to assemble because there are guys who murder the bike and then there are those capable of setting bike records but remember that the race has 3 parts.

As for Don's performance, it seems like he's lost some of his top-end speed at the shorter distances. The trade for that top-end speed has been better performance at the 140.6 distance. We haven't seen the best of Don in Kona and perhaps this year will be our chance. Tim is advancing in age and has yet to have that signature Kona performance. I don't believe that Don's Brazil run is even his best. This may be Don's last shot at a podium spot and he might just have a shot at it.

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Team Zoot 2023

Where would you say Mac Martin and Chuckie V slot in as cyclists? //

Right there with Mark Allen, Scott Molina, Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, (and many, many others), and oh ya, me...(-;

That's a really tough one... to miss 3 and then to later miss another. Here's the thing, being a pro athlete is creating a brand and the athlete has to protect that brand. It's reasonable to mess up, but the athlete then has to make sure it never happens again (as you referenced in your personal example). Think of the Ford Pinto, Chipotle spinach salmonella, United passenger bludgeoning... those companies had to go above and beyond post-incident to regain trust their brand. So, maybe the lack of excitement surrounding Tim Don is his lack luster brand. Or, maybe Slowtwitchers just have a bias against small guys and would rather root for the poor swimming Neanderthal-looking triathlete...

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