Wow I saw the original post with some people upset by the ambiguous wording, calling it a "medical event," but this has really taken a turn. There was a French article linked talking about how there was a collision with a support vehicle but police found the driver to be at no fault since she apparently had swerved into the incoming traffic lane. Those comments and links seem to be gone.

I clearly have no idea who is right. But if this happened on the part of the course that had historically been dangerous I could understand how a rider could end up losing control and "swerve" into the wrong lane. The allegation that no support vehicle should be there driving in that direction? I'll leave that to people who have raced there.

Personally I was interested if this was related to the known dangerous sections of the course because I'm racing there in the full with many members of my family. Those comments all seem to have been removed, or my Facebook-searching is bunk.

This is incredibly unfortunate and I feel awful for her and her family f& but I also want to know if there's something preventative to think about for future events. Not the first terrible crash there.

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It is on the more technical section where there have been incidents in the past. I personally don't think the section is "dangerous" or difficult but I'm a confident cyclist (I was a roadie before a tri).

As to the comment a support vehicle should not be there, well I disagree. Support vehicles are on all parts of the course at any time, you should be in control of your bike at all times, same as if there was a pothole or debris in the road.

Based on what I can piece together from reports, it appears she was near the back of the field, its reported it happened at 12:30 (unfortunately sportstats has already scrubbed the results), the bike cutoff on the base of the road is 12:25, she was coming down on that road, my guess based on all that is it was the tailing (sweeper) support vehicle pulling up the rear of the race and prepping the road for reopening. (again only my guess based on my knowledge of the course and reported timeline)

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Not having races there myself, why do some feel the section is dangerous?

Its a 6mile section with rolling downhill terrain with some turns, nothing hairpin or crazy sharp. If you come from somewhere flat or don't ever ride hills you might think its challenging. I'm usually pedaling most of it to get the most out of it, I personally LOVE that section of the race, so much fun to ride.

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Its really just one downhill sweeping turn that can be tricky IF you are not in control of your bike.
They had one bad crash there in 2016 in the pouring rain where a rider over-cooked the sweeping turn and crashed into other riders coming up the hill.

I think the course, including that section, is perfectly safe.

I have raced MT a couple times, and I don’t recall feeling there was any danger in the course. Are we talking about something on that final out and back?

This is tragic. We all know how inherently dangerous cycling is, especially when you relax that constant sensitivity to the presence of automobiles.

The overall field’s bike handling will continue to deteriorate as people do more spin classes and other indoor cycling, and then think they are ready to check the box of doing a triathlon. That may not apply in this case, but you see evidence of bad bike handling all over these races.

If this is true, Ironman is a shitty organization. Nobody, nobody wants this but things can happen. They should man up, admit it and do their best.

A lot of people exceed 70kph down parts of this section.
It's a single lane in each direction and there are a lot of bends, so vision is impaired.
For anyone going off course or into another lane there's little room for error.
If they are on the aero bars, braking would be delayed (if at all).

Tragic.

I don't know about others but if I'm going that fast downhill I am not on my aero bars. I'm on my brakes. I start getting a bit nervous at about 40mph turns or no turns.

70kph = 44mph So that is a bit quick.

I don't think its fair to demonize or hypothesize based on sparse information. "Killed" is a loaded word. If she crossed the yellow line out of control (also hypothetical information based on sparse info) she could have easily hit another cyclist or guardrail, etc. with similar outcome. Tragic none the less and I feel for the family.

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I crashed on that descent on 2015. The road was in perfect condition except for one bump which I hit while I was in the aerobars and lost grip in my front tire.
I remember others had some close calls there and there was a really bad crash the next year. At some point I heard that it was repaired and/or marked.

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What's your CdA?

yep. I know others who are not bothered at all at that speed. I did IM Chattanooga 70.3 this year and there's fairly long downhill stretch and looking back at my data I hit right about 40mph there. I think when I get close to 40mph I start feeling like things are coming up on me too fast and I may not see a hole or a bump fast enough to react especially if there's any shade.

I've done the course a couple of times now and my issues with that section has been the quantity of riders jammed into it (the hills really bunch people up on an already crowded course) and the poor climbing/descending skills of many riders (heavy braking on non technical downhills, people not carrying speed into the climbs and occupying the middle of the lane, etc.). All of which could be heavily alleviated if Ironman wasn't so keen on shoving as many people as possible on the course.

The first year had 1600 people on the course (2012). There were 3200 people last year (2018).

To each their own I guess.
Ive raced there 13 times now, and have never had an issue with that section. A little common sense goes a long way.
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From what I can tell the issue seems to be that Ironman tried to categorize the issue as something other than a collision with/by a support vehicle. That would be disingenuous and self serving .

Really? Because...that's not what this article says about it. https://linformationdunordmonttremblant.ca/...6_cB9_Br54p6guLXQEcw

From the translation:

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I think some folks are upset due to the initial statement that they posted on the Tremblant 70.3 FB page, saying she died from a medical issue, rather than stating it was a collision with a race vehicle.
In the end i'm not sure what it matters how they worded it. She wasn't alone on the course, people witnessed it.

Looking at the french new articles... look like for some reason, going up hill, the lady has fallen in front of a slow moving vehicle that was picking up the signs...

Witness where describing the person as "not looking good"... unclear where it was on the course and if it's a medical issue.

At Tremblant the steep hills are toward the end of the course, and the people fighting the cutoff usually need to walk some sections.

The accident that happen few years ago was on the descent of those same hills during a wet day... nothing really challenging for experienced riders. But i could see issues with the back of the pack and when their is a mix of skills on the course (second vs first lapper on the full)


I was there this weekend and there was no dangerous bump... just the usual lost bottles when getting on one of the bridge.

I raced there this past weekend (in the sprint on Saturday, not the half) - according to my watch data, I was going faster than that and it wasn't anything particularly hair-raising. That said, I've practiced on a lot of hilly courses, and have ridden this one multiple times. Weather and pavement were perfect last weekend. Very sorry for this family to have lost a loved one... it does sound like an unlucky combination of possible circumstances, but the police report seems pretty clear in absolving the driver (based on evidence and witnesses) from wrongdoing.

Edited to add... unlike Doctor J, I don't consider myself an expert roadie. Just someone who practices the conditions. I don't feel the course is at all unsafe, provided people bike within their abilities (which sometimes doesn't happen... part of why they had to introduce the no-passing zone).

If I'm going by ObsTri, this was Jill's 5th Ironman 70.3 event in her racing career. She was not a beginner. So I'm gonna say the driver of the vehicle is at fault here based on anecdotal evidence from what a lot of people are saying about her.

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You're going to blame a driver just because it's someone's 5th half ironman? Seems logical, especially given you also basing it off hearsay. ~HOT PINK~

There are uphills on Duplessis where weak/exhausted cyclists may have to walk. One could go from managing the uphill to losing momentum and slowing down very quickly to the point of falling over. Knowing this it is not hard to imagine someone losing balance due to slow speed, weaving and falling over in front of an unsuspecting vehicle.