iron_mike wrote:
Jackets wrote:
monty wrote:
All you guys arguing for a different draft zone and how unfair this 12m is, what do you think the result of this race should have been?
As I see it the best overall triathlete won, a super swimmer/biker went out on a flier and got paid off with 2nd, solid ex ITU guy who has moved up quite profitably gets 3rd, and guys that lose 4 minutes in the swim or blow up fill out many of the next places. Seems to me it was a pretty fair race all around and the results reflect that.
There is nothing wrong with a 12m draft zone if enforced. What did Keinle think after hammering and closing 4 minutes, that everyone else was hammering in front of him? No they were just riding a comfortable pace waiting for him to catch, and be ready to match his pace afterwards. That is why he cannot break them at this junction in the race, he is toasted a bit from the chase, and everyone else is fresh and ready to up their watts to match his pace. He can't get mad because Gomez doesnt come to the front to set pace, why would he? He is the best runner in the race by far, why chance a blow up on the bike? That is like getting mad at some guy in a break at the TDF, for not pulling when his teammate has the yellow jersey in the peloton and 2nd place is in that break. Some things just don't make sense, and Gomez ever setting pace when the group is all together, is one of those just doesn't make sense scenarios. Silly to get mad about that. Javier is not Keinle's domestic, now if Sanders had been there it is a whole different situation. They could have traded pace and broke the group off of them and changed the dynamic. But he wasn't there so you have to play the cards dealt on the day..
The best triathletes are winning the big races, how it ought to be. If you lose 4 minutes in a swim you probably are not the best triathlete under any circumstances, sorry guys but just too many that lose no time who can also bike and run like monsters..
Spot on.
x2. well said, monty. 12m is arbitrary, as is 20m, 19m, 11m, or anything else. you show up and you toe the line, and deal with everything that includes: weather, terrain, competitors, rules. . . if you know your strengths won't be rewarded, you either work on your weaknesses or find another race, or accept a sub-optimal finish.
While I agree with much of what Monty wrote in many parts, to say that 12 meters versus 20 m or anything else is arbitrary is laughable. Sorry.
Javi executed a brilliant race within the rules that are set out, just as if he had won a fully draft legal race.
I think it really just comes down to what people perceive non itu Triathlon as IDEALLY being: as close as is feasible to a true Individual time trial, or a nearly draft legal bike that we pretend is non drafting.
Personally, I think that bumping it out to 20 meters would show the strongest overall athlete, but not necessarily the strongest overall tactical competitor.
And yeah, I know there's drafting on the swim in the Run blah blah blah blah blah blah blah the bike is more than half the race, so if you can keep that clean, you've already got half the racing non drafting right there.