These kinds of things suck, but it's totally reasonable for the DQ and totally understandable why he would have accepted the help to make the adjustment.

Just think of all the other pros behind Gomez who had to soldier on behind him on wobbly saddles, derailleurs held together with rubber bands, and 20psi filled tires that Plews wasn't able to help out!

If the mechanical is race ending, and not something the rider can fix, it totally makes sense to take the outside help. You risk the DQ, but without the help it's a guaranteed DNF so no loss. Def sucks for JG though; he's had a miserable run of luck.

---

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

There is a lot more to that story.

Some facts (but still not entire 'story')
There was mech support on course.
However where he had the issue was a distance from said support.
Support was called and on way.
The location where he received support was on a part of the course closed to spectators (it's a motorway where one carriageway had been closed to traffic for the race).
His coach ended up driving an official race vehicle that wasn't intended to be on that part of the course.
A race videographer was supposed to be on a motorcycle (the course is too narrow to have cars and racing) but due to a lack of a helmet, a decision was made to use said race vehicle. Then it required a driver as the videographer couldn't film and drive and so the coach became the driver.
He supplied the tools (allen key) required to fix the bars.
At this point then Javier had already lost several minutes.

In a slight aside but still relevant there were many many mechanicals on that part of the course that day where riders were stuck waiting for a long time for support. Not fully worked out why yet, as it's a bit of the course that's actually smooth and as it's motorway less covered in glass/debris than the rest of the course. That said had been very very hot and dry for several weeks prior to race week then absolutely chucked it down the day before so could be connected. Also I suspect that the issue was people are now relying on the sealant to sort out tubeless issues and if that doesn't work then they don't have tubes to put in or plugs/bacon strips. The point being that whilst he was in an elite category there was an age group event on same course at same time with shared support.

For the record Javier has trained over her in Tauranga for a fair few months over last 6 or so years, his wife is from here. Throughout that time he has been awesome in terms of taking part in local events and inspiring and engaging with the tri community here. Even when out on long rides and you pass there's never been a time when hes not nodded, smiled or even had a brief chat in passing. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.

If this was fodano, the head marshal would have personally fixed his bars...

How do we sanction Plews in this? Do this in a field sport and he's being sat down for several weeks and fined.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I wondered why Gomez was 3rd and his bike a bit slower for the 85km bike course.

Am I understanding this right that Plews was helping out the race director by driving a race vehicle around for the photographer? So Plews in an official race vehicle, but not as an official mechanic helped out his racer, while he was in the midst of helping out the entire race being the photographer chauffeur?

I once had some volunteer at a 70.3 Worlds aid station pull out a pump and lend it to me to top off a flat tire. That's kind of a similar scenario here in a sense. Plews accepted help from a race volunteer.

I guess you shouldn't let Volunteers become excuses for certain athletes getting aid, but most of these DQs have always been a bit silly.

If anything, I see people giving splits as more useful outside assistance that's not available to other racers than penalties for chapstick etc.

A rule that says if an athlete waits for 3 minutes for race support doesn't get it, they can receive outside assistance to repair a bike seems reasonable to be. A competitor who complains that's unfair isn't really much competition if a 3min head start isn't good enough.

No, that is not correct. Possibly closer is that Plews was assisting the videographer.


First part yes, second part less so.

Worth noting the vehicle he was in did not have authorisation to be on the part of the course that he was in. Indeed it was a part of the course that such vehicles were excluded from.

What is unclear is if Javier ASKED for help from Plews. He definitely received it, but I am not saying he asked for it.

Looks like rule Changes here are needed. If plews did not do the wrenching, Gomez should not be DQ'ed. But driving vehicle on banned section, plews should be sanctioned.

I agree. I honestly don't get all the fuss over the typical DQ talk that goes on here. I feel like handing someone an allen wrench isn't too big a deal, but recognize he shouldn't have been there. I do like the suggestion that a 3 minute (or some time line) or so period without said help is something worth considering.

Most of these situations are not "Staged" by people in advance. That is different. It's a reaction to a racer in need. I feel like that's part of the spirit of triathlon that gets tangled and overlooked when talking about race help.

I also think it varies by situation too.

Yeah this type of rule is ripe for mis-apprlying and loopholing. Plews could have gotten to a safe section of the course and dropped an allen key "by accident" that Gomex found and used to fix his bars. The method of getting there is a DQ and suspension worthy infraction in it's own, regardless of why he got there.

I'm more curious why Gomez didn't have a lightweight multitool on his bike.

Usually the pros don't have repair stuff during a race, no tools, no spare tubes, maybe CO2 cartridge in a full distance race but only a minority. If they have a mechanical, they are out.

(reply not specific to the las post).

For those talking about if a time penalty was more or less appropriate than a DQ, worth noting that whilst this was a 'local' middle distance race with an elite field, there was prize money in play here that was not insignificant. And the jump up from 4th to 3rd and 5th to 4th was over $1000 difference. And of course the drop from 3rd to no prizemoney was also in the thousands.

There are always lots of debates, but at this race (and all currently) outside assistance is a DQ. No debate on rules will change that retrospectively. Sure, good to challenge and discuss if there shoudl be future rule changes, and this could be used as an example to support that, but let's be clear. The referee decision on this was clear cut correct, the athletes racing in the elite wave that put in complaints were justified in doing so and Gomez knew he was breaching rules.

Also worth noting that it was clear that mechanical assistance in case of punctures was contingent on the rider demonstrating that this was a second tube or that they had a spent CO2 cartridge. You had to have some self sufficiency.

I'm assuming Sodaro and Gomez were at the race because of Plews. I wonder behind the scenes if this is a nothing burger or if there's some drama between athlete and coach and/or coach and race director. My assumption is that at local-ish races like this, the big wigs all know each other and tend to act like the rules don't really apply to them (even if it's in a amicable way). So I could totally see how Plews would be riding along the course with a photographer knowing that "normal" people shouldn't but this wasn't "normal".

In general, I think flexibility and understanding is more important than a harsh application of the rules. Because at the end of the day, even when people claim they are just impartially applying the rules, however harsh it may be; they really aren't impartial. There are always many instances they can find of people breaking rules. Just like the zippergate situation. There are many instances of violations that don't get enforced, and suddenly once the rules get enforced, its, "that's the rules, we just have to call it like we see it."

In reality, there are some who choose to hide behind the rules when and where it suits them. It's more than reasonable for an official to make the judgement call that, despite receiving assistance with a critical safety issue on his bike, this did not adversely affect the race and indeed it only helped his competitors by giving them several minutes or more to catch up and pass. Likewise, it's ok to say that despite the rule about crossing the finish line with your kit open, in a close battle that it's reasonable to give the athlete a warning to replace their suit so the zipper connects to the bottom and make sure it's zipped next time.

Again, for the record, the complaints from athletes go to the TriNZ Head Referee who consider complaints and manage the hearing process.

I don't think there is a lot of drama in reality. Whilst discussed here, the race is a week ago, the trophies and cheques handed out and now banked. Everyone's mind is onto Taupo in March.

Shame that there's not been much discussion on that actual race. Hannah Berry out rode Sodaro and then held her off on the run to win by a minute 2 months out from IMNZ, 5 mins ahead of Els Visser. And in the mens race, admittedly lacking the international field of the women, there was an incredible sprint finish from Jack Moody to finally get the win.