Easy. Ben Kanute.

I just finished watching the womens and I had the opposite thought, what if Lucy Charles did super league? I mean drafting in a pack was almost irrelevant for the top ladies, they just got on the front and hammered a very technical course. And being able to actually swim faster than anyone else is a huge advantage, one that no one really had. But you could see that possibility, someone that could put 15 seconds on each swim, either to get a lead, or to catch from a gap, that would be a huge advantage.. Especially in the race that gives you a time bonus for leading..

How would her running speed hold up?

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Team Zoot 2023

Well she is only running a few minutes off of top runners from ITU who are now doing long distance, so I would expect she could step it up pretty quickly going from a straight endurance program to a sprint one. A couple years as a pro and she is running 1;20 after riding with the best rider in the sport of long distance racing, so I would say a lot of potential for just about anything.

Problem is that these two types of races are so far apart, that no one could do both at a top lever without specializing. And I think her potential for ironman distance is pretty wide open, with a lot more money as a career path..

First of all I think the introduction of the SuperLeague is making it easier for these athletes to stay in ITU racing.
They can race more often and have a better chance to make price and sponsor money.

But as far as I can see, all of the top 5 can be great at IM distance.
Blummenfelt did a 2.01 after being on a tt bike for two or three week before Bahrain 70.3 last year. He won.

Non of these guys are big. But of course they would change their training.

SL style of racing is exactly why ITU Olympic will finally be a sprint distance event by 2024 Paris. It's just too good of a product not to go into the sprint distance.

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

I forget why but I think French athletes just don't make the jump. Something to do with the federation and support if I remember correctly. So Luis is never likely to give it a shot. I don't see a lot of Norwegians on the long course circuit either but I haven't heard any reason why.

I like Ben for long distance but I agree that Murray would be one to watch and be excited about. Mola doesn't seem to have the bike prowess.

I wish Nicola had gone up but I hope Gentle eventually makes the jump, I think she could be a big factor.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

The questions should be: why should they race long course??

I think it's part of the maturation process. As fast as these guys and girls are, there's another generation coming that'll be even quicker. Eventually the ITU becomes too quick for those in their mid 30's and they make the jump. Of course there are outliers, but I think most make the jump because they sink deep into the itu pack as the mid 30's approach.

That's a interesting observation about the French and it's crazy that it appears to be true. So odd, seems like luis could be a monster.

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Team Zoot 2023

This is endurance spor. I do not se any changes in the body that will slow these guys down before they are 40+.

Motivation could change, but not the body.

Gomez is mid 30s and was still competitive in ITU last year. If you notice, many of the top ITU guys are closer to 30. I think we'll see athletes be older and older, and still just as competitive. Cameron Brown at 46 competing at a super high level will become the norm.

The French and long course - like many European federations, they place emphasis on the ITU LC series. They regard it as the true championship (technically is, Ironman is a brand and only de facto world champs) and as such put funding towards those races. That means that if an athlete wants to retain funding, they must race and target ITU events (not exclusively though). Only way out of that is to leave federation support, which can make things difficult. Not sure if this has changed, as some of the top French LC guys have competed in Kona and other Ironman events more than before, in recent years.

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Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

Not in Superleage, but Fernando Alarza dominated wire to wire in Cascais 70.3 last Sunday, in his 70.3 debut. He is 27, and should aim for Tokyo, but his TT position was amazing and will be a standout in the future for sure!

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Sr. Salitre

I have a recollection that Ash has done a 70.3 distance...I know she pretty much always wins Beijing where the bike is non-draft. She put minutes into Non Stanford and several non draft specialists on the bike so really keen to see what she does later in her career - she should stick with ITU for now though with Tokyo on the horizon.

Hi everybody
Interesting stuff...
J.Brownlee has announced he will focus in long distance after Tokyo, he even mentioned Kona...
I think some of the guys will try after Tokyo, mainly the oldest ones: Murray is one among them that I expect to do it. Maybe some will try in the middle of the next olympic cicle: Schoeman, Kanute (99% sure) or even Blu, but I don´t think Luis will go for that...just a feeling
Cheers

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

Hello
As for the woman, I am willing Nicola to give it a try....she is a machine
About the rest of the field, after Tokyo, I see Duffy and maybe Katie Zaferes... Few women jump from ITU to IM at older ages....see Lucy Charles. She directly started in long distance racing

Cheers

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

I'm French and you're correct. Some LC elite triathletes do have a federation support (except a little one compared to the members of the olympic team). To retain this support, they have to not only participate in but also do well at the ITU long course championships. On certain years, it has clearly prevented them to be fully fit for Kona (when they were qualified). During their career, guys like François Chabaud (6th in Kona in 2002) or Patrick Vernay (3 top 10s in Kona including a 6th in 2008 + winner in Roth 2008) have constantly tried (and struggled) to do well both on the "official" LC WC and the "corporate" LC WC that Kona is. The most recent example is Cyril Viennot : he was 5th and 6th in Kona 2014 and 2015, while racking up a 3rd, a 1st and a 2nd in LC WC 2014, 2015 and 2016. But I always hear that it's super hard for him to manage a peak for both races.
To be complete, ouside of private sponsors, French elite triathletes can benefit from other "public" support. They may have a little support from the city and/or region where they live, and they usually have another little support from their triathlon club. That's the "Beauvais" marking on the Viennot's trisuit in 2015, for example. Also, a few elite triathletes are part of the French army and have very few obligations outside of training as long as they retain their pro triathlon card. Chabaud was in this case.
By the way, you're right, this is currently changing. Public funding is shrinking year after year and the best French LC athletes tend to leave this system and try and build their career with prize money and private sponsors. To my knowing, I think that a guy like Romain Guillaume has no federation support, for example.

I don't think Nicola has any designs on Kona or she would've gone for it by now. Too bad cause she would shake things up.

Taylor Knibb rode up to Nicola at the Lausanne World Cup - Taylor would be nearly untouchable on a non-drafting bike when / if she moves to longer distance.

Katie Z seemingly has no weakness, even her bike handling has improved. As Flora said, Katie's got a Diesel engine.


For the men, I was super impressed this season and especially in the Grand Final when Martin Van Riel went off the front by himself until Kristian bridged up and then the 2 of them worked together - then Van Riel had a mechanical just before T2 and lost his lead over the chase pack - but in the end after burying himself on the bike, he still finished 9th.

Van Riel will probably try more of those small pack break aways up to and including Tokyo, but he's a very good swimmer, a very strong cyclist, and a pretty good runner who absorbs the bike well and should do very well at long course and Kona.

I'm not sure Luis's muscular body and running style would bode well over long course. He seems built for short course (and bare knuckle brawls). I was surprised Murray got outrun by Schoeman in the final super league run - maybe Murray is not so much long course and / or, Schoeman is designed for long course.

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

I think most Kona winners are 70 plus kg and Frodeno is around 76-77. Lange is a bit of an outlier (has there ever been a lighter Kona champion?) and Crowie seems to be between that and the usual suspects.

Generally, I think for long course a bit more mass is a good thing as it helps with the long TT in the wind. Of course Kona is a bit special because of the heat. So the smaller LC guys will have it easier compared to cold weather races. But all in all you can just push more watts into the wind when you are a bigger guy.

I think none of the current ITU studs is too heavy to win Kona. Maybe some are even too light at the moment but I don't know.

I think most of them would do great as they are already top level endurance athletes with an exceptional speed base. Some would struggle a bit more with extension than others. And for the top of the crop there is not much incentive to try long course as long as they are very successfull.

Also remeber Nick Willis. He is in his mid thirties and still doing middle distance and not marathons. Maybe it's where his talent lies or what is more fun for him.

I remember Joel Filliol talking about one of his athletes with very high anaerobic power. I've always been wondering if that is Murray and if that makes him best suited for the short stuff.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

People keep brining up Murray; he already did The Championship 2 years ago, he finished 5th and hated it. I saw an interview recently and he said he has no desire to pursue LC Tri. I think he mentioned he much rather go see what he can do with a running career.

I was a bit surprised too, but don't forget that he burned himself catching up on the bike due to a botched transition.

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Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer