“What’s your prediction for the match?”

“Pain”

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Lucy Charles for the win.

Maybe Cam Wurf is a Clubber Lang fan.

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29 years and counting

What I think that could happen:

1) Frodo, no merci, he run not only to win but to overperform that he is the best
2) Lange, solid bike, could run to wait an explosion of Frodo
3) Gomez Noya, not enough good performance in bike segment not enough experience in Ironman Kona "tactical", he has not the need to win his first year... but he could win if Frodo explodes... and Lange make some mistakes in the bike segment

4) Sanders, in my opinion, will run to win, that means that he is more likely to explode, if not he may be top3... or even win??
5) Kienle is one step backwards... but with many options to be top3.. he is very solid. He should race to be top3, not to win.


I cannot guess about others.. but what about Currie? He ran awesome when he won Gomez Noya in Asia-Pacific Champs

 
Men: Jan Frodeno

Women: Daniela Ryf

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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

Frodo will bounce back and win this one. Looking forward to seein Wurf blowing off the front a bit harder this year, he can get out of the swim main pack and if that happens watch out.

Women’s Rhyf home comfortably, race for 2nd will be very interesting, not sure it will be Charles.

Kona is all about the conditions. If it is a hot, windy day Kienle will win and it will not be sub 8. If the winds don't get up its anyone's guess who will come out on top, but still doubt it will be sub 8. Daniela will run away with the women's race and will probably finish top 10 in the field.

I think that this year would be a tactical race... like a poker game.

If Frodeno doesn't show that he is hard enough with a strong bike, he could have to many challengers fasters in the marathon (Lange, Sander, Noya...), and he may try to start faster the marathon to avoid any alternative.

If Sanders/Lange arrives at the time with Frodo to T2... it could be an Epic marathon!

I don't forget Kienle, who has to decide if he has more opportunities with a hard bike segment, or to be more conservative.

I am from Spain, I would like to see Javi (Gomez Noya) not too far away into T2 with an Epic chasing marathon....

And as you said, Kona is not only the course, it is also the climatic conditions on the race day!

Men: Frodeno

Women: Ashley Horner

This one made me laugh.

There are several athletes lining up who could run sub 2:40 and I’m guessing the fight will be between them. Lange, Frodo, Nilsson and Gomez. If Gomez gets off the bike wotg Lange and Nilsson it will be interesting, but I think Nilsson has a really good chance. He showed in Frankfurt that he can run his own race, which means not starting the run at 2:30 pace like Lange and several others did last year, and then just reels them in. Frodo is gonna be pushing hard all day and I think Kienle’s best shot is going hard on the bike and then cruise in a sub 2:55

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I really hope it is a shoulder to shoulder race between Charles and Ryf.

The guys have such a stacked field. This will be by far my favorite race. I am hoping Frodo takes it for the guys but I REALLY want Lange to pull out another banana

Men:
Frodo
Gomez
Lange

Women:
Ryf
Carfrae
Kaisa Sali

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Matt

Out of curiosity - why no Charles in that top 3?

Men:

Frodo
Sanders
Lange

Women:

Ryf
Charles
Mirinda

easy picks would be Frodo and Ryf, but to keep this interesting I will predict:

Men: Wurf (he's going to swim first pack - well old first pack, not with Josh and whoever manages to go with him - this will give him ~5 min head start on last year, then ride away from everyone except Starky, then hold on for the win with a 2:50 run)

Women: Haug. No one really has a shot at beating Ryf, but I hope Haug has sorted out her gut issues at Frankfurt and can have a good go at it.

Men: Ashley Horner

Women: Ryf

in her mind, she's already won kona...2 or 3 times...on a huffy cause getting bikes to an island can't be done.

Just watched Lionel's post-race recap and he seems to know what he did wrong, so I'm gonna stay on the Sanders bandwagon as others abandon him. Dude ran 2:55 on a pretty bad day. His odds will go up and my double down wager will pay off bigger.

I'd love to see Lucy upset Ryf, but Daniela is in another league right now. Lucy's year will come soon. And she'll have a long win streak.

(Aside: how awesome a race would it be if Nicola Spirig went after a Hawaii win?)

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

As always, it'll be the best race field ever assembled on the island.

Men

1. Frodeno- The guy is out for blood and simply doesn't have a weakness, he's run low 2:40's in Kona and just ran a 2:39 in Frankfurt. Barring some catastrophe, I think Jan has this thing in his sights and is locked in.

2. Braden Currie- Just the right mix of talent and is tough as nails

3. Javier Gomez- Will lose some time on the bike, but run his way into 3rd.

Women

1. Ryf- simply a league of her own

2. Charles- almost there, but missing that extra 1%

3. Rinny- who's going to run with her? She still has an amazing ace in the hole that nobody else has

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Team Zoot 2023

1. Frodo
2. Gomez
3. Sanders

This prediction may change after 70.3 Worlds...

1. Ryf
2. Rinny
3. Charles

Only the fastest time by a male was ran last year (by Lange). Crowie has the second fastest time (idk why everyone seems to think that Sanders has the second-fastest time; just like everyone thinks The Notebook came out in the 90's). And the fastest time by a female was in 2016 by Ryf.

Anyway, I say Lange and Ryf for the win. Jan and Lucy for runner up. Gomez and Rinny. Also, no one breaks 8hr this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I think she is very good and is probably the best bet for 2nd. That said I figured I’d throw it out there as a surprise possibility. She hasn’t raced much this year (just 2 races since Kona last I think) which could maybe leave her flat

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Matt

Frodo and Lange eat too many vegetables.

I'm going with Javier Gomez. Everyone knows Spanish steak makes you go fast.


This year Ryf will be done showering and in dry clothes when 2nd place comes across the line.