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Re: Auckland thoughts? [northern monkey] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, he won Edmonton but had to engineer a 90 second lead himself (and that is why I love watching him! He does what has to be done).

In terms of how much they train, they do 17 to 20 hours a week on the bike (but that is mostly with their training group of friends, plus a crazy chain gang on Thursday evenings in the main season). They have five swim sessions a week (about eight hours), and also about eight to nine hours of running (including two really hard track sessions), as well as two hours of strength and conditioning.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [FeketeBlob] [ In reply to ]
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FeketeBlob wrote:
Excellent post, Mr Monkey!

The Rio bike course is several degrees harder than anything seen in recent memory, so it is quite possible that it will favour a very different set of athletes than we expect.

After exiting T1, they ride for about 700K, then start a 0.7 K climb ascending 50 meters at an average of 7%. The second half has pitches of 10 to 20% (!). That is approximately the amount of climbing per lap as we get in Auckland. There is then a technical decent at 10-15%, followed by a second hill, and another 40 meters of climbing at 10-15%. As I said before, that is 80% more climbing per lap that Auckland or Madrid. After descending the second hill, there is then an out and back of about 2.5km along the shore. This is a custom made "Brownlee brother course", but I don't think it is a Gwen Jorgensen course. And in truth, I don't know who it would favour (possibly Jodie Stimpson, or Non Stanford).

I remember Kitzbuhl 2013 being tougher - it was one long hill over 10% average, hitting 20% at times. The transition was so steep AB almost fell off the bike trying to get out of his shoes.

AB won, but Mola rode through the field to come second - I think he's underestimated on hilly courses.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [bluefever] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, Kitzbuhel 2013 was tougher in the sense it was a pure climb at altitude that favoured lighter guys (like Mola). Rio is tougher in that it combines relatively short very steep bursts of climbing, interspersed with a tricky technical descent, plus long flats favouring the rouleurs (more like a Belgian classic race). So it is a much broader test of endurance and bike skills. Mola proved he can climb well up a steep slope but RIo is a very different challenge. And Mola had his legs shredded last and this at Auckland, and he wasn't even in the front pack in either race.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [FeketeBlob] [ In reply to ]
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FeketeBlob wrote:
Yes, he won Edmonton but had to engineer a 90 second lead himself (and that is why I love watching him! He does what has to be done).

But he was "allowed" to get that lead as he couldn't win the series, even if all the other contenders crashed out. I can't remember the exact permutations, but it was something like only JB, Gomez and Mola could win the series with Gomez having the advantage, and JB or Mola needed to beat him by about 3 places to take the series, so he just marked the pair of them and was happy to let AB ride off the front for the win.

Stockholm was a better example, when he shot off the front as he knew he didn't have the legs for the run. That time he was only "allowed" to go in the sense that no one was able to cover the attack.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [alir] [ In reply to ]
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And in Edmonton, there was another 60 guys who couldn't win the series and perhaps could have been "allowed to get the lead." But he dared and won. They didn't.

Stockholm was interesting because although he thought he didn't have the legs for the run, only Gomez was faster and only by about 5 seconds... Even Murray who came from nowhere in the second chace group was 35 seconds slower...
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [FeketeBlob] [ In reply to ]
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Worth noting that AB's current injury is the result of bad luck rather than overtraining or overuse - he put his foot in a pothole during a run session and twisted his ankle.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [FeketeBlob] [ In reply to ]
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Whenever he races he adds some magic
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [northern monkey] [ In reply to ]
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Anyone any idea why that Norwegian bloke ( Blummenfeldt ), worked so hard to try to chase the front group? At best he wrecked his legs so that everyone he towed for ten 10k could out run him and push him even further down the overall results (34th). Is he paid by someone, is he just not thinking or is he over excited by being in the race?

Work hard if the group shares the work otherwise why bother?
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [r0bh] [ In reply to ]
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AB was jumping out of the way of a dog wasn't he? Jesus imagine the run up to the Olympics.

Blummenfelt's a young dude, got 3rd in New Plymouth so can obviously put a run together. Heard a rumour he was doing some training with the Brownlees or am I mistaken?
Last edited by: messien: Mar 31, 15 13:27
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [trival] [ In reply to ]
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This is a bit off the current topic, but does anyone know what the rules are when you are lapped on the run? Rewatching the men's race, there were 2 lapped runners (1 German, 1 Israel) who, when lapped, immediately got right behind Jonny and stayed on his heels. Seems like an easy way to affect the outcome of a race by clipping the leader's heels.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [trival] [ In reply to ]
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Yonah got DQ'd but the other guy who running like a crackhead chasing a rider up a mountain stage of the tour de France wasn't and finished ten minutes after Brownlee.

Just had a look and he's pretty experienced. Should definitely be a case of gtfo of the way or immediate DQ.
Last edited by: messien: Mar 31, 15 13:39
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [trival] [ In reply to ]
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the Israeli guy got dqed I think.

oops didn't see the post just above before replying.
Last edited by: fulla: Mar 31, 15 13:53
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [Salmon Steve] [ In reply to ]
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Could be interesting on a course like Rio if a nation like Switzerland would try to qualify a Daniela Ryf to help Nicola on the bike. Imagine what damage those two could do to Gwen on a tough bike course like Rio!

Will be tough to qualify anybody else but Nicola, though, they are in a big hole (behind Sven and Nicola) and may end up with only one spot for men and women??
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [Diabolo] [ In reply to ]
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Diabolo wrote:
Could be interesting on a course like Rio if a nation like Switzerland would try to qualify a Daniela Ryf to help Nicola on the bike. Imagine what damage those two could do to Gwen on a tough bike course like Rio!

That has crossed my mind on numerous occasions. Who knows what Brett is planning, but it would really add to the dynamic of the race.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [trival] [ In reply to ]
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You're not lapped out, but intentionally running with somebody a lap up is a penalty. Yonah from ISR got DQed, and the tall German probably should have as well. Everybody else stayed pretty much out of the way.
In the women's race, as Zaferes went through a bit of a rough patch and Kasper passed her back, I suppose that was ok. Just tough because even the athletes running a lap down are fast as hell, possibly just had crappy swims and shelled out on the bike. Auckland is the worst example of all the lapped runners because of the bike course.

IG: idking90
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [iank] [ In reply to ]
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anyone know why zafares got dqed last year?
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [FeketeBlob] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, I agree, you're right. It will be a lot tougher for him. Kitzbuhl was a bit of an anomoly.
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [fulla] [ In reply to ]
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I thought she crashed. Or was that Yokahama? Somewhere early she had a nasty one.

Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team
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Re: Auckland thoughts? [MI_Mumps] [ In reply to ]
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London was where Katie Z crashed hard I think.
Auckland she finished the race, but was DQed for unbuckling her helmet too early. It looks in the 2015 rules like that was changed (highlighted green) to be a time penalty only if it happens in T2. At any other time, it's a DQ, which I believe is what it was last year.

IG: idking90
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