So Lange and Magnus won’t be at Roth?
The announcements for Roth are coming at a slow and steady rate and am hoping they are saving the best for last as the field to-date hasn’t been all that impressive?
Haug, Philips, KM, Leon C surely will be there too?
Assuming your question is not rhetorical, can you see either professional athlete (with an eye on the main prize in Nice in mid-September) racing 2 x 140.6: Frankfurt on 29 June and then Roth in early July, only a week later?
If by “Philips” you mean Philipp, I expect she’ll race Roth (no requirement to validate her AQ). Haug will race, I guess: why not? Matthews M = yes.
It was rhetorical! Was hoping for a bigger and better field with the increased prize money
We all know it’s sponsor money and wanting a presence at first big race of season. Good on him - cash in.
Drafting (stays at 12m) and intentional or careless littering penalties (blue card) reduced in line with World Tri 3.3e
Section 5.04 DRAFTING AND POSITION RULES
(a) “Drafting” means to remain within the draft zone (as described below) of another
athlete for a period longer than 25 seconds. Drafting during the Race is prohibited;
(2:00 or 3:00 Minute Time Penalty (as applicable))
et seq
Just published (see p21) and effective on 17 March (in time for Gelong, the first IM Pro Series event)
Article incoming on the front page in the next 90 mins or so. They made some pretty sizable cycling equipment rule changes, too.
I will stop then! 
Head Ref gets codified as the final say, which was always the case anyway right?
This one:
“Front Mounted Water Bottles and Hydration Systems mounted to components attached to the bike that rotate around the steering axis (e.g., cockpit extensions, top tube, headset, stem, head tube) must have a combined maximum volume capacity of no more than two (2) liters”
Is good guidance to have, but it’s interesting because someone can make a very thick or unique shaped bottle if you are trying to fill space. Obviously the Head Ref can then make the call, so all that effort will get thrown out once someone sees you trying to skirt the rules.
I have some difficulty with the concept of the head tube and top tube “rotating around the steering axis”. And if those in scope, surely the down tube is in the same ‘boat’.
How would one attach ‘components’ to the headset?
Shoddy drafting, or do I just not understand?
Oh, you haven’t seen some of the fun with people throwing mounts on stems, or steer tubes.
All said, they’re trying to cover every base of “stop trying to fill every single gap between your body and the bike up there with bottles.” The intent is pretty easy to suss out.
OK, one more edit: alright, y’all keep calm on the rules stuff for like an hour so I can write about for the front page, mmmmK? And we’ll have this discussion in that thread?
Agree about the general intent, but rules need to be clear. “Uh, don’t overdo with the fake bottles” is not clear. Also, they tried to be very particular and ended up writing something that makes no sense? (Again!)
Same issue here, from a physical standpoint any part of the bike is rotating around the steering axis. Hence, stricto sensu no more than 2L would be allowed (except « inside the frame triangle or in the frame »). Written like that, it would also mean that it includes behind the saddle…
To get technical they are talking about attaching bottles to the turny thing at the front of the bike. Not the fixed thingy that doesn’t turn at the back of the bike.
If the rule is going to be 2L of water “between the arms” (or whatever equivalent), then its only a matter of time before someone starts making a 2L reservoir that’s aero optimized.
For the age groupers, this probably means some sort of long submarine shape, maybe with a pedestal so you can get your arms in the right position. Something that works well enough for most people and gets you plenty of hydration. Maybe not aero optimized so much as allowing us to mount one thing to the rail and call it a day (vs multiple bottles).
For the pros, its only a matter of time before people start 3D printing hydration reservoirs in different shapes and then testing what the most optimal shape is for their position.
At first I thought the same, but how do you explain « top tube » in the list?
for bikes like this maybe …
RvB’s race schedule (same as Lange and, I assume, Blummenfelt and Iden). Potential to make top 3, imo.
Yah definitely a top 3 contender for sure
Texas/Oceanside will be very competitive for the men!
Jackie Hering also posted her races
Still not many takers for Cairns, just a short flight away for those based on the west coast:man_shrugging:t3:
