Interesting viewpoint...marketing.

I bet there will be a M-dot Livestrong band that sells for $5. Obviously the standard yellow band with a red m-dot painted on.

That's just Gold. Gold I tell you!

He is going to Kona whether he qualifies or not. If anyone is going to get an invitation to compete there, it will be him.

Yes, it will bring a lot more exposure to the sport whether for better or worse.That will increase demand for all equipment and manufacturers who are smart enough to take advantage of it. He'll bring Nike with him.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Nike makes tri suits and tri tops and bottoms already, although no surprise, they are not very popular. The tops and bottoms separately are $85, the same price as any "tri brand" kits anywhere else. Their tri suits go for around $140.

give me 2 please...

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

To those of you that say he would get invited to Kona no matter what, what if he does all of the races on his list and bombs in them all. A few DNFs, blows up on the run and finishes way down in the standings, no solid results etc. Would he still get an invite?

Impossible.

Seriously? For the amount of exposure he is bringing not to mention the fact that LIVESTRONG is now officially connected with Ironman, he wouldn't even need to do a single race and still would be invited. Would be dumb not too.

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NCCP certified Comp coach

NBC would still want him there, I imagine. Get ready for 50 minutes of slow motion LA footage this November!

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Rapp is going to get LANCED soon...

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

The real questions is, what's the point? To say he's raced Kona? My feeling is Lance wouldn't dare toe the line if he thought he'd get embarrassed. Look at his body of work as an athlete. There is no reason to doubt his ability to qualify just like everyone else

...the Boss.

I'd definitely rock a Livestring Tri-suit if they were available. The one Lance is wearing is pretty sweet.

WTC - IM just gave in to greed & LA just bought his way into IM Panama and several other IM events, entry fee - $1 million - now his doping stigma will come to IM triathlon...what happens if USADA nabs LA before Kona?

I think that Rappstar's view of Lance in Ironman will be from behind! BWAHAHAHAHA...

Just messing with you, Rapp...

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

It would also be nice to hear Dan's opinion.

I'm excited about it, I think it is good for triathlon (and very good for the WTC).

... that deserves its own thread though

Does it really matter what Rappstar or Dan think about Lance Armstrong? You have a guy that is internationally know and who has won the TDF 7 freakin times and you care what Rappstar thinks.

Well, I'd love to hear from Chris Lieto, Craig Alexander, Chrissie Wellington, Chris McCormick, Mark Allen, Dave Scott and a host of others but none seem to post on ST as frequently as Ironman Champion Jordan Rapp. What say we start with whom we have access/a shot at getting some thoughts from? I'm sure Dan and Jordan will weigh in on this at some time.

Does it matter what a smart pro triathlete thinks about someone like Lance coming into his sport? Yeah, I would like to hear his perspective. His perspective (as well as Dans) is always very interesting and usually makes me think. It's a unique opportunity and would love to hear their take on it.

Weird, no one really was interested in what Lance thought about Dirk Bockel's alignment with the Leopard Trek team. Then again, he's not racing the Tour.

If I had access to Lance, like I do with Dan and Rapp, I would have asked him.

Well no one asked for my opinion, but that has never stopped me before..

Here are the facts( Monty facts) This is the biggest thing to hit our sport since Julie Moss crawled across the line at hawaii, and we got into the olympics. Lance does not have to qualify for hawaii, but he will try and most likely get the points he needs to get into the pro race. It is a big deal for his foundation to have this partnership with Ironman, and it is great for them to have Lance. He was not free, and now is the highest paid pro triathlete of all time with that one deal.

He has gotten his swim to where he can swim with any lead group. Sure on a one on one, Potts would drop him, but he drops everyone. Likely he will swim 50 to 51 minutes at hawaii, or whatever that lead group behind Potts swims. THis means that in every race he attempts, he will be onto the bike "WITH" the leaders, and it does not take a rocket scientist to know what happens next. He either rides with the uber bikers in our sport, or goes out alone as the latest member of that elite group. Pity the fool that swims 2nd pack and tries to catch up to him..He should be 1st to 3rd into t-2 about 100% of the time, unless of course he crashes(exterra).

His run is the big question now, not if he can run well, but if he can run well after racing hard for a few hours. I believe he has potential to run sub 1;20 in a 1/2, which may or may not hold on for the win. Many 70.3's are won by 2nd tier pros, and those he can beat. The Ralerts, Macca's, Crowie's, Pott's and such, are going to be a different story. It is possible to put 5 minutes into T2 on these guys, but then how do you deal with their 1;11 run splits?? Answer is you don't, he is not going to become the best pro triathlete in the world, just a very good one, and especially at 40 years old..

I was talking to dan the other day, and i proposed that in hawaii it would be a great stragedy for lance to just go off the front..Now this has not been a great help to most who have tried it, but every once in awhile it works..But there is a hitch here that no one has thought about, and that is the peleton of media that is going to glom onto Lance. It will look like the 89 ironwar times 10. There will be a camera on that guy for most the race, and the scramble for everyone to get their shots is going to be like an Egyptian soccer game. And there is nothing WTC can/will do about it, because it is what everyone wants and needs for their show and race. The suck of that armada will be worth 10 minutes, and my advice to anyone around at that critical moment, is you better go with it. Otherwise you will be doing your 10 meter dance behind Faris the entire day without so much as an iphone watching you.

So if you give lance 10 free minutes to go along with the ones he can actually earn, now many pros in the podium hunt could be in trouble. It could also backfire, but it is there for the taking, so why not go for it. I believe with a comfortable ride(with a little push early), he can run 3;05 to 3;10. If history is any indicator, that puts him in the money..