Agreed - Super League deserves its own thread! Can't wait to get on the trainer tomorrow to watch the finals.

Not sure exactly how to reconcile whatever Macca is accused of doing on the Big Island with his involvement with this fun to watch program. I guess my focus will be on celebrating the athletes and the format rather than celebrating Macca.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I really enjoyed watching the semis today but the only way I could figure out how to watch the races (after the live airing) was on Facebook. I am actively looking to get OFF of Facebook but it seems like between watching Ironmans and SLT I'm stuck with it.

I do totally agree the production quality was great! Unless all these triathletes are really good actors, it seems like they truly enjoy Super League too. I love that there's no weird formalities like in ITU, commentators are knowledgable and know the athletes, there's community involvement, and it's just fun. Looking forward to the final tomorrow!

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KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

It took me a while to figure out how to best view it also. I ended up using the feed in Triathlon Live if you have a subscription to that (super cheap / great value if you don’t). Barring that, you can also watch the live feed through YouTube, but you have to go through the link above and register first. I initially went through the link to get to YouTube and casted to my Apple TV, but then saw that Triathlon Live also had it, so ended up using the Triathlon Live native Apple TV app which worked great

TriathlonLive was actually my first stop, but they can be so slow to air the 'rebroadcast' that I gave up.

I also registered on the Super League site but totally missed that it was through YouTube - duh. I'll watch there tomorrow!! Thanks. Don't know why it was so difficult for me today.

---

KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

Unless all these triathletes are really good actors, it seems like they truly enjoy Super League too.

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That's what happens when you pay for all the athletes to race + their travel + their local PR campaigns at each stop. There's a reason why tons of pros try and qualify for this series. They pretty much get paid contracts to race, even to finish DFL.

SL invests in the athletes, and what do you know the athletes go out and plug SL with 50+ IG posts the week leading into the race, etc etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

The question is, how long is their runway. He's talked about how it's more attractive to broadcasters...but it's still being streamed and the ITU is on an NBC channel.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Imo it's basically as long as the rich billionaire wants to keep footing the bill. 2 things happen when you have a large bank roll.....you either get a longer than normal leash to make it work, or like Island House, your rich billionaire takes his ball and goes home....leaving all the athletes to cry about how good they had it.


Now the good thing is that SL imo is atleast trying to make it an "series". It's past this fantasy all star weekend approach, which to me was all Island House ever was. Atleast SL has series events. It's getting some corporate sponsors, it's atleast building up it's brand/series and not just making it an "weekend holiday to resort island and oh btw you have do do a quick triathlon"...SL is built on the athletes, it's supporting them, it's branding them to make the SL brand that badass brand.

As I said to monty in the ITU thread, I think SL is *only* an online brand. I don't think they have any network ins just yet. (I dont know if SL is only broadcast on ITU online channel or that means it'll also make network broadcasts like ITU does).

Is it sustainable? Hell if I know, but atleast the PTB's are putting in the best effort to grow/support it. Events like this work, will only increase money/people coming into the sport.



I also hate the comparisons to IM from the OP. SL doesn't imo put the IM broadcast to shame (I mean by default it does, but it's a terrible comparison really). SL is simply an tri event on steriods....it SHOULD put any other broadcasts to shame. It's built for success, it has what a 2mi radius of broadcasting and that's it....it has fast paced racing, it has the best athletes at the front, it has characters getting lapped on the 1st lap, so even the DFL guys/gals are still "supported".

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

They're already into race promotion for age group events. Seems to be going off the same model of the ITU as it has qualifier events. So there is a business to it. But the comment I made when I he was on the Brick Session podcast is why are you even touching the amateur side of the spectrum? If you really think this will stand on it's own you won't need to subsidize the pro event with an amateur race.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Are you suggesting they have the financial plan and/or $$$ backing to not go that route?


ETA: I think your undervaluing just how much of a kick ass format this is and how many people actually want to do this type of short fun racing. Now of course SL is built on being at exotic locations, so really it's only "wealthy" people who are likely showing up to support as fans and racing to begin with. Maybe Jersey isn't all that expensive of an Euro destination, but Malta and the island was it in Aussie the 1st year.....that screamed exotic rich destination.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

It the intent is actual private professionalization of the sport, then it needs to be paid for by broadcast rights and sponsorships. Not subsidized off the back of the amateur.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Right but it has to get to that point, so what do young businesses do a lot of the time........anything it can to get in front of people.

#business101

It has to show sustainability imo before it's going to network TV. So if by getting AG'ers to join the fun let's them have a year 4, then you deal with it.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Having AG'ers race is going to have zero affect on whether it gets picked up by broadcast networks. ZERO impact, so I'm not sure what the big deal actually is.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

This isn't to say I'm not into the product. I like the product quite a lot. And I wouldn't mind racing in the format. Yet when it comes to professionalism, I don't know of a single triathlon that sells tickets to spectators when you remove the VIP hospitality tent from Ironman.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

But the in person experience isn't what SL is going to be sold on. It's the short course balls to the wall racing that will make it to network broadcasts if and only if sponsors want to jump on board.

There's huge potential for sponsorships with this type of format and broadcast. Corporate logo around the entire course like they do at soccer matches. Naming rights of the "transition" or the bike course etc.

(I just dont think the viewership numbers are there yet, thus you gotta do what you gotta do to make it to the next season).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Hours of entertainment here on the Super League YouTube channel.I have said for years that a huge portion of the triathlon world (especially in the USA and Canada) are not actually fans of the sport of triathlon but are just fans of selected M-Dot events and a handful of Ironman athletes. It is why I am not surprised that the Super League YouTube channel has so few subscribers


https://www.youtube.com/...os?disable_polymer=1



I was in Penticton in Canada when the first of the F1 Triathlon events (then called the Tooheys Blue Triathlon Series) was telecast live nationally in Oz in '94 and when I got back for the second season I could not believe that for the first time in my memory those races were being played on the tv in pubs and regular people sitting there drinking knew all about the events and some of the triathletes became well known athletes across the country.Suddenly people who didn't give a shit about my triathlon training wanted to know all about it.The hype has died for that type of broadcasting (as it has with Surf Lifesaving Ironman events) but the sport is still booming across the nation.

..and to add the first Super League which was held event on Hamilton Island in Oz with Mrs Frodo on commentary.I wish they would take the race back to Hamilton Island but that first year they dodged a bullet because the week after it was hit by a major cyclone..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84yxcWOYgB8

SL is a celebration of the sport of triathlon.
This is what any sport needs.

If you only sell a sport as an olympic sport you will never build a fan base.
Why, because you are saying that the sport only has value because of the olympics, not because it is a great sport.
And then of course you are just selling one event every 4th year.
That is just stupid.

What triathlon needs are good events in cities that have fans showing up.

I am a big fan of SL.
It is fun to see the best athletes having fun and battle it out.

+1 I've watched each one, and they are great.

It's tough for triathlon, I'm not sure why. England had a real boost from the London Olympics and the Brownlees are celeb status there.

But here in Germany, where there is a huge Tri community, most of the people I know who race triathlon pay very little attention to the ITU, Super League or IM. It seems more of a participation sport than an audience sport.

Super League could change that, but no one knows about it. They need to market it more. Much more.

I think a lot of sports and countries can learn from what Germany have done with biathlon.
Great events with a lot of spectators.

Triathlon has to do the same.

You can make the competition into a big show and party.

I take your point and of course don’t disagree, but two things. I did acknowledge SLT’s built-in advantage right? And second, c’mon now. Even the 70.3 WC Nice broadcast which was far and away WTC’s best production effort yet pales in comparison. Lovato and Dede didn’t even know who Gustav Iden was until he practically had the victory secured (called him Iden Gustav for most of the bike leg), Matt Lieto on a grainy Skype feed for the “sideline reporting” versus a very easy on the eyes and polished Jo (no idea how to spell her name) doing her thing, and just little things like on-screen start list, timing graphics, etc. Ironman has PUBLIC funding (yes I know the balance sheet is in a shitty place but still) and honestly the product it puts out on the broadcast is subpar. The contrast with SLT only puts it into greater relief - inherent difference in format notwithstanding

Not online only in Australia, it’s shown on fox sports.

It is live on the largest channel here in Norway.

Maybe you have a USA bias in your view.

Malta is cheap as chips... my running club has been out there the last 2 years, and will be back next year, for their annual running festival 'Gozo Marathon'. Last year we paid £250 each for flights and 5 nights stay a huge high quality AirBnB accomodation, food and drinks are cheap, pubic transport is super cheap and well done, and the locals are great out there for helping you out. The race costs like 10 euro and include cracking race packs and t-shirts etc... really puts the UK event organisers to shame with what they charge us and what we get for it. Pretty, exotic looking locations doesn't always mean expensive... depending how far you live from them in the first place.

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@the.lazy.triathlete

https://www.strava.com/athletes/18691068

You can also watch it live or on catchup on BBC Sports / BBC iplayer if you are in the UK.. goes live in 2 hours iirc.

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@the.lazy.triathlete

https://www.strava.com/athletes/18691068

Just checked prices from Norway to Malt. They are cheap.

My office once went there for meetings. It was cheaper than going to a hotel in Norway.

Really nice island.

These days I don't think a traditional television deal is needed to be successful/make money. I watch YouTube/pay per views/facebook livestreams about 4x more than television these days.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

My point is the 2 have completely different objectives. The broadcast ability is the whole product for SL. IM’d broadcast ability and focus is not there. It’s nit the end all be all for the success of its product. Thus when you tell me SL puts IM to shame, that’s not a real big bar there to begin with.

SL is a pro triathlon product whereas IM’s pro coverage is only a small cog in the IM wheel.

Saying IM is put to shame is kinda stating the obvious.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

True but the online presence for SL viewing is pretty small.

As I said they have like less than 30k viewers on its YouTube pages for its race coverage. So I hope all you Aussies, Brits and Norwegians are tuning in to put those numbers to shame.


What network coverage does give is a “demand” and thus advertising. And yes YT can increase add etc but not when only 30k are watching.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Exhibit B for why SLT is entertaining as hell. Blu has done both run segments so far completely barefoot to save time in transitions. Love everything about that guy

Yes, but also I thought it was farcical.

JB was eliminated because he put his shoes on in T1 and others carried them over the line and put them on after.

That's just stupid - and I switched it off.

The short chute is already a gimmick but this was too far.

Running barefoot ok, but running with your shoes over the run start line then putting them on? Laughable.

They interviewed Jonny who said he didn't want to risk the injury so put his shoes on. I guess he didnt think to run across the line carrying his shoes like a couple other guys.

I suspect they will change the Eliminator rules on the next race. Would be better if last athlete entering transition is eliminated rather than the last one leaving transition.

Otherwise I did enjoy watching the racing this weekend. Too bad weather didn't cooperate so they could ride on Sunday.

@Kid

i have really no idea how they select race venues hamilton island their first desination was certainly exotic. its seems to be more offshore location locations with low tax modles that attract banks ( jersey singapore malta) not sure how mallorca fitted in there ( Mola connection maybe) btw malta is as cheap as it gets in the winter month.

It wouldn’t have mattered. He was still well behind them. It’s not like he hit the line and they were still putting on their shoes.

It's pretty simple. Triathlon is a participation sport. The pro division is just that, a division. Very few people that bowl or throw darts watch professional bowling and darts.

This isn't a bad thing. However, I'm also a big time fan of the professionals and check in on the various live streams that go out. But you're never going to get people who plunge 20+ hours of training per week into their own campaigns to become fans of the sport consistently. Why? Well the same reason the pros are fans of other sports.

In the US, Rugby is pretty similar to Triathlon in that it is a participation sport. Very few people pay attention to the National team, heck most don't know we have one I'd say. USAT, However, does a very good job at showcasing the top four athletes male and women athletes.


SLs viewership numbers are still pretty much minuscule. So I don't know what they're doing there.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

my training group all have a competition at Ironman Australia where there is an award for the fastest T2

We all get off the bike grab our shoes and run out of T2 to get the fastest time.

You know it's just a sport. You should be having fun. not bitchy

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Cheers to this. [Very notable] people complained about the three point line in basketball originally also:



Evolve or die, as they say.

(disclaimer: I’m not saying SLT is doing everything right, but am a bit surprised by some of the stodgier views here - a little out of the box thinking never killed anyone)

Agreed, it was riveting, much more exciting than the same yearly Kona broadcast with only different players. The minute to minute redlining and changes, eliminations, "Short Chute" idea, barefoot running, it was all very well done and exciting. Triathlon needs more of this fun version of triathlon than another drawn out boring Ironman broadcast. I don't keep up on ITU names very much, so it seemed all pretty new to me. Which made it extra fun to watch.

Just got to watch it on FB, and kind of disappointed they did not have the bike, and just for wind? Still a great race, great athletes will rise to the occasion, just the spots down are the ones that get switched around when you take out an entire element. IT didnt seem like the roads were wet, but maybe?

At any rate, gonna be pretty hard to beat the French in that new olympic relay. In fact, the guy they leave off would probably fit top one or two on any other nations team!! Good job by Kanute, he toughed it out, moved up in the swim, and was able to outsprint really good runners. Pretty crazy swim start in the mens, now that is a swim scrum. Put old Johnny Brownlee into O2 debt, and he blanked on carrying his shoes out to the line, and was first to be eliminated! Pretty tough for Blu to run two legs barefoot, but for sure the first one was to not be at the back. He and Iden really needed that windy bike, would have been different results for sure with a bike..

All good stuff, fellow lifeguard Taylor Spivey represented well, almost sprinting for 4th. How are they going to beat Cassandra, girl is the next Gwen it is looking like..

Do you think gwen would be competitive in today's ITU? I honestly don't think you can make it in the women's race without being a strong cyclist anymore. Guess we'll see.

Do you think gwen would be competitive in today's ITU? //

Of course, they are still a minute behind her. Perhaps if it were more of a challenge, she would have stayed. Or not. I see nothing today that wasnt there just a few years ago, no one is running 31's like she did, and no one is smart enough to drop anyone. Strong enough, but not smart enough, still cat 5 racing in the women's races..Give it another year or two, maybe we will see the kind of runner Gwen was starting with the break in T2.

I'm fairly new to triathlon and don't know what you're referring to?

Edit: about macca in kona

I dont think it was the challenge or lack of challenge. Imo triathlon was simply a business deal for GJ basically from the start. The pot was sweet enough to entice her to stay until she got what she wanted, and then it was almost as if she bolted as soon as she could and has never once looked back. So I dont think she was willing to do the small things to stay at the top and that mostly would have been in the pool, grinding every single day. I think she would have fallen off the front pack and thus been in trouble with the front group having even more advantage to push the bike.

So I guess to me it's not ability that was GJ's issue, but desire/love of the sport. If you don't like something, eventually it'll just wear you down and you'll move on to something else. GJ got hers, USAT got theirs, and the divorce was pretty amicable.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

A good friend of mine's company supplied the uniforms for the Super League. I've been watching as he documents the whole experience. He has been posting interviews with a lot of the racers and even Macca. They all seem to be truly enjoying it. I know I really enjoyed watching it.

Imo triathlon was simply a business deal for GJ basically from the start.//

I believe you are right, however I think she is extremely competitive, and at least triathlon scratched that itch for some years for her. But I have no doubt that if she had loved the sport as we all do, she would have stepped up to the tiny gain in the front pack of the swim, and been in the same spot that won here all those races, most without a real challenge(even the ones she came from 1 to 2 minutes back in T2).. Some folks have a hard time getting the last few seconds on the swim, and continually end up on the edge, like Mola or some of the great women now. But Gwen was not one of those, had a great stroke, was getting more comfortable in the group, and had the ability to even get better if she needed to.


But as you say, it was about desire in the end, and her new family situation called her away to a less impactful sport, and one that didnt require the hours of training and racing around the world..On that note, anyone know how she is doing these days??

Did you watch the full women’s race? The wind was nuts then and it was off and on raining. I agree for the Men, but when they had to make the all it was before it cleared off and the wind calmed down.

I believe she had surgery which put her out

Did you watch the full women’s race?//

I watched both races in their entirety. I guess I missed the rain, but did not see it rain a drop for either race. I just have never heard a bike cancelled for wind before, but these are new times I guess..

They put in the effort to promote the races on social media, they have a ton of photographers and video, that they push to their contracted athletes to share often. They had PR stunts like Sophie Coldwell riding in a shop window, and Matt Sharpe riding the trainer out front in the middle of town, to stir up interest. But the Pros and AG athletes love the format, I worked one of their qualifiers this year, and the AG'ers love the racing, and the Pros were fighting hard for the contracts (and came from all over the world for a shot at the Golden Ticket). The courses are no joke, they're technical AF, but they get a lot of things right that other race directors don't. They hammer the media with events and invites. Ahead of the qualifier events, they had the mayor on site, they had local media personalities try pontoon dive starts, etc. They promote the hell out of their events on social media, and their athletes (which is why there is so much competition for contracts, a number of athletes have capitalized really well on the SL exposure to bring in a lot more of a following, and sponsor support, Matt Hauser and Jake Birtwhistle are two great examples, Hayden Wilde as well). They do a bunch of community events around their races, school visits, kids races, clinics, etc. that get kids excited about the events. They pick unconventional venues in city centers, because of the short and tightly contained courses, they get access to venues that wouldn't normally work for most races, where you get more foot traffic, and it becomes more of a festival/spectacle. They have solid prize purses, that pay deep, along with fully funding the athletes to be there, the prize money is a big carrot...

From the broadcast point of view, the races are short and action packed, which make for better viewing, they do a good job of making it available. They have a lot of partner networks for the championship series races, but I am not sure if anyone is broadcasting them on TV, or just on-line (I know in Canada it's just on-line through CBC, although I watched on TriLive). I really like the formats, I've watched since their first event back at Hamilton Island, it's something different and a way to make the racing more TV friendly. I agree that they are somewhat at the mercy of their wealthy investor in terms of being able to sustain it. They are bringing in more sponsorships, and they are really trying to promote the AG racing to try and make their events more sustainable. It's impacting the sport for sure, I think the idea of the ITU adding a super sprint championship (starting in 2021) is a direct result of the success of SL...

The central contracts offered from USAT at that time really weren't much. In fact their current central contracts are more like a subsistence allowance than anything considering what the workload is. They're making their money all off sponsorships and prize money. Maybe that's wrong, but that is the Olympic model.

If you look at USAT's taxes, athlete contracts are not high enough to be considered reportable.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

The initial contracts don’t need to be a lot. There needs to be a buy in from the athlete at some point too. So the federation simply needs to help get the athlete going (free gear + coaching discounts) and then talent will allow them the motivation once they start winning.
/doing well/enjoying it. Then it’s just a matter of slotting in on the national team federation allotment according to their performance etc.

You’ll also notice USAT will usually never fund a race trip for lower level athlete but will likely reimburse if they podium. It’s about skin in the game.

GJ was pretty successful early on to a degree. She simply wasn’t world class until she went 100% all in and closed out all loose ends. That’s why I don’t think she was going to be successful moving forward w tri. I think she had checked out mentally of living the itu lifestyle. And as I said both parties got what they needed out of the arrangement.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I was in Jersey for Super League. The wind was brutal - we were struggling to stand in-place at times, and the part of the course that linked the road to the waterfront between the buildings was even worse by all accounts. I don’t think anyone on-site would have questioned the decision to cancel the bike.

Local weather reported 50mph winds with even stronger gusts.

That was why I was asking if he watched both races. The women were freezing on the podium and could barely hold onto their checks when they were given to them. I don’t feel like Macca would cancel the bike just for shits and giggles.

Couldn't find this to watch live anywhere despite it being advertised live in the UK on BBC player, searched Iplayer and BBC sport website and it was no where to be seen!

Having missed the first women's semi onto YouTube and Facebook to try and find the mens live only to find it was riddled with spoilers from the women's race, which set the pattern for the next few days, couldn't go anywhere near Instagram without being spammed with spoilers.

SL did a good job in the past without spamming spoilers all over social media, I don't know what's changed for this?

With that rant over I enjoyed the racing, shame both fields were missing quite a lot of big names ITU but being so close to the Olympics I'll take it!

Impressed with the punditry of Stimpson, GTB and Schoeman and also the new interviewer girl they had (apart from when she tried interviewing CB mid transition)

French dominence is all that can be said in VL and CB, can't wait for the next one!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/...lon-mens-enduro-race

It's under the sport section ...

It was streamed live as well, I watched it though the bbc sport app.

---

@the.lazy.triathlete

https://www.strava.com/athletes/18691068

That was why I was asking if he watched both races. The women were freezing on the podium and could barely hold onto their checks when they were given to them. I don’t feel like Macca would cancel the bike just for shits and giggles. //

No, I did see that it was windy, but obviously not everywhere, the swim was almost glassy, not a white cap in sight. And watching them run, it wasnt blowing them over or anything, but I get that it is just easier to cancel stuff now, rather than fight Mother Nature. I just come from a era when we bike raced in driving rainstorms and 50mph gusts, never a thought of cancelling. We did Kona one year when it was so windy, folks were literally blown off the road because they didnt know how to handle their bikes. But not the pros, they just rode at a 45 degree angle into the wind, and dealt with it. These were all seasoned pros, so for me, I would like to have seen them ride, like many of them I bet too..


But I get it, the show must go on, so now we have super league aquathon!!!

SL is kinda in an unique position that it's actually probaly a more favorite format for many of the ITU guys and also likely as good or better paycheck + travel deal than the actual ITU season. But SL also has to deal with the fact that they are the "2nd" DL season after the main WTS season. So I think they have to play it smart when it comes to athlete safety and those types of decisions. SL is going to be only popular as long as top names race it. They can only put them through the meat grinder at this point in the season *so much*. So I think it's a tightrope balancing act they have to play.

It would be kinda like NFL. For years NFL celebrated "hard hits", only to find out all those NFL guys are dying with some pretty f'd up brain injuries....cue the PR lawyer suggesting maybe just maybe you want to make the game safer..... So now NFL has implemented "sissy" rules to make it safer. Those old guys laugh/complain at what the NFL has now become.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Searched Iplayer when the mens race was on and couldn't find it Live (that's when I gave up trying to watch any of the races live)

Superleague could do with putting out actual links to the live feeds next time around.

One other moan I had forget was the split times at the side, having the initials of the athletes must have been terribly confusing for any casual or none Triathlon fan, it was hard enough for me to work out!

.
Now come on Monty,I am just as much a grumpy old man about how soft the sport is getting as you are but there were good reasons for cancelling the bike,especially for the women when the wind was at its strongest.There is a big difference between a very windy day out in the open with consistent winds on a wide closed road in warm Kona with 10 meters between riders and a group ride winding through buildings that funnel wind on a twisty turning course while not being able to feel your fingers and toes in freezing Jersey.

Could they have held the bike? Sure but I suggest they were considering the safety and possible injury to their contracted athletes with the next couple of Super League rounds not so far away.Ironman does not have that issue with their athletes.


The swim was flat with no whitecaps because it very obviously is inside a marina in the English Channel surrounded by huge great bloody walls designed to shelter the boats from the horrendous winds that are commonplace.

I have raced Duathlons in similar winds, we did it, most people survived it (there was some idiot racing with a disc wheel that got caught by a 70km/h gust while passing another guy and put that guy into the ditch, and gave him a fractured wrist), but I can also see where saner minds could and should modify the races (there were stretches I was riding downhill in a full tuck at 18km/h, because of the headwind, and others where I was climbing at 60km/h, because of the tailwind)... That said, I think it may have been the best call to cancel the bike... while it might make for an epic race to watch, part of Super League's assets are the strength of their fields, and you don't want half to go down injured, and have mediocre fields at the next couple of stops... And yes, agreed that the swim gives you a false sense of calm conditions, being in a sheltered Marina, with large walls around blocking most of the winds...

As or viewing, there was for sure the stream through the SL Website, there is TriathlonLive if you subscribe, there was a livestream on YouTube on Sunday, along with the other media outlets carrying it. The archives are usually on YouTube within a week, and within a day or two on TriathlonLive if you want to watch what you missed, or re-watch it...

Could they have held the bike? Sure but I suggest they were considering the safety and possible injury to their contracted athletes with the next couple of Super League rounds not so far away.Ironman does not have that issue with their athletes. //

Hey, like I said, I get it. Just pointing out that races in those conditions and worse, would never be cancelled at the birth of this sport, thats all. I wonder if they took a secret poll of all the pros there, what they would have voted for? I can certainly see certain individuals voting to keep the bike in, but I wonder if more than half would have? Or do you think it was unanamious among the pros to cancel too? It would be interesting to have been in on that discussion, I bet Macca was pained to have come to that decision, as an athlete, he certainly raced in that and worse, and would probably have chosen to bike..Different hat now, so different considerations..

I think the thing this shows is that more than anything, the athletes actually matter. IE- the athlete's safety and concern and actual well being matters to making them the product not actually S-B-R. They could have probaly done circles with just transition work and it would have turned into a competitive battle (so as long as the S-B-R isn't totally butchered they wont really have much issues putting on a good multisport show). Of course when half the male pros are dating the female pros and they see how the weather was for the women, there was probaly not a person there that "pushed" for it. Of course everyone wants to S-B-R, but there's also I think a pact especially with SL and the athletes that at the end of the day, let's put on a good show and all get paid while doing it. Go beat each others brains in and then go have beers at the pub, no need to go beyond stupid danger just to put on a show. So I think it just shows how important the actual athletes are instead of just the event of a S-B-R.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Of course when half the male pros are dating the female pros //

Well at least that part is like the old days... (-;

I thought it was fantastic. I loved the constant updating of splits, the eliminations every round the SBRSBR format. Etc...

I worry about the financial viability. No sponsors and maybe 100k viewers... where are they coming up with the $80-90k to put on every race?

When you have a Russian billionaire on your team then the race series will go on until he says it won't..

Leonid Boguslavsky is Co-founder and Chairman of Super League..
https://superleaguetriathlon.com/about/

Indeed, I could see how that is helpful.

It might take a decade of losses but I think this will workout.

A couple of things going for SL is they have a "partnership" with ITU for online broadcasting partner and also it seems as a "2nd" series after the WTS. SL is also being setup as a successful event series and past this all star weekend of racing. What it doesn't have going for it is that it seemingly doesn't have a ton of viewership numbers and as alluded to and as I sad in other earlier in this thread......when your backed by a billionaire, you'll only go as far as he lets you until he gets bored and takes it away.


But I think SL and it's backers are doing everything right to put the series in a situation for success. However I would be curious how French Grand Prix does it, or German Bundlegish (spelling). They apparently pay their athletes fairly well and everything is sponsored and covered. Of course I dont know if it's on local TV anywhere. I also know I've never seen "coverage" of any of those series or even comments here. Obviously ST isn't ITU focused, but it has enough insiders to know the itu industry.

FGP also has some of the bigger names racing most of the weekends of it's series and we never hear or see coverage of that.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I think there is more to Super League than what we see in the live coverage.The corporate events are huge and the age group races are growing and they do put a lot of work and money into their junior events.Just look at the Bali weekend with 500 in the age group triathlon and over 2,000 in the fun runs.It will be interesting to see how it progresses from here.

SL markets the hell out of all it's events. I can't go to social media without seeing someone brag about the pro race, jr race , AG or corporate races. But participation $$$ is going to be limited to a degree. That can basically cover the a lot of the bare bones costs, but at the end of the day the only way SL will remain a success is corporate sponsors / broadcast advertising. That's where the money is in sports. Advertising which is usually done during broadcasts. Eventually SL is going to want a corporate sponsor lining the entire banners on their courses, etc. I know some countries broadcast it on network TV. I dont know if the US has that capability (it was online for U.S. based I believe) and yes I know there is a big whole world outside of the U.S.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Really? You are going to compare racing on a open paved road with no drafting and 3 bike lengths to racing on a super technical urban course with drafting, guard rails, 180s and bad surfaces? Who cares what Macca would have done in an IM 20 years ago? He most definitely never raced a bike on a course like Jersey's with 50mph gusts because they didn't exist back then. Would you have preferred for them to have raced it and had a bunch of the top ranked athletes leave Jersey with a bunch of broken bones (because that's what the result would have been had they held the bike)?

 
In the broadcast, there were multiple references to "contract athletes" and "qualifying athletes". Does this mean there are two tiers of athletes: some are under contract (and, presumably, paid) to appear and others who had to qualify to race? If this is correct, what's the rationale?

I find this one interesting, as whenever Ironman cancels a swim we just get a bunch of whingeing,

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yes that’s the case and the rationale is that by default SL has to have a limited pool. So they allow any pro to attempt to quality at basically last chance qualifiers around the world that’s not a “big name” athlete. Thus the 2 differences.

ETA: everyone is “paid” and/or all expenses paid for even the worst athletes. I’m sure the contract athletes simply get a appareance I’m guessing for the biggest names.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Yes and I can see the difference maybe you can’t. And I can also understand in today’s pussification/PC/sue happy world RD’s are going to go soft.

I don’t think this is the same but again if you think differently thats cool.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

So, when Ironman makes an athlete welfare call it's bad for the sport, but when SL does...it's great. Now that is a BS position.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

No it’s 2 different scenarios, most people can see that.

IF you think SL did this cancellation for bullshit reasons we just see it differently. But your experience in triathlon is much different than mine and so we can have different views.

SL ain’t cancelling a leg just to cancel it like other tris do imo. And I’ve said tris cancel it for a variety of reasons including having to deal with lower level athlete abilities. Thus they’ll now cancel almost with any adversity. So yes it’s for “athlete safety” for both I just think the acceptable line is much lower for IM than SL. If you can’t understand that I don’t know what to tell you. If you think these are the same you are incorrect.

Want to disagree great.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I can't believe this debate about the cancelled bike leg is still raging on....

The Olympics is around the corner, how popular is SL going to be with national federations with a shit load of injured athletes after they made them do an unsafe bike leg??

It's not rocket science! I think they're already pushing the boundries having them do two rounds of SL at the end of a grueling WTS/Oly qualifying season.

Disagreeing because Ironman cancels things specifically because of Athlete Welfare. If you don't think that is the primary driver, that's on you. You can't say Wanda is just there to suck money out of the raisin and Super League isn't.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yes they cancel for athlete welfare because the athlete welfare line is so low at IM events they have to cancel at ANY adversity these days. SL ain't cancelling it because of some windy conditions. Notice how they did the women's race and then in the interest of athlete safety they cancelled the men's. They only cancelled cus it made sense.

There are plenty of times in IM races that it doesn't make sense to cancel a race but it's cancelled because we have a low bar of athlete racing and thus the RD has to cover his ass + IM's ass.


To compare the 2 is nothing but a troll job.


And then to say SL is sucking money like IM does? You are talking out your ass trying to compare how the 2 companies operate. SL's whole premise is a pro development race and they take care of all their pro athletes. Quick name the next league/franchise that does that........go ahead I'll wait, you can't answer.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Hmm, where do you think Macca got this idea of Super League from? Answer: him racing in the Australian Grand Prix Series in the 90's, which had bike courses just like Jersey (well maybe not quite that technical) and overall the same type of short, fast and furious formats (Enduro, Triple Super Spring, Eliminator, etc) that you'll see in Super League nowadays.

The insurers for these types of things are the same people or their policies look the exact same. The liability is huge.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

But the skin in the game is completely different. So the liabilities while very similiar are for very different reasons.

IM has to deal with such a low bar of athlete's that pretty much disrupts it for the rest of the athletes who are adequately prepared. It's why you've seen so many events cancelled so often the last 2-3 years. AND it makes complete sense. If I'm IM, I'd cancel every damn swim too, cus they let every single athlete into their events with pretty much no training accountability. So essentially they behave in a very fail safe manner. If there is any issue, they cancel it so that they are now off the hook and don't have to worry. It's smart as fuck business plan. It's also why they couldn't pay me to be a RD in today's climate....I'd have a heart attack waiting til the last swimmer got out so I can breath a sigh of relief.



SL has to deal with the fact that these are the best athletes in the world. The whole purpose of SL is to showcase that. Their liability is that they are essentially "borrowing" the athletes because while SL is a hugely financial success for professionals, it's always going to play 2nd fiddle to ITU because of the Olympics. So it can only put the athletes through the meat grinder enough. It can't have half the field crashed out and broken bones simply for the sake of having a S-B-R.

So while you think they are similiar they make decisions very differently because they are hugely different franchises and goals. (So comparing the 2 really makes zero sense).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

.

You must be new to the sport.If you don't know Macca's history then you most certainly won't know who Monty is.I'll give Monty all the respect he deserves even if he comes off as a cranky old man sometimes. :-)

Macca witnessed one of the worst crashes in this sort of racing during the Accenture series race at the Opera House when one of the athletes crashed very badly and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.That was the last time that race series was ever run.I think they made the right call in Jersey as off camera,earlier in the day, they had some of the transition tents blowing down with one flying off out of transition.They took down all the teardrop flags that usually line transition and had to prop up the fencing with extra sandbags.

Here is Macca performing in the first race of the series in 2001'ish
https://www.youtube.com/...jPlQhJ4j1A&t=17s

The crash is right at the start of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/...eFYHa6uTU&t=113s


A little add-on..Here is one of the most epic crashes in this format when Mike Pigg slides out on a corner bring down Greg Welch and a few others.I think Welchie broke his collar bone in this one.
Check out the slow-mo at 30:15.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2AyUk97fwg

I think they definately should have cancelled the bike. That course up close is pretty dam tight and technical, Superleague have already created hard technical courses for the viewing pleasure without adverse weather making even worse. Imagine the wind chill factor also, there would have been numerous hospitalised athletes from that alone. Sure the athletes may be pros but are at different levels of competency with the demands of these courses and I think SL have maybe now learnt that the risk of getting wiped out by an over confident dick, ruining the rest of their season isn't on some athletes "wish lists" . There were a number of top ranked athletes who didn't accept or re-sign for this season, they don't want to lose more. With the Olympics coming up many don't want to take the risk, and rightly so.

SO is anyone besides me watching the prelims of super league this weekend? Some pretty crazy racing, Luis taking the first heat, and Blu just demolishing everyone on the bike uphill and run downhill to take the 2nd heat. Some crazy fast swimming too, but most of those didnt get through, although Kanute snagged the 15th and final spot on time, missing the auto top 5 slots. Murray and Schoeman are back, both top 5, and the American women are stacked for the final tomorrow too.

But if I were a betting man(and I am) both finals go to the French once again, not sure how you beat either of those two. Although they are starting with a cycling tt first, then I believe they get sent off in order of that finish, so maybe Katie can get a tiny jump on her..

I am watching it too...despite the season is becoming too long. Luis and KB swept in the men's..I was late to see the women's
Just want to point out that the calendar is stacked... some guys/girls in world cups, regional cups, nationals sorts of superleague (last week in Spain), 70.3s.....too much, and all the top guys spread or resting.
The format is interesting, but more than 2 weekends is too much. I would place one in may-june and the other at the end of sept.

BTW, Still wondering what ITU is figuring out with the sprint/olympic distance. If the change into sprint as the standard is confirmed after Tokyo, I think they are comitting a mistake.

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

Yep,these guys and gals are awesome.The dude wearing his shoes in the swim needs a free pass to the beer tent for the rest of the weekend. :-)

The dude wearing his shoes in the swim needs a free pass to the beer tent for the rest of the weekend. :-)


Ya, in the last race a lot of folks opted not to put on shoes for the run, or at least carry them across the transition line first, then put them on, so as not to get eliminated. Of course this guy was just jumping in the water with shoes to be able to say he made it to the 2nd swim at least, was of course no benefit beyond that. Maybe they make a couple extra bucks for how far they advance in the race?

Pretty tough mens field to qualify, 3 women got in who couldnt even finish, so pretty weak there. But good quality for the top spots once again, and fun to see Iden and Blu in there duking it out with the sprinters. I swear that Kristen was about to lose it on the very 1st swim, then recovered and ended up with the fastest time on the day. He is about 100 yards away from elimination each race with swims that are first. And he is not that bad!!

Could be a real good race if he gets that scenario again, he is probably the only one to run with Luis on that downhill, they must be doing low 4 minute miles there. But I think it will break the opposite way once all the swimmers are in the final, and he will have trouble bridging up on the bike, if at all. No doubt Luis watched his race, and doesnt want to be in a sprint with that guy, he motored everyone off his back on that uphill run and bike..

it doesn't seem fair that women who were eliminated and didn't race all segments today get to race tomorrow with the extra rest. granted, they aren't contenders, but there should be more of a penalty if you advance to the final without even finishing the semi simply because so few women were racing.

I think it is fine, the races are not that long, and most of the finalists got to back off anyway at some point, knowing they got their place. In the women's only the ones racing for short Shute would have been full gas, and even then it was not a sprint to the line. Did you see the gal telling Katie with a 1/2 mile to go to take it easy, she wasn't going to sprint her? Of course Katie didnt fall for it, and still put in a big enough surge to break her, but still got to back off from an all out sprint..

Like you said, they were off the back anyway, doubt resting for an extra 10 minutes is going to magically make then better tomorrow. Now could be they were sick, or just way off, and one nights rest will make the difference, that stuff does happen. And it they take money away from others who did qualify on time and place, could be some grumbling.

Any way to watch these races on demand when you can’t watch live?

Not on the super league website (only live)
Not on triathlonlive.tv, only live and only days later are the finals only (for Jersey, probably will be same for Malta) available on demand
I have Fox Sports that showed everything last year but can’t find anything this year (wanted to pre-program recording but no luck there either.

Don’t understand why super league wouldn’t want as many people to engage with them by making their races available live only on their own website?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi7ztWFW8a0

check that link out from youtube. I've been at a collegiate race all day in the mountains of VA with spotty internet. Heard mike arishita swam in his nike next % at some point today (making the time cut off??)

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Heard mike arishita swam in his nike next % at some point today (making the time cut off??)


Not really, it just enabled him to start the 2nd leg of the swim, and then was eliminated right after. IF you are having to jump in with your shoes because you are so close to the cutoff, you certainly are not making up any time on the swim after. It just let him go for a few more minutes, as they dont pull you during the swim..

Not really, it just enabled him to start the 2nd leg of the swim, and then was eliminated right after.

------

Except it's exactly why he did it (the time cut was going to be at the end of transition and before the swim, so skip losing time stopping to take off your shoes and just go right from run to swim2)....as he posted "delayed elimination by swimming with my shoes which confirmed swimming in nike next percent makes swimming 96% harder ". He basically knew he was getting cut, that let him swim once more (he's not a top flight swimmer).


Which is even more impressive....not only did he swim with the shoes, during the swim he even took them off and put them inside his jersey.......the things SL makes you do. LOL

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Except it's exactly why he did it (the time cut was going to be at the end of transition and before the swim, so skip losing time stopping to take off your shoes and just go right from run to swim2)....as he posted "delayed elimination by swimming with my shoes which confirmed swimming in nike next percent makes swimming 96% harder ". He basically knew he was getting cut, that let him swim once more (he's not a top flight swimmer). //

This is exactly what I said in two different posts. I think you are so used to arguing with me, that you dont realize when you agree completely with my point that I'm making.. (-;

I make the initial comment it was a time cutoff decision......you reply "not really" and then proceed to explain it was basically a time cutoff.....you then say I'm the "arguing" and yet your reasoning was basically confirming it was a time cutoff decision!?!?

Notice I didn't reply to your comment, lol, only when you replied to somehow disagree with mine, which you do I think cus you try and "clown" me with your commentary. Which is cool, you can have all the rights to do that, you are after all one of the patrons on here. But I'm cool with disagreeing on things, I just dont try and make you look silly like you do with me.

IE- not really sure why you replied to my comments in the 1st place to only confirm it was so he could get in the swim and then get time cut.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I replied to you because you asked this frigging question!!

(making the time cut off??)

And you said


“Not really, it just enabled him to start the 2nd leg of the swim, and then was eliminated right after. IF you are having to jump in with your shoes because you are so close to the cutoff, you certainly are not making up any time on the swim after. It just let him go for a few more minutes, as they dont pull you during the swim..
“

Which is incorrect. He did make the cutoff, as there was a cutoff before the swim. He then missed the post swim cutoff. You have to be within 90 seconds of the leader. Leaving his shoes on let him do one more leg. You guys are arguing because you incorrectly said that he didn’t make the cutoff.

Very impressed to hear Macca announce that Super League will take a break after Malta to allow all the athletes to prepare for the Olympics. Five more SL races to restart two weeks after Tokyo 2020. Just goes to show that they do understand how important the Olympics are and how any issues/injuries raised during the crazy SL format could affect possible Olympic participation.

**Spoilers**

Beaugrand uses the 1st run short chute to help catch up to the front group of KZ. Gets onto the 2nd bike with the front group and then mechanical issue has her DNF. KZ uses final run short chute to keep ahead of Klamer and then 3rd Takahashi.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

In the bike TT Blu, VL and one other athlete went the wrong way on the course and have lost lots of seconds. To the point they likely may be lapped out with the 90s rule.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Blu quickly corrected to only lose 20s. VL seemed to be a bit more miffed and likely lost 50-60s. So they wont likely be eliminated, but VL has a huge uphill battle after that mistake....A few f bombs on their warm down.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

And now commentary is saying Iden went wrong and others were correct, and I think they don't actually know just yet what the splits are.....oh boy.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Makes for some good watching. I enjoy the format. I’d love to see some smaller stuff like this here in the states. Try to make it as viewer friendly TV friendly as possible.

Enjoying the race on national Norwegian TV (and it is also being streamed on their website).

Iden is on the same bike as he won the Ironman 70.3 world championship on. That is cool.

And now Rachel Klamer moved one of the men's bikes who was racked incorrectly during the race.

SL to not penalize the men who didnt ride the correct course on the bike TT, took earlier timing splits to keep the splits close going into the final........

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

That is why super League is better than itu. Ifrc in an Asian cup last year they disqualified the whole front pack due to a marshalling error...

Iden is on his bike

There was no marshalling error today, several athlete's just didn't know the course. The time gaps they had to use to "correct" the mistake took out the entire wall climb on the last lap of the bike tt.

ETA: Now the genius in all of this is that SL is actually paying the athletes to be essentially characters in this production. They are getting paid nicely to race as hard as they can go, and when they pop "smile for the cameras". It's a great business plan and production. It's also why no one will complain on camera except when the 2 boys were warming down and didnt know they were on camera were dropping F bombs and pissed off confused cus they knew they had done the right course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq8o0rIQkZU

(9:25 mark of the video)

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I thought Luis said he was sure he had finished but they told him he had another lap?

Yes they told them to do another lap once they officially finished the correct laps, because the guys in front of him did an extra lap cus they didnt count correctly. But their times would have stopped once crossing the line and then they were told "1 more lap".

Essentially Iden and about 5 others did 1 extra lap. VL, Blu and HS did the correct prescribed course. But because the officials thought they had done wrong, they were told they had to continue.

Thus why you can hear Blu and VL pissed off and swearing they did the right course.


Doing the extra lap would take roughly ~50s and so half the field would have been strung out and affect the "racing" in the finals.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Ah ok thanks I hadn't understood correctly

Some really great and exciting racing as usual. I believe the officials made the right call, they were certainly a huge part of the problem, so best not to penalize athletes when the officials dont even know what is going on. They kept saying that Blu and Luis were gonna lose 30 to 50 seconds, even though they did the correct course? Just one of those things that have no template, so good on them for having a guy like Macca to help sort it all out for them. He no doubt has been screw many, many times in his career because of race problems, I know I have. And how bad would it have been anyway, if we were cheated out of the match up of Blu and Luis, both who dominated their respective heats yesterday. they did not disappoint.

So what actually happened to the bike in the women's race, chain drop and jam, or broken derailleur I think Macca may have said? Not the way to lose for sure, we got cheated out of a Katie sprint I believe, as she probably would have been outrun but had the short Shute still in hand...

And is currently for sale in the slowtwitch classifieds.

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Let food be thy medicine...

They seemed to indicate broken RD, and on the social media pics there is some wires hanging from the rear of her bike.


I dont think the officials error'd in the officiating of it. The course is fairly simple, the only issues were from athletes who've never previously raced until this year. It's tricky because you ride past the finish each lap up the hill. So you sorta swerve to the left to continue or go straight to the finish. But because the TT was going on and different people were on the course on different laps, they couldn't close off the "turn" section yet, and they simply relied on athletes being able to count. Of course under race stress athletes f up that stuff all the time. I just think if someone is telling me SL is better than another race production because one screwed athletes over, let's also call it when it happens any other time. But I get it the athletes are essentially SL employees out there, "nothing to see here" from that odd timing issue today.

ETA: It was fun to see those 2 battle it out. The kiwi Wilde has some guts to race the way he did after the weekend of crashes. I thought the Norway interview w Blu and Iden was pretty good. They asked Iden what Blu does for fun...."nothing". Blu responded, i wish I could answer the quesetion what do I like to do for fun as "1 swim 2 bike 3 run". Pretty good interview.

He said he did a 27km uphill mountain run at some point in his training, 6k feet climb or something.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

BBC had the Sunday live live broadcast on the red button channel on Sunday but not Saturday. It shows in the guide on the red button channel so it's possible to an record it to watch later if you have a Sky/Virgin/freesat/freeview PVR.

I knew I was done, but the road to the finish chute was blocked of with big road markers. I pointed my way in, and they pushed my out on another lap. If you jump a barricade you're pretty much a guaranteed DQ, so didn't really have a choice. They then realised their mistake and opened it up for the next guys.

Cassandre broke her front shifter all of. The bike was unrideble.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Hei Gustav
It was really fun watching you guys racing this week. Finally, NRK is understanding that triathlon is a great TV sport.
You sure have shown you versatility this season. 70.3 world champion, ITU contender and SL contender. It seems like you are doing something right in your training. What a road you have traveled since Trollveggen Triatlon back in the days.

I hope you have gotten all the sponsors you deserve.

Nice and great interview on the telecast w Blu.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Watched the men's final race. That is a hard sport. Full out all the way.

Richard Murray didn't look like he was having fun. Commentator said he was ill.

No JB? I'm not surprised that some decided to start the winter break early but great race. Shame isn't not on again until after the Olympics. Even if you aren't bother about winning it's super training but maybe the chances of crashing are just too high?

It’s not super training if your not on. It’s probaly a bit too hard actually if you aren’t prepped for it. The intensity and lack of recovery makes it tough. With Olympics 10 months out it’s all about dialing in everything from here until then. Some want to do it as part of prep, some don’t want that intensity at this point of their “off season”.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Caught the races for the first time on YouTube last night. I will definitely be subscribing and watching in the future. It was an awesome format and the racing was incredible. Great job and looking forward to more races.

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_____
TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

Still surprised he did not have any sponsor in the jersey like some others.... what are the brands waiting for? He is the current 70.3 world champ, winning in fashion...

Despite Beaugraud was in the leading pack, Zaferes is showing that she is just in another level. Happy to see Klamer up there, hope she has a good 2020.

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

  
"Super League Enjoys Record Breaking Year In Jersey"

That is the Super League headline on the post about the impact the SL Jersey race has had on viewership and potential tourist impact on Jersey.

https://superleaguetriathlon.com/...BBoLpsV7CkbbFmzbPXlc

they're waiting for his Instagram follower count to blow up...

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Finally got a chance to watch the races from Malta. Fantastic viewing like always. I think if triathlon ever gains interest in the mainstream (ie viewers who are not themselves triathletes), it will happen with this and not the IM stuff. Continuous action all packed into less than an hour. I find it more entertaining than the typical ITU race as well

Vincent Luis just always seems to be in total control. Puts himself in the right position to play his strengths and make his move. Plus he is so solid across all three disciplines. Really excited to see how the Olympics play out this next year

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Matt

Nice to see you throwing it down out there in Jersey and Malta so soon after your 70.3 worlds title.

What fees more miserable/painful when racing, 70.3 or Super League? Also, do you have a preference right now for what race distance/type is the most fun - ITU, 70.3, or Super League? And within Super League of the formats you’ve done (or ones that you have not done yet) which one do you feel is the most fun and/or plays most to your abilities? ie enduro, triple mix, equalizer, or eliminator?

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Matt

Gustav has a new bike sponsor already
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ring=guiden#p7061268

Just got round to watching Malta so I can get round to un deleting Superleague from all social media as they're not very good at unspoiling race results!

Bit of a moan about the quality of womens field (I get how its the end of a long season and close to an Olympic year) but this isn't as marketed the creme de la creme racing.

Massive shame on that CB had a mechanical just as we was going to get some proper top class competition going.

Mens race turned into a massive cluster fcuk on that TT, had no idea it was SL fault until I read the comments on YouTube, brilliant end to the mens race, I think Blum closing that gap to Luis on the bike all on his his own, then going past him made the difference in the sprint in the end.

Shame we have to wait till after Tokyo now for more of this, hopefully we get stronger fields once Tokyo is out the way.

I watched it a few days ago and you could very clearly see (on the TriathlonLive replay stream I watched) the guy standing at the fork between the turn up the hill and the turn to the finish line waving those that "finished too soon" into the finish chute. I'd be pissed off and drop a few choice words too if that was me.

So that what I thought happened as well - someone had incorrectly waived Blum and Vincent in a lap early. However that person was actually right, they should’ve finished. The problem is Iden was forced to do an extra lap (the finish chute was closed off when he got there so he kept going, he mentions this on post 116). So in the confusion everyone ended up doing an extra lap.

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Matt

I’d disagree with you about the strength of the women's field for Malta. Having KZ, CB, Rachel Kramer, Yuko Takahashi, and Taylor Spivey all there showed they had some strong ladies (I think they were all in the top 10 from last year’s final results). Yes the ladies side wasn’t as full as it has been previously, still missing athletes like Kasper and Jeffcoat, but the two Italian juniors they allowed to race in Semifinal B were actually really strong...especially since they’d already done a race earlier in the day. I mean heck, Beatrice Mallozzi’s final time was 31 seconds faster than Summer Rappaport’s, 30 seconds faster than Periault’s, and even faster than that over Felicity Sheedy-Ryan and Angie Olmo. Each of the top 5 athletes in Semi B had faster times than Beaugrand by almost a minute (KZ) to 28 seconds faster (Zane).

It wasn't a strong field, it was missing Learmonth, Holland, Duffy, Spirig, Stanford, Taylor Brown, Stimpson (off the top of my head)

Okay my bad, forgot about the Brits. However the majority of your list are athletes who focus on WTS races. If this was a WTS race yeah the field would be very weak. However, it was Superleague and 4 of the athletes you named have never raced SL. Duffy has never raced Superleague..she was slotted to but never actually competed due to injury. Spirig, Stanford, and Learmonth have never raced either. So really, the only key/semi-key and semi-consistent FORMER SL athletes missing were Kasper, Jeffcoat (and other Aussies like Natalie VC, Ashleigh Gentle, and Charlotte McShane), plus the aforementioned Brits (minus Stanford and Learmonth). Plus, Stimpson has been injured so she hasn’t been racing. So that’s what, a max of 7 other athletes? Cassandre has been Katie’s biggest competition when it comes to the SL format. I don’t really foresee the end result being much different than it was. Sure the mix of athletes in the final would have been different, Rappaport and Periault (and those with slower times than them- Olmo and Sheedy-Ryan) might not have made it and the 3 eliminated athletes that qualified for the final wouldn’t have made it. But who out of that group would really have challenged Katie for the title?

Your reply doesn't make sense mate, not really any such thing as a 'superleague athlete' Superleague is the elite of Triathlon competing against each other.

So for whatever reason if you've only got Zaferes and CB with a realistic chance of winning because they're better than everyone else then it's not as exciting for me as it could/should be.

I know that can't be helped because X athlete is injured and B, C, D, E athlete can't be bothered because Olympics are around the corner, tired, doesn't want to risk injury whatever.

SL has always struggled since the very start (why we never got a womens race at all the very first SL) to get an absolutely stacked women's field who are all majority on fitness, but this probably reflects on womens WTS as whole, a lot of the main players have either been pregnant or injured/struggling fitness for long periods since Rio.

Athletes with Super League contracts are Super League athletes...

From the SL website...
Super League carries the richest prize purse in the sport. 1st place in each Final wins $20,000. The Championship Series winner takes home an extra $100,000.
There are big prize money pay-outs for all 15 athletes who compete in every Final, and significant bonuses for the Top 10 Ranked Athletes at the end of the Championship Series.
There is also $10,000 on the line for the overall winner of each of the different coloured Jerseys come the end of the Series.
On top of all that, each Super League contract comes with a commitment to be treated like a true professional. That means Super League pays for all flights, accommodation, food, and provides all-around support, bike mechanics, physiotherapy, marketing, promotion, social media support and much more.

Thanks for that, not sure what your point is?

You claimed that there was no such thing as a Super League Athlete so I'll say it again,athletes contracted to Super League are Super League Athletes.

Fair enough, doesn't really disprove the point I made that this was a weak female field.

Also, I haven't got a clue what females are contracted to Superleague, someone made the point that the women I named who wasnt racing Malta weren't really SL athletes, when infant I think all, if not most the women I named have raced SL at some point.

Superleague is pretty exclusive. Macca invites who he thinks are the best of the best, plus those who prove themselves at qualifiers. Hell, even Taylor Spivey didn't get invited until Malta last year and then she stuck around because she proved herself. It's not a "anyone who races ITU can race superleague" type thing like you insinuated. You either get invited, or you qualify. In case you were wondering who does/has raced superleague, here is the list of everyone who has raced, from SL's website. You'll see that the ones I mentioned that have never raced SL (Duffy, Spirig, Learmonth, and Stanford) are in fact not on that list.

You're 100% right. It's totally a contract thing. I believe the top 10 athletes at the end of the 2018 season signed contracts to race in all the races in 2019, meaning that they didn't have to go through qualifying/being invited this year.

I didn't insuate at all that anyone who races WTS can race SL, quite the opposite!

It's me who is having a bit of a moan about how weak the field was in Malta and you two appearing to disagree.

Ok Spirig, Duffy, Stanford or Learmonth haven't raced SL but I can guarantee Macca would have loved to have had the four of them girls line up in Malta, two former ITU World champs an Olympic gold and Silver medalist with the current World number two and and commonwealth silver medalist.

Well you weren’t complaining about the strength of the field in Jersey..and the only athletes that raced Jersey that didn’t race Malta were Luisa Baptista, Annamaria Mazzetti, Vittoria Lopes, Sandra Dodet, Emilie Morier, Emma Jeffcoat, Zsannett Bragmayer, Carolina Routier, GTB, Alice Betto, and Selina Klamt (junior who qualified for semi’s by winning junior race)

The only name that you noted in your list of who was missing from Malta was GTB. So then since the majority of the Brits, Flora Duffy, and Nicola Spirig didn’t race in Jersey was that also a weak field?

Ok, I will put my opinion forward, the top few were good, the middle were the lower ranked wts girls and the bottom few were the qualifiers(top athletes don't bother to try to qualify, they get given a wild card,) and a few non qualified but let race as the field needed filling. Even so the field was still very small, was it 17 but can be 30? Also Stanford has raced SL in the past.

I can agree with you on all fronts. Forgot about the wild card slots being another way to make it in other than qualifying and signing a contract from last year.

And you’re right, Stanford raced Jersey in 2017 in the first race they had a women’s field too, since Hamilton Island was only men. Spirig actually raced then too, and podiumed, so I was wrong that she’s never raced SL either.