I raced last year and there are definitely far too many athletes on the bike course at one time with both races on the same day. There was a very weird out/back/out section with three narrow lanes of cyclists separated only by cones and a dead turn at each end. I don’t know the circumstances but am not surprised to read of a collision.

Presumably the decision pre-dated this recent death but Ironman have announced today that the 70.3 isn’t returning next year which seems wise (at least for a same-day event).

Been awhile since I raced there, but as I remember, the road just outside transition has speed bumps for a km or 2... I could see that possibly being a factor on top of the crowding.

True - that is, however a one-way street. Not optimal, but pretty much the only way to get from the beach to the main course road N-II.

Having 5000+ athletes race on a 35km stretch of road (70 km out and home) is not optimal, not for drafting, not for safety

RIP


I found this thread in Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IronmanTriathlon/comments/16xrxlx/comment/k34zlf3/




I am very sick about that,

I have to say: pelotons are unsafe, overtake on aerobars are unsafe, roads of two ways (in a several loop course, with different races) are unsafe, 5000 triathletes in one of the fastest bike course are unsafe


accidents happens, accidents in unsafe races cost lifes.

we can choose not to race in unsafe races.
we can ride BETTER where/when road conditions are not safe.

PLEASE, TAKE CARE!!!

[/quote][/font]Very sad indeed. Maybe putting both the 70.3 and the full Ironman on the same day was not a super smart idea...[/font]
Initially, I heard the crash happened close to the T1/T2. The two races / courses coincide as they have change the 70.3 to be on the same stretch as the full IM course.

[/font][/url]https://tri-today.com/...nman-70-3-barcelona/[/url][/font][/quote]
As you say, it is so sad these things keep happening.

But what is pathetic that this Tri-Today website keeps posting these messages from IM races while they do not for their 'own' races.
Tri-Today is more-or-less a daughter company of the Challenge Group.

And there was no news at the amount of crashes we had during the World Triathlon EU championship LD race in Almere.
Literally dozens and dozens of crashes on a stretch of 5 km which is so bad with craters in the road surface people are blown of their bikes.

I think we are about to get to the point to what is acceptable in terms of safety and what you can expect, you may expect and what you should expect from any professional race organisation.
And we call them organisations, but we should call them business', which they are. Regardless of the brand name is Ironman, Challenge, Clash or any other.

They organise races, ask entry fees which are high. I don't have a problem with high entry fees, people can choose for themselves if they want to spend that money or not.
What I do expect is that courses are suitable for triathlon bikes ridden in aerobar so the road surface need to be in a state that allows this.
Or the number of people on course, what is certainly the case in Barcelona and maybe is a reason for this terrible 'accident'.
To be honest, I'm not sure of you can still call this an accident.
It was not a question if this at one point was going to happen, it was more a question of when....

Or enough hydration, sponges etc on courses when the weather is hot, etc.
It looks simple but at the race in Almere 3 weeks ago it was until 7 or 8 km in the race when there was an aid station with sponges, and we had brutal hot weather all week long especially for what we are use to have in September. There was no ice aid stations, the water served was warm and we had no wind that day, very uncommon in that area.

Race organizers need to get their act together before more deaths happen.
It is already absolute shit that deaths happens during the swimming part of the race, I have 'lost' 2 customers over the last 5-6 years at IM swim's.
But if we now get deaths during the cycling portion due to factors that could have been influenced by the organisation that is an absolute disaster leaving families without their loved one.

I have spoken to some of our coached athletes and they told us the cycling portion at some points was so bad, riders over taking other riders that were already over taken riders and pieces of road so small impossible to have that many riders on course. And riders also need to ride with their head and keep it safe, they all think they are Frodo....

Where does it stop and Ironman and all other race companies see that they are playing with peoples lives if they put on courses not suitable to handle the amount of riders and their equipment.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Like, OK, few things push my buttons as hard as people:

1. supporting a race that they know will be very crowded
2. complaining that the race was crowded.

FFS...

These are, as you point out, for-profit companies (whether the race is run by the brand or licensed). Their behavior depends on our choices.

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

I understand you, but you have no clue how many first year starters are on the list of those races and for how many this is even their first race. They just don't know what to expect and how crowded it can be.
You can tell them, explain them and still during the race are overwhelmed by it.

And also this should be taken in consideration by the event organisers

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

so I recently made a thread how dangerous aero bar position are these days with the look down positions. both folks looking down going head on into each other...

Sorry by my english,

Do you mean how dangerous people who ride aerobars without looking forward (but down to the road).

Riding aerobar is not dangerous. But you can not ride on aerobars and forget.

And again, it is not your own safety on play.

Another thing I have noticed: Nowhere (please let me know if I missed) did Ironman Spain, Ironman Europe or Ironman (global) accounts on any SoMe, mentioned or lament this accidential death. Not cool.

Car companies don't comment on fatalities either. Especially when they could be at fault.

I was involved in a bad crash at Miami Man which was a clear mistake by USAT & its race organizers completely missing the marking or coning off a sink hole in the road which blended into the road & early AM shadows. Three of us crashed/hit it up front, and ended in surgery for myself. I propose an independent course safety certification system where all aspects of safety and road closures are pre-approved & need to meet minimum standards before the race even starts--24 hrs before for example. Even if Ironman, USAT or other entity is allowed to start the race.

It would be a good biz to have regionally for sure but at the same time, could be part of USAT as a group within it--to make sure anything "sanctioned" by USAT protects their athletes before their pocket book. There must be some accountability on these race organizers to do better. Right down to a small "warm up area" allowed before the swim as some of these heart attacks have happened in the past, pointing to lack of swim warm up being said to possibly be in part to blame.

Anyhow, drafting a Safety Standard for courses rule book seems like a no-brainer before any athlete ever hits the water. Or in a duathlon case--either way should be in place. Seems winter triathlon would be fairly safe--if you fall off a bike or skiing it's typically not going to be anything like a head on bike crash or with a car entering a course.

You make a good point re Tri-Today only focusing on IM races.

For example, no articles mentioned on the disorganisation at Challenge Sanremo leading to multiple pros crashing in one particular area of the bike course. Also Challenge Wales in 2022 where there were open roads and led to someone getting an almost fatal injury.

Well, I see no reason to read Tri-Today anyway, under any circumstances. They’re a dump of content recycled from social media accounts, clickbait and stupid gossip. Not really interested in the sport. Any association with them would be a stain on the Challenge Family’s reputation, too.

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

From a customer that San Remo did I was told that ‘death’ could have happen’t during the pasta party……it was literally garbage what was served quoting him.

Also he said parts of the bike course where so bad it was ridiculous to add this to a triathlon and saw way too many crashes.

Also the race ‘gift’ was a windvest but sizes of an elephant, even the guy who handed them out at the finish line said to this customer that they run really large in sizes. So my customer said, okay give me a size small instead of the ordered medium. The reply, sorry, we don’t have smaller sizes them medium 😂.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Spoke an eye-witness today and he said parts off the course where way too narrow for the amount of people, but to be fair to IM that was not the case on that part of the course.
That piece of the course was as wide as three to four lanes, only people were trying to pass groups of riders that on their part were already passing other groups, and this in both directions.
So lets say stupidity and taking your own responsibility also is a factor in these kind of accidents.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Having done this year's Almere race, I had none of the issues you state. Yes, it was unusually hot but the sponges and aid stations were fine. Yes, there were tight turns at times but not non negotiable. I'm not saying that RD's and race organizations don't need to pay attention to issues, but that race IMO was fine and actually quite delightful.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Well, tell this to the people that crashed on that last 5km stretch of dyke road before you took the right turn back to T2.
I was there for 2 hrs handing out bottles to athletes we coach and alone in this 2 hrs there we had about 14 ambulances going there.
You must have riding in the middle of the road where it was slightly better. To be fair, the rest of the bike course is in my opinion very good.
But if there were dozens of crashes in a 5km stretch of road that tells something was not good.
And I have done this race about 22-23 times so I know how bad it is especially on the right side.

But, of course, if you didn’t crash it always seem not as worse, I get that. But nevertheless if dozens do crash something is wrong with that piece of the course and it is.

I wrote a piece on this on a Dutch tri-website and almost responses were similar

But each his opinion :-).

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

That's strange, as there doesn't seem to be an aid station on that stretch of road?

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

has external support been allowed eventually?

The coach post aid station is just beyond that stretch of road but with good sight on it and on the turn where the ambulances came from.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

At the aid station coach post it is and that aid station is at the end of that particular piece of road.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Yes, but I noticed that there was a slight bump on a given distance so accommodated that for the duration of that stretch. I did feel it was unusual but not any worse than many courses I've done.
I wasn't aware there were that many crashes but my buddy did crash (not there) and spent 2 days in the hospital with broken collarbone and 5 ribs. Not the best for his first trip to The Netherlands. Overall I did feel the race was far better to the athlete than the big brand.

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Kiwami Racing Team

during the bike i saw two people on the ground , very imobile, not sure if it was one of them as in this post it was mentioned the accident happened close to T1 but i guess it was on the bigger road further up.
my deepest condolence to the family.

other near by collisions i saw many that day, too many people on the road, pelotons of riders who are doing their ironman experience but not have the bike fitness to ride a bike properly.
is the first time i saw it so in detail all for my eyes , as to tell, i had 3 flat tires on the day, first in transition after swim, than 2 on the road , as i used my spare already in transition i had to ride on flat tire to the next bike mechanics, which i did twice on my own responsability very very right on the way, now looking back i would not do it any more, not worth it, totally not, and unsafe as well, last thing i want to do is bring other people in risk by being on the road very slow. but Ok, i did, and by doing that i saw so many almost accidents, eg, a bike mechanic post on the left of a road, while people who had an issue crossing their road to the left while they were on the right, i saw while waiting in such bike post, that many people behind someone who had to over-cross the road to reach the bike mechanics post almost collided to the one overcrossing.
and what is the sense of being sending out a booklet with 30 pages about the rules, and drafting penalties, if you see those pelotons , a joke to see a penalty tent on that course..