they were so very, very close to each other all day...but they both need to work on the S--greatest weakness of both of these fine athletes
and their runs, well, exceptional and they've worked to accomplish that

-------S-----T1-------B------T2------R------Finish
LS 25:01/2:34/2:02:56/1:22/1:11:04=3:42:56
SL 25:24/2:23/2:02:39/1:33/1:11:04=3:43:01

really good; even better; superb!

just the way one wants to race-save the best for last

Difference in the swim LS by 23 sec
Difference in the bike SL by 17 sec
Difference in the run----none
Difference in total transition--none

Difference in the race=5 seconds



wow, just wow...spectacular job by world class athletes!!!!!!

I think the elite swimmer's physique is "long torso, short legs". Sam appears to have proportionally Long legs. The height thing is ostensibly overrated.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

I happen to think that these two guys are rare in the sense that their infectious personalities set them apart from the rest. Most other pros wouldn't gain much interest regardless of video production, and people would be interested in Lionel if he was taking basic selfie videos on the trainer.

I dunno about that.

I mean, I'm no Bob Babbitt (although, I try to be =)

And in my experience of doing over 100 interviews with long distance athletes of all ages and levels of speediness, if you give someone the spotlight, and make them comfortable, most of them will shine quite brightly. Some more brightly than others for sure but I'm confident the best "stories" in our sport, period, are the ones that are yet untold.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

It's pretty clear, to me anyway that nobody has "given" Lionel the spotlight. He went out and earned/took it. A quick review of his results will highlight that the man rarely finishes outside of 1st or 2nd in any race in the last 5 years. Sure, at world championships he's finished further back but he consistently wins pretty much everything else. It's hard not to want to see what a guy like that is up to.

Good job on Sam for hitching himself to that train. That Strava war last year along with hyping up these last couple races they've both been at through social media has accelerated his relevancy in this sport. Add the recent bromance developing with Lionel and the future is bright for him, the results will certainly follow.

I watched Matt Hanson's post race video, fantastic intro but the rest was dry as $hit. Looking forward to see what TTL has in store this Sunday. That channel is pretty much driven by Paula's recent race results and Eric's video editing work. He's certainly not had race results worth celebrating since that channel has taken off. Hopefully Xterra will give him the kick in the pants required to get him going again or we'll have to start calling him Reese ;-)

Yeah, but his video editing skills are pretty top notch for a triathlete. The production quality of their vlog feels very professional.

another here where sam is growing on me. i'm more of a quiet, reserved person. he is or can be sorta the opposite of those two things. that's fine, not against him at all we're all our own people but his vibe isn't my personal favorite, that's all. but what i am liking about him is that he owns it (his personality and quirks - ex., i like how he has YOYOYO on his race suit, haha), and you can tell he deeply respects the sport and his competitors. and he's genuine. i liked his line in the video about how he wanted to get 1st place for a bit more money, but besides that he didn't care because the racing experience changed who he was for the better. gotta love that.

just the way one wants to race-save the best for last

Difference in the swim LS by 23 sec
Difference in the bike SL by 17 sec
Difference in the run----none
Difference in total transition--none

Difference in the race=5 seconds //

Yes, a superb race in every aspect. But not all seconds gained and lost are equal, and that is what is left out here. When guys come out near each other on the swim, it is virtually little to no matches burned to make it up to the pack, where there is a respite and recovery period. So the swim time and T1 are of little to no importance to the uber bikers, as long as it is not several minutes.


When you lose 11 seconds in T2 like Sam did, those are super precious seconds, and when trying to catch a guy running as fast as you are, it can be torture to up you already redlined pace. But you do it if you can, but you will pay for that effort later on, somewhere. All the early seconds lost are almost always compressed into bike packs at some point for the staggered swimmers, but never for the seconds lost once T2 is hit. Those are clawed back with a much higher price..

I wonder what Eric is going to get into after triathlon. He's always been really good and has produced videos that were pretty interesting (i.e., the ITU draft legal voice-overs were super interesting to me).

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I’ve been pulling hard for him over the past 6 months. He’s always been likeable, but it cannot be easy having your girlfriend race at the front of major fields and not be able to perform nearly as well

I don't want to make this into THAT thread but how would these 2 have faired against Frodo if he would have been in this race?

There was a "big" front pack in the swim with Appleton, Kanute, Raelert, Von Berg, Angert, Ditlev,.. which I don't think he would have outswam or not by much. If Frodo would have been there maybe Kanute and Appleton would have drilled it harder but I don't think they would have had a big split. So let's assume Sanders and Long would have still been about 2'-2'20" down.

Frodo would not have outridden Ditlev and Von Berg, he likely would have tried to stick with them, possibly having overbiking a bit? Then again, if Sanders and Long bridge up to the chase pack, do they sit in a bit like they did now or do they continue bridging to the front since they know Frodo is there?

Sanders and Long were running really well, and no it wasn't Frodo at 70.3 WC South-Africa 1h06' level but I'm not sure if Frodo is still capable of that either. He seemed to have a tougher day at Challenge Gran Canaria then usual.

I think Worlds 70.3 this year if it happens could become really interesting again with all ITU, 70.3 and 140.6 in there.

Jan would have been up there with Ditlev, and wouldn't have overbiked too much in the process. Then would have ran conservatively up front, losing maybe a minute or so to Sanders/Long, still finishing one to one and a half minutes ahead.

Nice analysis!!!

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

Frodo would not have outridden Ditlev and Von Berg, he likely would have tried to stick with them, possibly having overbiking a bit? Then again, if Sanders and Long bridge up to the chase pack, do they sit in a bit like they did now or do they continue bridging to the front since they know Frodo is there? //

First off, yes Frodo would have made the swim pace faster, and the gap to the rest would have been bigger. He may be the fastest swimmer of the entire field, so could have dictated some pacemaking.

And No, he would not have over biker, as he is also probably the strongest rider in that field. Same thing, he could have contributed to the front group pace, and the gap would have then been even bigger.

Lastly, he is the best runner in that field, so would have had a pretty easy time breaking his riding mates, and then settled into a nice comfy pace to stay a couple minutes of anyone else chasing. They would have started the run even further back than they did as it played out, and the battle would have been for 2nd to 5th at that point, as the other biker/swimmers would probably had a couple more minute gap on them with Frodo's help..

I don't agree with that - he was behind Kanute in Miami and he seems to love to settle into that group. Wouldn't have been far off but I don't see him pushing the pace in many races - but he's never getting dropped.

Yeah, he would've biked with them, and probably ran just as fast or faster with a 2 minute gap in the pretend world. Jan rules...lol

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

he was behind Kanute in Miami and he seems to love to settle into that group.//

But here is the difference, he chose to be behind Kanute, but easily could have been ahead of him too, making them all hurt to hang on. I have seen him set pace, but only when it is smart and tactical to do so. He is super smart and race aware of what is going on, who is in the race, and what gaps he would like to have. I have no idea how fast those guys were actually swimming, if it was drilled, then yes he probably sits on and sets up a killer ride. But if he starts touching feet in front of him, he will take a turn and rev up the pace, until someone else decides to take over again.


That is the beauty of being the best in all 3 sports in the field you are racing, you get to see how it all plays out, and then use your matches where they do you best. And for him lately, it has been best to be either first to T2, or sharing that lead with others that have no chance and making him sweat the run. It is the old Mark Allen tactic, you know you can outrun everyone, but if you can get any gap at the start of that run, more the better...