At this point, there's no point in rushing back, since she's out of contention for the overall series... We'll see if she still intends to race the SuperLeague series, since she was on the preliminary list for them.

As for bike racing, she's raced plenty of RR, Crit, MTB, etc. But realistically anyone racing DL could benefit from doing the occasional bike race... Especially at the Youth/Junior level... most of the crashes I see when officiating those races are from someone half-wheeling, or forgetting to shoulder check, before changing lines, and taking out the pack... Crits also have a great way of showing you how braking at the wrong time equates to requiring exponential power output to recover from such a move... quickly you learn that in order to not get dropped, you have to stay off the brakes...

Super League just released the full line-up of the men and women in racing the Championship series and Flora is on it.

I love seeing Pearson on that list! I wondered why he wasn’t in the recent races - hopefully getting the basics up to speed to really make a run next year.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

The American men are really bumming me out. Dudes will need to get it together for us to even get 3 spots for Tokyo.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Just (finally) watched it. My 7th grade students would say he was “salty AF” - I think he’s delusional, but I love that he’s taking that approach!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Pearson raced WTS Montreal as well...

I don't think Blummenfelt is delusional... he's almost there, but might be a year away from the type of form he needs (still with the right dynamics in the grand final, I can still see him take the win)... Unfortuantely for Mola, I think he's peaking too early in the cycle, and I think he might start to lose his dominant grip on the series next season, and we'll have to see what he can do come Tokyo (that being said, the Tokyo course is a Mola course, not a brownlee/blummenfelt type course)...

I’d say the US men are a long shot to qualify 3. In fact I think at this point the British men will have trouble qualifying 3. Unless AB makes a reasonable return to WTS races next year, they are going to have a hard time finding 2 people not named Brownlee who can score points so their federation can send someone else to the Olympics. The US doesn’t have 1 athlete in the top 30 of the Olympic or world rankings, let alone 3.

Pearson didn’t race the WTS - I was pretty certain, but when I searched I found that what he did race was the developmental race there. He finished first, Tommy Z was 3rd and Hindman was 6th (no offense to the other dudes I’d never heard of). Pearson outran Hindman by 37 seconds.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

You're right, he won the CAMTRI, but was not in the WTS... (working the event those were long-assed days, so the races blend together a bit..). There were some solid up and comers in the CAMTRI field too, no big ticket names like Emma Jackson on the ladies side, but solid none the less...

The US will likely only get two men by virtue of the MTR... I wouldn't count GB out, Bishop and Benson can score points on their own, and with a return to form amongst the brownlees, and with Ali racing more ITU again, I wouldn't bet against them scoring 3 slots...

I mean the whole reason USAT decided to get back to funding a men's developmental elite team with Project Podium is because the men have been far less successful than the women. Austin Hindman and Chase McQueen (who also raced the CAMTRI in Montreal) were chosen, along with other up-and-coming men, in the hopes that they might be Olympic hopefuls, or even podium. 2020 is probably a long shot for them, but at this point, having some fresher talent in the mix for a potential podium at 2024 or 2028 could work.

I think Project Podium is a great idea, and I’m excited for 24/ 28z

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I think one reason Mola is having a great year is that the top of the field is a bit flat this year. Mola, seems to me, to simply be making slow progress on his swimming and biking. A lot of the other people who have finished ahead of him in the past are not racing or a little flat. Gomez has gone long. AB is maybe long course, maybe injured. JB: see AB. Murray has changed training groups and is a bit inconsistent this year but has bested Mola. Luis got a slow start to the season with a mid-year training change as well. Royle has been injured. Schoeman is just getting back to normal after the lung issues. Blummenfelt and Birtwhistle are still coming up. I wouldn’t see a problem of peaking too early at this point. But I would expect that more challengers will emerge by the time Tokyo rolls around.

Can you explain this more? I do disagree with you but am open to hearing your thoughts. I think he's been dominating it but I view his progression as pretty linear. We saw this coming years ago and now that his swim went from 40-50" over 1500 to 20", he comes into the run not having that big chase fatigue in them. Now he's in the controlling seat more than ever where it may be easier for him to win forcing guys like Kristen and others to create gaps. If anything, this is only the beginning of Mola dominating ITU.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

Im not sure Mola's swim and bike has improved that much to the point that is now why he's dominating.

Varga doesn't seem to have been around much this year to push the swim (at least I've not noticed him much?) The lead pack have also lost Gomez and Ali (Jonny is also struggling to refind his mojo)

If you factored that lot back in next year (imagine how much damage the Brownlee's would do with the Norweigans on a break on the bike) Mola would probably be back to podiuming at sprints and maybe the odd flat course every now and again.

Good points. The front groups are certainly coming together more.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

Interesting points. With all the factors you mention and the resultant change in race dynamics, it is hard to tell how much improvement Mola has made on the swim and bike.

That being said something has definitely changed in Mola's run off a bike where he has done a lot of work at the front of the chase pack. Last year in both Montreal and Stockholm, Mola had some of the worst runs of his career, after drilling the bike in the chase pack. This year that has not happened once. So much so he even entered Leeds this year, a course that in the past he has given a miss.

I definitely think he is a stronger overall athlete. To run the way he did in Montreal on a strong man's course over the full distance after
burying himself on the bike exemplifies this fact. This combined with the current race dynamics results in him being in much more control regardless of distance, course, swim position etc.

With the long game looking towards Tokyo, which does seem like a Mola type course, it will be very interesting to see if he can hold this form, or if other factors will change the status quo.

I think at least SOME of any perceived improvement in Mola's running HAS to be due to the lack of Ali Brownlie on the circuit. Everything is just different. That said, Richard Murray has not seen the same improvement.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

[quote

I think at least SOME of any perceived improvement in Mola's running HAS to be due to the lack of Ali Brownlie on the circuit. Everything is just different. That said, Richard Murray has not seen the same improvement.[/quote]
Richard is a year older, maybe he had hit his peak a year or so ago and is now on the downward slope, Mola appears to be at his peak right now, can he hold it or improve more for tokyo? he will be 30, Richard will be 31. Louis is the same age as Murray, they are both only a year younger than Ali B, who was 28 when he won Rio. A year and a half is a long time in olympic distance triathlon, we may see some big changes in the status quo by then.

Richard is a year older, maybe he had hit his peak a year or so ago and is now on the downward slope, Mola appears to be at his peak right now, can he hold it or improve more for tokyo? he will be 30, Richard will be 31. Louis is the same age as Murray, they are both only a year younger than Ali B, who was 28 when he won Rio. A year and a half is a long time in olympic distance triathlon, we may see some big changes in the status quo by then.[/quote]
Interesting times indeed.

Seems all of Triathlon from ITU to Ironman is in an exciting state of flux!

the back half of the olympic cycle usually is... this is when people start showing their hands and contenders start to emerge... IT's also the time that people who have spent a season or two dipping their toes into long course have to make the call to focus ITU to get olympic qualifying points, or commit to long course...

Murray has made some training changes, which appear to be a factor on him slipping back early in the season, that being said, he's been coming into form lately and looks more like the Murray of old... Luis has been up there for a bit, save for last season which he mostly missed due to injury... AB's showing at 70.3 worlds show that he might finally be finding some health/form, so at the Grand Final, I think that a few people are getting more worried...

I think the olympic mix will be more interesting on the ladies side, there are some younger up and comers that have been emerging that might be legit medal threats by Tokyo. It'll be interesting to see too how Flora fairs, it's not a Flora course (not that it really matters, she's a factor on any course), which gives some of the others half a chance...

Is there no love here for superleague or did I miss the thread?

The action is back in Jersey and I love this format. There is plenty of time to discuss Kona so we can now enjoy some top end speed stuff. I hope Blummenfelt smashes it again.

Also no nice that we finally get to see the women too.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

How come they don't have a live stream? That would help generate smack talk.

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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)

just got an email from Triathlon Live stating that they're streaming it tomorrow and Sunday

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Triathlon live is going to stream a "private" race? Interesting little partnership there, although Super League has done a great job of working within the itu schedule to give the athletes the itu schedule preference. Superleague even made a IG post about it last week, "now that the ITU regular season is over, time for SL", etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Wow, I would've never guessed to look at ITU to watch the SL races.

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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)