Yes but what are the objectives of the series? Why would IM care that much if the top few dozen pros want to do 5 races?
I suppose the argument is that every second they win by, puts lower points on those chasing, and a bigger gap in the series final tally. Wasnât that the whole point of this makeup, to keep folks off the front(and elsewhere) motivated to race to the line??
In this race, though, none of KBâs likely main rivals are racing so he âjustâ needs to bank the 5000. And keep in mind both he and Matthews have Geelong in two weeks.
For Matthews, slightly worth pushing on, to make sure Berry and Wilms take a deficit.
But for both #1 objective finish, without incident.
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You can think that, but in the early races we just donât know what will matter at the end of the series. Strange things happen end of year, so what if the favorites arenât able to do their 5 races, or have a real clunker finish?? It may be that these also rans in this first race donât factor into any wins, but what about 3rd to 10th place? One just doesnât know until we get to the very end, and even then without extra sub races, we cannot know how it all ends. Someone could pull a BarnabyâŚ
I would think both will race to win and keep the pressure on, but not 100% unless needed to win or mitigate a bad race and max points..Both Kat and Blu are pretty durable as athletes go, so probably run like a horse if they are feeling good..
Iâd just hope KB remembers that the trade off for ensuring heâs number 1 going into IMWC is not without cost. Being that much more recovered after a race can pay dividends in subsequent training. Itâs not like he dug himself into a hole last year, but in both Championships he was in the winning position and couldnât finish the job by a very small margin. If thatâs solvable through training, maybe he doesnât care if his opponents are closer or even ahead going into the final races if it means he has more to give/absorb in training.
well the objective of the series was to take the wind out of the sails from t100 ( achieved and a brilliant idea back then)
the other objective was to have the top pros race more ironman races . so if ironman does not care if the pros do the series they could reduce the races required and make the series more interesting, ie max 2 ironman to count . the people that want to win kona by and large do not want to do 2 ironman before kona , they would be more willing to do another ironman race straight after kona to lock in the qualification early , and therefore the series does not reach the objective of ironman to entice the top pros to race more as most pros would do the same races without the series if they want to qualify for the worlds .
my return question is why should ironman do a series very few athetles care about and does not fulfil their 2nd objective as well as it could , and I am wondering does it still achieve the first objective since t100 has reduced the focus on the series ?
I think overall we have seen that people dont care really much about any series in tri. roth is totally outdoing ironman again for 2nd best long distance race of the year, the pro series race in Geelong is more like conti cup level and iam not sure that is the objective ( and I get it its Australia but the pros do the t100 race the same weekend in Australia ) . so one could argue the series does not really achieve the 2nd objective. Laura Philipp and Patrick Lange were the 2 key people Ironman would like to race more and they did not really do that. and for sure it worked for kat and blu but I would say thats a lot of money spend for very few atheltes to really care.
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The prize money is very top heavy so if you are not podium material, for some it may not be worth pursuing. However it will still make sense to do Pro Series races to qualify for worlds or just to race, if you land up in the top 50 itâs a pay cheque
One has to realize that the vast majority of pros live pay cheque to pay cheque so the bonus money is usually welcomed
I think there are some marginal gains that are hard to fully appreciate after just 2 years. Hopefully they give it 5 years to see the impact.
- The pro series adds and maintains prestige to the venues. Ironman can not survive if cities and towns donât feel they are bringing something special. Ironman Hype Train is real.
- The pro series makes (keeps) Ironman relevant for pro course athletes to feed into, extending the influencer effects there. The reality is long distance triathlon does need a robust group of pros engaged in the dream as plenty of age groupers also get swept up into the network beneath them (coaching, following, etc).
- The pro series converts mid distance into long distance athletes. This will take some time (hence the 5 years), but I suspect Ironman will have more pros (and amateurs) racing full distance in 2029 than they did in 2024. What other triggers can Ironman pull to get more attention into full distance?
- The pro series is a platform for sponsors to have further justified prestige in their marketing spend with IM. Similar to point 1 above, but applied to sponsors, not cities.
Thereâs no doubt in my mind the short term impact of cancelling the pro series, will be ânot muchâ but over the long term it could make a big negative difference thatâs not so easy to overcome. And essentially, my understanding is Ironman has now got the pro series paid for by Oman, is that right?
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Oman is title sponsor of the pro series, no details but I am sure they write a handsome cheque but I doubt they foot the entire bill
Blu may have to go quite hard, there are local guys running low 2.40s already without the strong international field.
There isnât the same depth in the womens field to force a record smashing pace.
I agree with you but the poor price money in Geelong makes it virtually impossible to get a good field there , and in a way it devalues the pro series as as it is not the standard one would expect of a pro series race. and I agree your point 1 was another objective and I think that is working.
at the same time all you say it could be better if actually more top athletes would do it and for that you need likely at least 1 race less and an ironman after the worlds. than it would get interesting and a bit more balanced in price money ie after 2nd place its not really that interesting for the pros it wants to engage, and it also is not enough for the upcoming pros to give them security. so it does not really achieve your points 2 and 3 ,
and then there is the question is a real a net win if you make 15 races bigger, but cut pro fields from way more races which again makes it harder for the developing pro to make money.
I guess as it is now it would appear t100 is to stay for a few more years and in a way that forces them to spend more on price money if they want to stay the undisputed top dog . as 50 k for Geelong vs 275 k for just the females at gold cost just does not quite cut it to get the pros they want.
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kat is by far the best athelte to do new Zealand for a good while and the female record is softer than the male record , and the swim bike will be on the top 4 favourites on sat rolled into kona t2 togheter 2025 and kat can always run that is her natural sport. anyway we will see. and I agree kat is clearer ahead on the run than blu
but the female course record is 55 min behind the male record and thats more than it should be. and like Thorsten I do not see her 55 min behind blu.
The Geelong mens field is much stronger than the womenâs field. The T100 gold coast for women has negatively impacted the womenâs field. This is just a timing issue, both Geelong fields are not weak.
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The field in Geelong isnât great but it ainât bad. Itâs very early in the season. Nevertheless both NZ and Geelong have fhe best start-list for a while
T100 start list is one of the weakest to date. Itâs both a timing issue and also I think the absence of contracts has an impact. I do expect the mid season T100s to be super competitive, probably better than what we got last year. Time will tell
Well again the strength of field is roughly 95 for gold coast , in Geelong around 85 .
Have a look how many races with a strength of field over 90 Lionel sanders has done in the last 3 years ⌠IE usually a strength of field over 90 is pretty good and over 95 is very strong
Where do you find strength of field information this far out?
Well we have the start lists. Go to the PTO rankings: average the scores of the top 5.
You can work this out yourself. This is the prospective SOF, of course, which may not be the same, come the day, if some of the top ranked 5 (like Gentle) are DNSs.
Here is the Geelong start list:
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Alexia Bailly | |
| Charlotte McShane | |
| Gabrielle Lumkes | |
| Grace Thek | |
| Imogen Simmonds | |
| Jasmine Brown | |
| Kat Matthews | |
| Milan Agnew | |
| Nina Derron | |
| Paige Cranage | |
| Penny Slater | |
| Rebecca Clarke | |
| Rhianne Hughes | |
| Sina Ziegler | |
| Skye Wallace | |
| Stephanie Clutterbuck | |
| Tamara Jewett |
Includes Simmonds who is also on the T100 start list.
Think this is âwide of the markâ (and the SOFs do not support this take), though if Gentle withdraws it will be a little weaker. Waugh, Derron, Knibb, Gentle, Salthouse listed.
What we saw is that I was clearly wrong about Kat and I stand thoroughly corrected.
Good race by the ladies.
What we saw is kat is just always good and we saw Hanna barry reaching the next level. Also kudos to wilms and Jewett.
Also jack moody was impressive and so was blu marching on.
Le corre in my mind paced the race the best and that was a serious ironman debut.
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So whatâs with our sport allegedly becoming a real professional sport, and then our most accomplished non-retired male triathlete, who is so obsessed about marginal gains that sensors are practically living in his rectum, again coming to a race with unprepared equipment?
You ever seen a bike cockpit break apart on a cycling superstar?
FFS. Itâs funny that it was Blu, or his then-coach Bu (I canât remember) who said long course triathlon was amateurish (and the Norwegians were going to change that).
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