Ya, it would be a bummer walking around the expo with mainly guys around. I hate it when that happens. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Dev,

One thought would be do it on Friday and Sunday so there is a full day between. Nice is a big enough city to manage that and the French are very familiar with events that take place on weekdays. Having one big spectacle is good for IM and moving it around the world where cities like Nice can support the combined event would be ideal. Not sure there are many options that can hold 5k athletes in a weekend though.

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

I'll say from the remote-spectating side it's nice that the two races are on different weekends. It was really hard to find time/convince the wife to watch the two races when they were just a couple days apart. Same day or different weekends is nice for that.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

One is the real WC and the other is not?

To me the interesting thing is watching all the Breakfast with Bob interviews, just about every pro feels that they stand a better chance here than they do in Kona. The two exceptions are Frodeno and to a lesser degree Lange - who just happen to be the past winners who are participating.

Now whether this is some degree either optimism, Bob's line of questions, or having to put a positive spin on it, I don't know - but it seems like the pros are very much are looking for a challenge which is different than Kona.

Kona seems to hold a mystique in the interviews, but as far as racecraft goes, Nice seems to be the winner.

I've been watch all the coverage this week, and I am liking the fact that it is something different with all the unknowns.

Kona has the history, and will always be Kona. Nice has the something new cool factor, that I think will be more exciting to watch.

It will be fun over the next few years to see how the dynamics of the having two different WC venues plays out. Good for the sport!

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Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com

Honestly, I'm surprised that this got done for this year. Ironman is incredibly lucky, they got sandwiched into this weekend, otherwise it definitely would not have been available. There's this thing called the Rugby World Cup that kicked off today and Les Bleus defeated the All Blacks today in Paris and Nice will be hosting four matches starting next weekend.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yeah, to do well in Kona you just need to be able to handle the insane humidity/heat. A few people just really have an advantage there over most others. Nice kinda nurfs that aspect of the race a little. The climbing and descending in Nice of course is a bit more... so the bigger guys might be at a little bit of a disadvantage.

In general Nice has a bit of glamour to it that Kona does not. But having been there for the first time last year, the history is definitely palpable throughout Kona. Going to breakfast at Lava Java or in the evening at Huggos or On the Rocks feels special. Nice will develop its own history and traditions, I'm sure.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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For a west coast USA athlete..

Nice advantages:
1) Much better vacation destination. Nice itself is nice. The maritime Alps are spectacular. (Hundreds of ancient hilltop villages, deep gorges, alpine valleys). The coast is crowded, but interesting and scenic. Much more interesting and beautiful than American beach resorts.
2) Value for money- accommodations is cheaper, better and more interesting. Food is same price, but better and more interesting. Airfare is a little more, but not a lot more. Much more to see and do.
More of an adventure.
3) Weather is a bit better for racing. It will be hot and humid on the run, but a bit less than Kona. The bike should be much cooler.
4) Bike course is super exciting and interesting.
5) Run course is more iconic.
6) It's not Kona- if you have raced Kona 3 times or more, you will appreciate this.

Nice Disadvantages;
1) The bike course is going to be terrifying!!
To do this race right, one should train the decent 3 times or more.
This would be a big investment in time.
(Like many US triathletes I am a bad descender and I only did the decent once. I am going to lose 10 minutes on my more prepared competition).
2) Terrible Jet lag- it is a lot easier going east to west (you just have to stay up late). Going west to east is awful. One needs a week or more to adjust
3) Run will be more monotonous. (Although Kona run is hardly awesome).
4) It's not Kona- if you are only going to one WC, and it's important that it's "Kona" - than Nice is an disadvantage.

In terms of losing 10 min on decents, when I raced IMFrance, one of the guys who I was even with starting all the climbs, I beat to T2 by 15 min. He was a much better runner than me and spent the entire marathon out running me and passed me in the final 1km. But that was a lot of free speed on a superior athlete. On my tri bike, I moved my bars up and back, and saddle quite a bit back to put more weight on my back wheel so that I could carry more speed through switch backs. I also dropped my saddle 5mm for more control on the technical descents, noting that I would be more "sitting up at the back of my saddle for long seated climbing". The slight adjustments paid off. I tested all of this out on the Col d'Eze going up to La Turbie and Eze Village on race week to get comfortable.

Probably too late for anyone to do these tye of adjustments at this point. I had the advantage of numerous trips to the Alps and had an appreciation for the bike handling in that type of terrain.

My one mistake was wearing an unvented aero helmet. The climb up Col d'Ecre was baking hot and at the low speed there was no airflow and I ran our of liquids and if I recall it was 20km to the next aid station and then after that it was too technical to properly hydrate till it was a lot later.

Would only disagree on your point regarding the Nice coast being much more interesting and beautiful than American beach resorts. There are many beaches aside from Florida and California in New England and in the Pacific NW that rival Nice.