I wonder this too.

My best guess is that without lots of sponsor help, travel time and cost to all 3 of those races is a decent deterrent. And, with them all being quite far apart time-wise, it's hard and maybe threatening injury to be at peak fitness that long or for that many times in one year. But again, I share your curiosity. Most elite 70.3ers will want to win world's anyways, so why not give this first one a shot. Then if you are lucky enough to win both, you can focus on the last race for the paycheck of a lifetime.

Yes I considered the injury thing as well as the travel.. a 70.3 though to those guys is a long training day.. or really, a short but hard training day.. MOst of them are doing it in 3:40 and change.. if your a guy like the first group I mentioned you could just gauge your effort to go hard enough to Win.. travel for the ITU guys is nothing..
I agree with your approach though if the 70.3 is on your list at least do the first one.. if you win both damn, go for it. thats life changing money for an athlete used to 22K paychecks..

Holly Lawrence has a chance at it given her win in Dubai, but when Daniela announces her full schedule later this month, I can't imagine her not being at the start line in Nice for 70.3 Worlds. A healthy Holly still doesn't stand a chance again Daniela or likely even Lucy, but flats and penalties can change that. If she can get that win, I would imagine its hers to lose then as I can't see her having much competition in Bahrain in December.

It's funny you mention Frodeno and Brownlee as your examples as wanting to stay away from political issues that could lead to bad PR. They are both centerpiece athletes on the Bahrain 13 Endurance team. Even the name of the team is a jab at a political uprising that was squashed by the Crown (The Bahrain 13 to the rest of the world are 13 political activists and opposition leaders that are being held in prison after sham trials).

I can't put a fine enough point on this: Political Issues that would lead to bad PR is NOT the issue.

So logistics has to play a large role. The athletes can plan a season to have a few peaks with sufficient rest and build periods given this timeline. That assumes they do not care about the 70.3 WC, Kona, and Roth races, and just go for the money grab.

Daniela is tough to beat but you contradicted your own statement. Holly doesn't stand a chance, except actually she does....

Daniela doesn't win a race by registering. You gotta get to the start line healthy, and actually win the race. The point of the op question is asking why is the field at Dubai so weak at both men and womens side. Translation, why don't more do what Holly did and take a shot at Dubai. Looking at the field, there just arent many big, big names there. Two on women's side, zero on men's side. So it's clear that the top talent in the sport is not targeting this prize. Why is that?

agreed,
I actually did not think that was it.. just an example. and you are right that would not make sense..

I know if I were one of the top 3 70.3 athletes in the world what I would be gunning for..

yes thank you for translating the question.. that is exactly what I meant.. why are the best 70.3 athletes in the world, who on a GREAT year might make 200K if they win worlds and 5-6 other 70.3 not gunning for a million dollar purse.. which from a race stand point would not add much physiological stress ( i once again argue 3.5-4 hours for these guys is not huge)
Agreed travel, maybe, but damn they travel everywhere and from what I hear Dubai and the other mid east one treat them like gold..

If you're really dominant (eg. Ryf) it's possibly worth chasing, however if your not then it's a long shot & your return on the first race purse would probably be lower.