70.3 Clearwater - TOO FAST

Triathlon Forum
1

OK, I have been reading some of these threads and people are stating the course was not short. Granted the course is pancake flat, but in comparison to other races, the bike times in general were way too fast. For example, Gulf Coast is pancake flat but you rarely see as many times below 2:15. Another example, look at the men 30-34. Some of those guys have never broken 2:20, and now all of a sudden they are breaking it.

This leads me to believe there was mass drafting or the course was short. I would say it’s a combination of both.

Sad…

2

Frenchman Rene Rovera rode the 101th ‘fastest’ bike split …it was a bad year for him, but still, he won Lanzarote and has two top 10 in Kona…

I guess it says a lot about drafting considering the front of the race was clean (for the pros)

3

Is Gulf Coast the World Championships?

Does it draw (by qualification) the best of the best athletes from all around the world?

Was the water flat and the air calm and (relatively) cool?

Drafting at Clearwater? Uh yeah, that seems to have been a given. Too many like-abled athletes on course all at the same time.

Course short? Read the other thread started by Rappstar.

4

Is Gulf Coast the World Championships?

Does it draw (by qualification) the best of the best athletes from all around the world?

Did Clearwater draw the best of the best age groupers? A few to be sure, but overall? Hardly.

5

Give me a break, was Clearwater a world championship? HARDLY… Take a look at the qualifying times at 70.3 Disney. There was a slot given in the male age group 30-34 with a finishing time of 4:55. Fo that person it might have been a great time, but it’s hardly a time for a World Championship. It’s almost silly hearing people stating they are going to the world championships for 70.3. This event is another means for the WTC to profit.

6

5:35 qualified in 45-49 at Eagleman.

7

The last slot in my age group, M25-29, at Buffalo Springs went to someone that had a 5:22 race. I agree that this is hardly a World Championship, but I think the competitiveness will increase in the future.

8

Neve underestimate a good taper, some fellow riders and some top competition. Were all the fastest guys there in the world? No. But there were plenty of guys who are sub 4:30 HIMers starting in the waves.

9

I agree with you. If they want this race to be a true World Championships, it needs to be a lot harder to qualify for and the field needs to be a lot smaller. There is no way that there are 1800 athletes actually good enough to be in the Worlds.

IMH is a little different, as the history of that race is as a participation event. There is no reason that Clearwater needs to be the same as IMH. Cut the total field size down to 500 or so, and each AG should have its own wave. That would go a long way towards making the race a true WC.

10

This leads me to believe there was mass drafting or the course was short. I would say it’s a combination of both.

I defy you to find any proof in any other thread on Slowtwitch that there was drafting going on at Clearwater. Preposterous, I say. Also, my bike computer had the course as pretty accurate for once.