He must have changed his mind then?? In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5t0mkejgcU both GI & KB say that they are not racing Nice (2:35 to 3:15).

Thought the other cracker, apart from Iden's droll SoH, was their cunning plan to race in Paris (Thursday), jump on a flight to Singapore race there (Sunday) and then cuff it in Lahti a week later.

I believe Olav was using this location to see if it would be suitable as an altitude camp (for future camps).

I could see them doing that but they were pretty direct about IMWC in Nice - doesn't fit with the Olympic training.

you zoom in on the map you can see some ski lifts. do they have skiing in morocco? I figure it would be in season now since they are in the northern hemisphere

Yes, last week while in Nice Iden, on Strava, said he was definitely doing Nice. Back in Morocco this week.

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Team Zoot So Cal

Just saw this IG post from Iden. Good old Stadler chiming in :)

Kristian seemed deadly serious about this plan when we chatted... walked me through how it would work with travel and the fact that since the first race is just an Olympic distance, it's all doable.

However, my take would be that there's no incentive for them to decide right now, so why not say they'll race all three.

i know the area and its quite a good choice in my opinion. i dont know where they stay exactly at the moment , i have been to the place they stayed before x mas but that was not altitude , 25 m plus pools are rather rare in morroco and i was not aware there was a proper pool over 1700 m altitude, but i was told they swim in a hotel that has a pool.

it's 40k south of Marrakech. Famous climb up to ski resort at 3200m altitude. the climb is 30k long with freshly paved road. Last 10k are more than 6% average. absolutely stunning views, especially in winter with snow.

I wonder why you wanna go to a place with snow to train outdoor? Canary Islands are close and no snow ...

they are from norway. remember ?

Lol that was total sarcasm. There's zero chance they're doing Nice now that the new date is before the ITU Grand Final which is their priority. If the WC had kept this years Kona date it would have been 3 weeks after the GF and in that case I reckon those crazy vikings would have gone for it. On a course like Nice , Gustav would still be favourite even with minimal prep time

Sure - most of Norway however is ... rain ... not that much snow :) Maybe there are other reasons - who knows :)

I had a holiday in the region at the Kasbah Tamadot, the pool there was a reasonable size for a hotel, but no more than 20m I'd say. Can't remember the exact length, it was a long time ago.

The riding was unbelievable, you can climb up to the final slopes of Mount Toubkal. I had a mountain bike ride there, and for some reason they decided to ride the last section of the road climb before descending on goat paths. The altitude was serious.

the highest hotel on canary islands is 2100 m i believe they are testing at 2700 m in morocco .

Which is (more or less) exactly what he said in Nice: "Never say never" but observed that the special nature of the Nice bike course would need disproportionate preparation.
KB is obviously locked on to WTCS with Pontevedra the week after Nice. But it's reasonable to conject that Iden may decide that he'll cut and run. However he is loyal to the NorgeTri project and will justify that to himself using the 'unfinished business' of Tokyo mantra. Since he will always be in the chasing pack, if there is one, it's difficult for us(me) to see how his running speed can match Yee/Wilde/Blummenfelt/Hauser(maybe)/2 x Frenchmen (especially if they go off the front)/Pearson/Geens/Mola.

I'm not on Strava. Can you screenshot it and post it? I want to send to some of my tri friends. Thx.

I took that with a grain of salt though, the tone came off a little jokey to me

It looked sarcastic to me

Nothing written in Stone, as per Iden in this video

Warning: Cringey Norwegian Vs German humor ... 🤦🤦