I’m not going to resort to name-calling 'cause everyone has a right to their opinion…but, I think some people are missing the big picture here.
Whatever their reasons, GTG and WTC have positioned theirselves as a competing “federation,” i.e making their own rules for competition and declaring world championships. We already have a federation that does a good job (not perfect, but good) and there can only be one cook in the kitchen…my strong vote is for USAT! WTC knows EXACTLY what they need to do to stop the argument, but they won’t because they are greedy.
As far as drafting goes, like it or not, it is here and the accepted format for international/olympic racing (MUCH better to watch). If we want to continue to have pipeline and expand it , we absolutely/unequivocally need more draft legal racing for everyone. To make the argument that people can’t handle riding in packs is demeaning and wrong. Also, there is a place for both formats. People need to get over the “drafting is a sin” and let the sport grow.
Great post, but clean out your in-box. It’s about to get full very fast!
I actually agree with you. The ITU( like it or not) is the governing body for the sport of triathlon world wide. The WTC with it’s Ironman series of races and brand, despite it’s significant success, profile and historical legacy within the sport and outside of the sport, is for all intents and purposes, a race management and marketing company. Kudos to them, thay have done many great things for the sport, but that’s all they really are.
A for the drafting, there are those within the sport who seem genetically opposed to this and no amount of rational , discussion, thought, examples will change their view-point on it. To me it’s all swim/bike/run. In fact, personally, I think that ITU format truely tests the all-around skills and fitness of a triathlete MORE than the non-drafting format. Why? Well, you actually have to ride the bike - not just put your head down and hammer for x-number of minutes. Time- trialing is a sub discipline of the sport of cycling last time I checked. I know that their are the purists who see otherwise. For them, it seems they want swim/Individual-time-trail/run, because at the end of the day that’s really what they want and if that’s the case then the whole of the race should be structured on the ITT format with people leaving at set time intervals.
um, drafting is dangerous on a tri bike with aero bars , period. you can’t argue your way around that, and if you want to change the sport to that degree, meaning we all end up on road bikes with STI to keep it safe, well your in for a fight from a lot of people.
not to mention it’s just so much purer competition to ride in a non-drafting race , when you have to think ’ do I have the energy to pass this guy in 15 seconds or do I just drop back a bike length and chill for a bit’
globbing on a pack of cyclists jesus any pussy can do that.
who gives a crap what the international community wants. the USA invented tri and we’ll do it our way thanks.
and furthurmore, if you’ve got a pack of cyclists and you’re faster than they are, good luck getting around them. maybe this doesn’t matter at the front of the pack, but just imagine a bunch of TNT’ers on mountain bikes taking up the entire lane, oh yeah that’s fun. no offense to them by the way they’re awesome, as long as they know and follow the rules. I pumped up a few tires yesterday morning because a couple of the them didn’t know how - seriously…anyway…
there’s no need to stagger the start either the swim staggers me just fine.
“who gives a crap what the international community wants. the USA invented tri and we’ll do it our way thanks.”
Hey just like professional mountian bike racing. Wow - and just look at how well the USA is doing internationally now. oh wait you don’t even have to go that far - why not look at how well the USA is doing domestically in big international level triathlons… besides Hunter Kemper who is winning anything here in the states? Craig Alexander? Simon Lessing? Chris McCormick a few years ago? Emma Snowsill? Something tells me they have a better defined development system and probably got more support from their national federation.
What I want to know is if WTC eliminates USAT from their program completely (which they have done) what incentive does USAT have to do any sort of development for long course athletes? At least USAT now uses some (even if it’s very little) of the money they generate from US members to help in the development of junior, U-23 and elite national team athletes who might be able to compete in international races.
If you don’t give a shit how Americans do in the Olympics or the World Championships or the ITU then your right - who gives a crap what the international community thinks.
First on the USAT vs GTG thing, nothing wrong with a little competition IMO. If GTG feels they can do a better job, offer a better product at a better price, then so be it. If they can’t they’ll fail, it’s called a free market.
On the Drafting no drafting thing, don’t we have both formats now? Seems to me that most people, at least people I know don’t want to draft. Triathlon is an individual sport, No? Also seems to me that drafting plays to a weaker biker. I sure they hell know I can draft off of a stronger biker but no way in hell I could match his/her time in a time trial. IOW I think drafting pretty much eliminates biking as a major factor.
Granted you have to bee able to “not get dropped” adn still have fresh legs come T2, but at a 15-30% energy savings that opens up alot of room for sub par bikers.
as an MOP age-grouper I’m more concerned with fun safe local triathlons for me to ‘compete’ in. USAT does that well. I don’t want it changed so the USA can compete at the olympics, who cares. I wish it wasn’t even an olympic sport.
“If you don’t give a shit how Americans do in the Olympics or the World Championships or the ITU then your right - who gives a crap what the international community thinks.”
Am I bad for not giving a crap? I really just don’t. I’m actually quite sick of the idea that we are creating small groups of people that we pour tons of money and resources in so they can be “prima donna’s”. Granted this isn’t nearly as rampant in tri/track & field as it is in other proffesional sports, football, basketball etc., but it’s on a similar track.
I’d rather see the individuals do the work and if it’s that important to them they do the best they can. Granted the “top level” will probably suffer, but how important is that? I’d much rather see the millions/Billions? that is poured into proffesional sports poured into other areas of amature sports. Maybe Middle and High school, where the masses are exposed to sports rather than a few “fine tuned”.
“there’s no need to stagger the start either the swim staggers me just fine.”
That’s a great point, with regards to no-drafting triathlon racing. However, it does point out to a certain degree the real problem people have with trying to define what-the-heck the bike leg of a no-drafting triathlon really is. Is it an individual time trial? Well, sort of, but not really. Is it a head to head bike “race”? Well sort of, but not really. What is it then? If you defined it it may be as follows: It’s a head to head bike race that is the middle leg of a swim/buike/run triathlon, with the start order sorted out via a staggering of people’s swim ability/fitness, that is raced under somewhat modified individual bike time trial rules. Are you still with me? It really is a hybrid situation that people don’t face or see anywhere else. Indeed, I think that it get’s even more complicated for folks because, I know of exactly no one who actually rides a bike like this( see my definition) in training - it’s either solo riding or group riding. So no wonder when you get to a race with 1000+ people on a narrow road and no one knows what to do!
I’m not going to resort to name-calling 'cause everyone has a right to their opinion…but, I think some people are missing the big picture here.
Whatever their reasons, GTG and WTC have positioned theirselves as a competing “federation,” i.e making their own rules for competition and declaring world championships. We already have a federation that does a good job (not perfect, but good) and there can only be one cook in the kitchen…my strong vote is for USAT! WTC knows EXACTLY what they need to do to stop the argument, but they won’t because they are greedy.
As far as drafting goes, like it or not, it is here and the accepted format for international/olympic racing (MUCH better to watch). If we want to continue to have pipeline and expand it , we absolutely/unequivocally need more draft legal racing for everyone. To make the argument that people can’t handle riding in packs is demeaning and wrong. Also, there is a place for both formats. People need to get over the “drafting is a sin” and let the sport grow.
I think the ITU needs a little healthy competition! Maybe they could learn from the WTC. The ITU is a federation which are typically very poltical, bureaucratic and very slow in making decisions and change, I know I work with similiar organizations. The WTC is a corporation, they are able to move faster to meet the needs of the athletes. The WTC also has more money, a better branded product and have been around longer than the ITU or USAT. All three organizations will survive and coexist, no one is going out of business. WTC will concentrate on long distance and ITU will concentrate on olympic races. USAT will be there for the 50,000 age groupers and 1,000 of non ironman races throughout the US.
Drafting: Most age groupers I know dont want anything to do with drafting. Especially people like me who are better on bike than run. Leave the drafting to the ITU specialists and the development squads.
“Little did you know when you wrote that you would be accurately summarizing the opinions of 95% of triathletes in the U.S.”
Not only that but I think even if ITU format was more a more available format in the US than it currently is that the above “staticguestimation” woudl not change significantly. People do sports like Run, bike, swimming, triathlon to see how good “THEY” can become for the most part. In order to really get good at a drafting format you’d hav to practice drafting. That would mean finding a group of people to practice with. Maybe that’s an option for some of you in larger Urban areas where you have groups of similarly talented individuals in the same sport, not so much an option for those fo us in the “boonies”.
I hear what you are saying, but for the life of me I have never understood triathletes like yourself almost total aversion to watching the best in the world compete at the highest level. Perhaps it’s just me. I was a competitive runner years ago and every Olympic games and World Championships I was glued to the TV with all my running friends watching all the middle and long distance running races. As I became older I was exposed to other sports like swimming and cycling and would watch them the same way. Now I am the same with triathlon. If it’s on TV, I’m watching it. We are lucky in Canada, in that the CBC when it does cover the Olympic Games or the World Championships of something we more or less get to see things from start-to-finish. The 10,000m final at the Athen’s Olympic games was some of the BEST sports action and drama that I have ever seen, I we got to see every lap of that. I know that in the US, this sort of coverage is extremely rare, if non-existant and I feel sorry for people that have never seen this sort of thing.
Both formats need to exist. The ITU format was designed to be a crowd pleaser, which is the main reason they quote for straying from the sport format as it was originally invented. Nothing wrong with either product. BUT the problem now is that the sport contested in the Olympics is not what generates grass root funds here in the US. Our sport domestically is booming on the backs of age groupers in non-drafting format racing. There is a reason WTC/GTG is so successful. When the ITU format inventors admit themselves that their format cannot handle large groups of racers and brings along with it the risk inherent with pack riding then where do those folks go?
I’m not advocating one or the other, but it should be obvious by now that both formats are viable. Promoting one to the detriment of the other isnt’ going to solve anything. Our sport is unique in its evolution and will require a unique solution.
How in the world would a 1,000 person draft legal event work? How would you feel when a guy in your AG gets dragged up to you on the bike by someone in a different AG? Unlike ITU the wave starts of our typical races will make for packs of riders that didn’t even start together. This will create an unfair situation. Hell, at some races (1/2 Vineman etc.) my AG alone has 3 different waves. It would suck to be in the wave that doesn’t have a group of fast cyclists.
for the people who argue that draft-legal racing is somehow ‘easier’ or not a ‘true test’ of fitness or something: have you ever done a draft legal race? i find most people who have raced draft-legal have big respect for both formats - they’re equally tough. and it could be argued that riding in tight packs, thinking strategy on the fly, and covering breaks/bridging gaps is harder than simply putting your head down and hammering for an hour.
the only reason most AG’ers think of drafting as ‘easy’ is because they draft like triathletes: that is, they ‘sit in’ behind someone illegally during a race or for a rest during training rides. they’re not working crit courses in well-organized and disciplined packs, pushing high speeds and varying the tempo.
get over the draft-hating thing: there are all sorts of formats of swim/bike/run multisport races, each of them is as legit and tough as the other. as for the argument that triathlon is supposed to be an ‘individua’ sport: no, it’s not. in cycling, the ITT has a staggered start: that’s individual. by that standard, memphis in may is about the only ‘individual’ tri i can think of, as it also rules out the draft on the swim.
any distance, any format, if it’s got a starting line and some good vibes you can count me in.
I have to admit, watching triathlon on TV, other than when NBC does it’s “Touchy feely” stuff, is a bit like watching golf. I also think I FF’d thru about 85% of the TDF. I watched the sprints, finishes etc etc. Other than that, not so exciting.
Long distance stuff can be REALLY boring. The shorter stuff is more fun to watch IMO. 4-5 hrs of pictures of 10 or so people at teh front fo teh pack pedaling a bike…not so much fun.
Although I enjoy watching the elites do their thing on the ITU circuit, I don’t have much interest in draft legal tri. Frankly the number one issue for me would be safety. Could you imagine showing up at your local race with all the newbies we have these days and pack riding with hundreds of people you don’t know? Would we have to create Cat levels or would you throw in beginners with veterans. I see some pretty shaky cycling skills out there and would not be too keen to jump into a draft pack even if on my road bike.
As a bike racer for many years, I have a lot of experience with drafting, pack dynamics, and race tactics. Your whole idea of covering breaks and bridging gaps has no relevance to an individual sport. Those are tactics employed in a team format, and in that place they are effective. But to try to make the middle leg of a triathlon onto a bike race is, to me, bastardizing the spirit in which the sport was born.
The reason most people are averse to drafting in the AG ranks of triathlon is safety. And the ITU wants to take the technology that was born in triathlon and put it in a dumpster in the name of the UCI.
Ever wonder why the Olympic distance for the bike leg was set at 40K? Hmmm… Maybe it has something to do with the standard TIME TRIAL distance? A non-draft subset of cycling? Gee, isn’t that convenient…
To me, changing the format of a race so that it appeases the ADHD masses sitting in front of a cathode ray tube has dumbed down the sport. 10K’s, bike races, triathlons… They’re not spectator sports. They’re PARTICIPANT sports. Ok, tri made it into the Olympics… great. Makes no difference to me when I’m signing on the dotted line registering for my events. I raced long before tri was an Olympic sport. I couldn’t give two shits.