Are Wheel Covers ILLEGAL in Ironman races

Triathlon Forum
1

I was reading through the rules for an upcoming Ironman event and I found the following:

  1. No tandems, recumbents, fairings, or any add-on device designed exclusively to reduce resistance are allowed.
    Any new, unusual, or prototype equipment will be subject to a determination of legality by the event organizer
    and/or Head Referee.

So, is a wheel cover an add-on device designed exclusively to reduce resistance?

Could I get disqualified for using one?

Could someone who finishes behind me protest me for using one and have me disqualified?

Does anyone know if this has ever been an issue?

2

this is not an issue. people use them in IM all of the time.

3

no
.

4

Wheel covers have an exception to the fairing issue for tris. Some IM races don’t allow any disc wheels but most do.

5

I was reading through the rules for an upcoming Ironman event and I found the following:

  1. No tandems, recumbents, fairings, or any add-on device designed exclusively to reduce resistance are allowed.
    Any new, unusual, or prototype equipment will be subject to a determination of legality by the event organizer
    and/or Head Referee.

So, is a wheel cover an add-on device designed exclusively to reduce resistance?

Yes

Could I get disqualified for using one?

Theoretically, I suppose.

Could someone who finishes behind me protest me for using one and have me disqualified?

Again theoretically possible.

Does anyone know if this has ever been an issue?

Don’t think so. I would imagine at any WTC event you’ll have a few hundred people using wheel covers. The rule is designed to eliminate front fairings and rigs on your aero bars to reduce wind resistance.

John

6

Could someone who finishes behind me protest me for using one and have me disqualified?

Could you imagine the ST repercussions against someone who did that…it would be 10x worse than finman.

I wouldn’t worry about it :wink:

7

I’m waiting for that to happen. Covers are legal so not with them, but their are bike and position rules for Tri that are routinely ignored. Way back when one popular tri frame had an illegal dimension from the factory. One of these days someone will miss a Kona spot by one competitor and complain about an illegal bike, wetsuit or swimskin.

Assuming the rule was violated I wonder what will happen.

8

Hello wd and All,

Why guess?

Write to Ironman and ask.

Better safe than sorry … :slight_smile:

Let us know what you find out.

Cheers,

Neal

9

I’m waiting for that to happen. Covers are legal so not with them, but their are bike and position rules for Tri that are routinely ignored. Way back when one popular tri frame had an illegal dimension from the factory. One of these days someone will miss a Kona spot by one competitor and complain about an illegal bike, wetsuit or swimskin.

What illegal bikes are you talking about? Unless you’re ITU and have to follow UCI guidelines, but then you’re not riding a tri frame anyway.

John