I'm sort of torn in that I think the draft legal aspect will be a fun way to mix it up and to try something different. At the same time, I like doing the double at Worlds (both sprint and standard) and this makes it a bit tough as you'd have to either bring two bikes or just race on your road bike for both races.

For those living in the Pacific Northwest, the North Shore Triathlon in Vancouver usually has a draft legal wave and you can also head to Monroe Washington for their draft legal race in June if you want to try one out

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Team Every Man Jack

Would be interesting to know how many do both events at worlds. Would be easy enough to determine if you pulled the results lists. Maybe if I get bored some day?

I might be more likely to go if the Olympic changed to draft legal. As it is, neither event has much appeal for me right now. My first junior nationals in the late 90's were oly distance draft legal, in the days before they changed junior to sprint distance.

I don't know how important it is to you to actually "qualify".

But in case you didn't know, historically it has been easy for Canadians to get to Worlds via a general registration spot.

Although this is a link to the 2015 info, I think it's fairly safe to assume that the same rules will be in place for 2016: http://www.triathloncanada.com/...ms/agegroup/how/reg/

Yup, fairly easy to qualify in canada. Not many AGs fill up to the max spots. Different in the US with 10x the population and the same max team size. Changes significantly based on where worlds is, overseas is always a way smaller team.

Thanks Bill I appreciate the details. It's absolutely critical to qualify and earn my place on the team. I've been told the same thing about the Canadian team by a few others as well. I'd really like to ensure I've worked, improved and executed a world championship quality qualifying race. I don't think I'm going to win anything at worlds but I'm not going to show up for the experience alone. I'm there to push myself and hopefully achieve some PRs on course and make a memory that is rare in a lifetime. Also something that validates all my time money and effort investment in the sport to get to a World Class level. Maybe not professionally (I like my salary) but as an AGer none the less.

Thanks again to everybody!!

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

I think this is awesome and give you kudos for that. I really wish they made it harder to get to worlds so that it was an actual accomplishment to get there like it is with racing in Kona or the Boston Marathon. Right now, as others have mentioned, in Canada you can just pay your way if you don't qualify

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Team Every Man Jack

I assume this means that USAT's request to ITU to maintain a non-draft legal sprint race at Worlds has been denied? That is likely to cause USAT some coin at nationals starting this year.

For those that have been there before, is the field a higher quality of athletes than you'd encounter at local races? Is it just easy to qualify in Canada due to cost factors preventing some of the high performers in going? Maybe I'm thinking this would be an accomplishment when it's really just another race?

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

I know the feeling. If I can race my IA this year at worlds I don't care after that as the new focus will be long course

In general, if you've committed to the training, qualify and race at worlds, you should be proud of the accomplishment. The field at worlds is very fast, getting a podium in almost any age group is a huge challenge.

Now, how difficult it is to qualify varies. I'd expect the field of Canadians to be much deeper for the worlds in Edmonton and Chicago vs Gold Coast ('09). If you are in a weaker age category, it is much easier to qualify. If you are in a smaller country, it is much easier to qualify. Team USA will always be harder to make than Team Canada.

Back in the day, they had 6 per age group (if I remember correctly). Now it is 18 per group and they added a sprint worlds. So potentially 6x as many people now compared to 10yrs ago.

So far USAT has said they have not received an answer from ITU about will they still hold a NDL Sprint worlds in 2016, as USAT as asked for.

USAT also has said they have not received the details yet as to all the things needed to know about this DL Sprint in 2016.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

But, the competition rules clearly say that AG sprint worlds will be DL in 2016. They might have an open event that anyone can register, but it looks quite clear that they won't have a NDL AG Sprint Worlds after this year.

The bike issue is cleared up. I suspect the field size will remain the same as for the NDL events and then we will know everything that people need to know. After that, up to the national federations to put DL races in place and qualify athletes for the event. Canada has already said they will qualify athletes from the NDL 2015 events for the 2016 DL Worlds.

From what I have heard, ITU has not answered USAT request to have a NDL Sprint worlds. So, still waiting to an official response.

So what are you assuming for the quantity of DL worlds race? AG's? Number per AG? Wave start type? I sure know USAT have said they have no idea yet.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Maybe they have more important things to do besides answering a USAT question.

No reason to think they will cut down numbers in a draft legal AG sprint event. They can easily have the bike on the same course as the standard distance and run 1-2 AG per wave depending on the sizes. Can easily fit that into a day with 30-45min between waves. On a quick scan of last year, I didn't see any AG with over 100 racers in the sprint. They don't need to clear the course or transition between each wave like they do in the elite races. It would be a significant reduction in entry fees if they reduced the number of racers, at least several hundred thousand in lost revenue.

Perhaps I missed it but I didn't see where they weren't going to DQ AGers who get lapped on the bike.

With that said in the DL race I did last summer they didn't pull people that got lapped. Had they said that earlier I think they would have gotten more people to do the DL.

jaretj

We are in total agreement, this is a very reasonable concern. The intermingling of UCI and ITU rules and lots more draft legal racing means that, while it is the sprint distance today, longer distances may soon be swallowed up by this rule insanity.

Since you have an IA, I would share your concerns with Felt. Because it would be great if the larger tri bike companies (via the trade association Triathlon Business International ?) that make advanced non-UCI tri bikes band together and put some pressure on the ITU to allow any non-UCI triathlon frame in both their non drafting and draft legal events. If a handlebar change is needed for draft legal, so be it (but ALWAYS allow clip-ons). But to make the whole frame illegal, that is a major problem for the athlete trying to choose and buy a bike. And it is a major problem for the bike companies trying to design advanced tri bikes.

This is a disaster in the making. And it is killing the spirit of technical innovation.

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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Seems if someone can buy a 11K bike, money is not an issue. :) This is why I continue to look at what gets the biggest bang for the buck. How much faster in a 40K will the 11K felt
be compared to a 3K P3 for 99% of racers?

I personally am more "worried" about bikes bought today without disc brakes may become worth a lot less money, even though there is no speed related differences. Are 12 speeds
not just around the corner? Also something new coming out to get us to spend our money.

Technology will continue to change. What you buy today will not be state of the art tomorrow, no matter what type of product you buy.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

But even your P3 will be illegal in these races.

This is a problem. A big problem.

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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There's a decent push in the junior and elite ranks to remove clipon bars altogether. It's really kind of a vestige from the mid 90s when the sport first switched over. The only reason they're allowed is because it's triathlon. It's not that somebody is going to get impaled by them, but having guys on them in the group is more of the concern. To preface the idea of "ok then it's illegal to use them if you're not on the front of the group," well then that partially defeats the purpose of the simplicity of draft legal biking in triathlon.
I say this as a guy who races DL and is 6'5" so you bet your ass I have those baby bars on and use them all the time, but I absolutely see the argument against them.

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IG: idking90

So what? This is why my logical side is saying buy a P2 10 speed, and I can use all the wheels I have now. I am honest with the wife
that spending anymore money than this will not give me any more time savings in a race. (The emotion wants a P3 with 11 speed
and Di2 :( )

And then if I want to race a DL race, then I can just buy another bike that is optimized for DL racing, again, another 3K type bike.

I can buy a lot of bikes that are focused to various race types for one 11K Felt IA.

And if I crash or get it stolen, well, sure would be a lot less stress.

So I do not see it as a big problem. Just different folks make different priorities. Some say me having a Velotron, let alone 3 Velotrons is
a total waste of money. These cost way less than one IA Felt, and my wife LOVES I train inside on these 99% of the time.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

That is not true. The rules only state that it must have drop bars and min 12 spoke wheels. I agree the rules are very strange, saying they follow UCI and then not really following those rules.

As far as I know, the ITU has adopted UCI cycling rules. Is this not the case?

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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But your P2 will be illegal too.

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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--

What does anything you wrote have to do with ITU draft legal age group racing? Why don't we stay on topic. Your multiple velotrons also has no relevance here.

No, it isn't the case. Look through the company riles posted in this thread.

Elite races use most of the UCI rules. They specifically describe a 3 tube main triangle with 3:1 ratio and 8cm max.

The age group rules are the same for draft legal and illegal events with the exception of drop bars, clip ons and spoked wheels.

I fully agree with you on the archaic and regressive nature if the UCI rules in ITU racing. At least for AG they don't seem to be as restrictive except for the non-traditional bikes like the beam bikes.