nevertoolate wrote:
milesthedog wrote:
barrec wrote:
Raw Vegan wrote:
How is this event cool? I hate the concept of a field of two professional triathletes competing at a 140.6. The distance is already boring af from a spectator standpoint and this is worse. If one of them has a mechanical, bonks, etc., it's over. If one of them gets a big lead the race is pretty much over.
Finally, as much as I respect and admire Lionel he's not on Jan's level. Beat him in Kona or anywhere else for that matter in a sanctioned race. Lionel is coming off a really bad race and I'm just not sure this event does him any favors. The big question is how does Jan get motivated for this event? He's never lost to Lionel. I actually wish they weren't doing this. I'd so much rather see Lionel focus on a KQ and see if he can win against the field there. That would impress me.
I am new to spectating triathlon in general (especially IM distance) and find the competition pretty novel. Maybe not the race by itself, but the whole event is kind of neat to me. Kind of like the Collins Cup as far as it being something different (though I certainly expect that to be more competitive than this).
Jan vs Lionel is an exhibition. If there is a market for it and the athletes want to do it, then maybe it's an event that can be done again.
I think the biggest benefit of this event is the Zwift component. I truly believe that if done well, the ability for people to ride and run alongside pros in events could benefit the sport and pros.
In my ideal scenario, Zwift has commercials integrated into the platform and live video coverage of the event in addition to the avatars. Further, Zwift would benefit from recognizing the 'double legitimacy' issue that will either allow this format to succeed or possibly sink it:
- people using Zwift to ride and run along with the pro's need to abide by Zwift's existing calibration and validation protocol, otherwise no-names on Zwift are beating the pros, and the draw and novelty to 'race alongside the pro's is lost, and this is a motivating factor above and beyond the normal Zwift experience.
- Zwift needs to profit off of advertising in addition to subscriptions and publicly promote the dollar amount pro's are earning, because this bring further legitimacy needed to motivate and entice people to 'race alongside the pro's'. The moment the public is seeing no-names beating the pro's or sense the pro's are not valued within the sport and held on a ridiculous pedestal as signaled by huge paychecks, the motivation to show up and race them on Zwift diminishes.
Last, in my ideal scenario, this Zwift interaction with live pro events becomes commonplace in triathlon, pro cycling, and running races.
Ride alongside the Pros?
You mean like ride/run hours behind them?
Unless these Zwifters are using their power drills, almost nobody is going to be even in the same city-code as these two.
I mean they could probably keep up for a segment or two of the multi-lap course....or a relay?
But agree, if those riding along are not validated or calibrated, it would be just a gong-show.
Maybe Zwift could come up with some sort of handicap system?
I forgot to add: for people who don't want to the validation process (which is pretty stringent!) they have to race a game-i-fied version that allows them to keep up while eating mushrooms and shi*t and getting huge, or whatever happens in video games
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