Biggest race outside of Paris maybe? Olympic qualification hanging in the balance for most athletes, there aren’t many of the big guns missing on the start lists…
Connix, Vilaca, Hausser and Brownlee missing.
Can’t see anyone from the women missing, obviously Gwen missing for well discussed reasons.
Last years results…(edit wrong results posted/now showing correct results)
Yee
Wilde
Bergere
GTB
Lombardi
Spivey
Yes it really ought to be a heck of a competition. I’m hoping that the sea temperatures will be warm enough to not allow wetsuits thus making things more like the swim in Paris later this summer in terms of helping the real fish.
My memory is terrible, I’m going to skim through last years race to give me an idea of the course and what happened, quick glance at the results tells me it’s one for the swim/bikers?
Edit I’d post the rankings at the start of the thread not the results, so it seems Yee and Wilde (runners) can do well on this course, although Potter and CB didn’t podium.
Yes it really ought to be a heck of a competition. I’m hoping that the ocean temperatures will be warm enough to not allow wetsuits thus making things more like the swim in Paris later this summer in terms of helping the real fish.
There’s no ocean in Sardinia…
Yes it really ought to be a heck of a competition. I’m hoping that the ocean temperatures will be warm enough to not allow wetsuits thus making things more like the swim in Paris later this summer in terms of helping the real fish.
There’s no ocean in Sardinia…
Touche;) Let’s revise that to sea temperature.
My memory is terrible, I’m going to skim through last years race to give me an idea of the course and what happened, quick glance at the results tells me it’s one for the swim/bikers?Here’s the highlights of 2023: https://youtu.be/lbkom9dOgj4
https://triathlon.org/...ries_cagliari/586470
Six athlete breakaway and they got first 3 places. Beaugrand, Lehair and Potter 1:20 down and ran up to #4#5#6, all running faster than winner GTB. Spivey (#3) ran faster than Zaferes (#12).
Kasper (Yoko 24 version) seems to have seriously upped her run game.
Was only time Potter was beaten (standard distance) in 2023.
Yes it really ought to be a heck of a competition. I’m hoping that the sea temperatures will be warm enough to not allow wetsuits thus making things more like the swim in Paris later this summer in terms of helping the real fish.
Athletes were practising this morning without wetsuits and looked extremely comfortable so I would imagine it is going to be non wetsuit.
There are so many plots and sub plots in both races it is going to be one of the best races for a long time and it closes the Olympic qualifying window.
German men still need to select the 3rd athlete. France need to select at least one male (probably two) plus Le Corre needs to be top 8 to confirm his selection. GBR need to select 2 women, confirm the fitness of Yee and Potter and then solve the problem of the 2nd male.
USA need to select 2 women and 1 male (probably not from this race). NED - Kingma needs to prove her fitness to be selected. AUS women will be discretionary and even then it won’t be an easy choice. Spain need to qualify and select the 3rd male (I think). NZ possibly can qualify a 3rd male but outside chance (I think).
What other federations are using this race to settle outstanding selections?
Is this the first race where Duffy, Knibb and GTB have been together for 2 seasons? I can see them hammering the bike with Coldwell and Kingma. If Waugh can get into that group it is going to be electric.
Men - anything could happen.
Yes it really ought to be a heck of a competition. I’m hoping that the sea temperatures will be warm enough to not allow wetsuits thus making things more like the swim in Paris later this summer in terms of helping the real fish.
Athletes were practising this morning without wetsuits and looked extremely comfortable so I would imagine it is going to be non wetsuit.
Excellent! I’m wondering if Leonie Perialt will have as stellar a swim without a wetsuit as she did with one in Yokohama where her run look so fantastic.
Predictions
Yee
Wilde
Bergere
GTB
Lombardi
Knibb
Women’s front pack will stay away, don’t think Potter will make it and have about a minute to make up, if CB stays in the front group, the bikers will make it the hardest bike pack she’s been in and her legs will be toast for the run.
The mens front pack will make a go of it but won’t be able to stay away and will come together, has Wilde somehow been able to make up what he needs on the run to beat Yee?
Here are mine. I expect Potter to hang on to the front of the bike like a limpet, Beaugrand to be shed but run back through Duffy and Taylor Brown not quite be back to full fitness.
Well Cagliari was potters only sub-par race last year. I’m wondering how the low start numbers will affect the swim, for some of the favourites with not quite front pack swims. Ie Potter, GTB, Yee , Wilde etc. they all have start numbers in the 40s. Not a position they are used to.
On that topic, does any know how the start numbers are decided in Paris?
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Start Numbers in Paris are from the Olympic rankings
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for some of the favourites with not quite front pack swims. Ie Potter, GTB,//
You must have PTSD from over a year ago when Potter missed the front group on a bad start. She and GTB are consistently front pack swimmers, and no reason now to think they still are not. Potter even took the lead in one swim last year and pulled like a 1/3 of it. And GTB had a little period on her comeback where she struggled for a race or two, but is fully back to her position in that lead pack once again…
I mean anyone can get locked out with a bad start, or some mishap, Knibb had that last year in the test event and Cassandra missed a lead group too. But as they have just shown too, great swimmers are just that, and most the time without incident, they will be in that lead group. If I were a coach trying to figure out how to beat those two, it would not be in the swim, that is for sure…That’s just counting on lightening to strike someone…
GTB is, don’t think Potter is, I think Potter can make a front pack but maybe not this one, the pace out of T1 is going to be relentless, CB has a great swim and can be 1st out the water on occasions, the whole strategy for GTB, Duffy, Knibb, Coldwell, Spivey will be to put as much time as they can into Potter, CB and ill add Tertsch to this list also, the bike is going to be absolutely brutal!
Bergere
Wilde
Yee
Knibb
Duffy
Spivey
Bergere is going to be on his A game. He wins this race and gets his selection. He can outrun these guys if the bike is hard enough (and they are at 98% vs his 100%)
I think we get a breakaway and these will be the three best runners in the group. I don’t see GTB making the break in her first race back.
The race I’m most interested in is Kasper vs Zaferes.
Bergere
Wilde
Yee
Knibb
Duffy
Spivey
Bergere is going to be on his A game. He wins this race and gets his selection. He can outrun these guys if the bike is hard enough (and they are at 98% vs his 100%)
I think we get a breakaway and these will be the three best runners in the group. I don’t see GTB making the break in her first race back.
The race I’m most interested in is Kasper vs Zaferes.
Yee and Wilde outrun Bergere by around 40 secs on this course last year (is this the course Yee pulled up with cramp on the run also?)
If we just copied last year’s results, who would care about fantasy picks?
Also, I like ajthomas’ picks for the women’s side as they are outrageous 😂