Tubs wrote:
Lange is probably the best runner Kona has ever seen. There was a lot of talk about Sanders, Gomez, how Frodo would have been the one to beat etc, and to me it seemed like very little focus on Lange. He was beaten many times in 2018, but no one can beat him in kona. He has the formula for the race and his preparation dialled in. Admittedly the last 2 years seemed to be favourable conditions for runners in Kona, but if someone wants to beat him next year, I think they need to have a plan. Lange seems like a smart racer. Some of the other pro's don't like the way he races but, like many great athletes, he does what he needs to do to win. I don't like Macca but you can't deny that his 2010 victory over Crowie was very clever. Hoping for a windy day for the uber bikers is fine, but hope rarely wins titles. So what do the other Pro's do?
If Sanders/Kienle/Wurf any other good bikers get ahead of Lange/Gomez and then have a team mate in the group with Lange and Gomez and ride at the head of that group and slowly bring the pace down so Lange and/or Gomez have to take over and ride with their head in the wind, or at a slower pace. And other athletes riding with Lange should realize that they have no chance at winning as long as they don't force him to do work at the front of that group.