Laura Philipp survives Babbitville. Shame not in person. Why?
Sheâs there, heâs probably not yet.
Looks like Bob is there with Panchoman, perhaps she just doesnt want to touch a bunch of strangers and breath into their faces this close to the race. It also burns a couple hours of your day, getting there, parking, getting out and heading back home. This format is just 30 minutes out of your day without any added stresses.
Really good interview I thought, highlights were her saying anyone wanting to win is going to have to risk something somewhere. And I agree with her that 5 different women could win this thing, and it wont be decided until the last 10k of the run. Bob giving a big shoutout to T100, saying it is a world championship field at every single race. And glad she gave a little dig at the PTO for locking out wildcards to those that couldnât take contracts this year. I hope they reverse that rule for next year too..
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No thatâs Panchoman recorded and Bob is in front of an obvious back screen from his computer, heâs not there. Maybe heâs flying out to today or tomorrow. Or maybe heâs going to do them all remotely. He was at Roth, was not at Nice, did those remotely.
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That tunnel has all the latest helmets to try. I am sure she tries them all. I know several athletes that will not show helmet testing on socials unless it shows the sponsor that owns the helmet real-estate : example TheFeed
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Philipp is in Maui (when interviewed). But why not do the interview in person? No big deal but this year he only has the women to do, so a schedule from tomorrow would work, no?
She acknowledges that Nice suited her better than Kona has/will.
Also touched, between them, on the essential difference between the race dynamics of the men (in Nice) and likely the women in Kona. Last month we had 6 men who could all swim and bike roughly together and then first 5 then 2 then 3 who could run at race winning speed.
The top womenâs profiles are significantly different across swim, bike and run (see simplistic schematic below). This will make for a far more dynamic race. Cross fingers that the broadcast directors informed by stats people, do not âwasteâ time lazily using an image of Knibb or LCB because theyâre leading but get the motocamera guy to pivot back (not easy) to see whoâs behind, and use their ?second and third motos to cover the key chasers while still relevant.
We wonât see time gaps/splits on the tracker (each timing mat) with desired frequency but are available in the truck in near real time via the GPS tracker âbricksâ the women are carrying between their shoulder blades. The two critical time gaps/splits are LCB back to Matthews and Matthews back to Philipp. And maybe, towards the end of the bike, the Knibb-LCB gap if more than 4 minutes. And then on the run: the race is not just whoeverâs in the lead, till the champion crosses the line.
| Bib | Name | Surname | Nat | Swim | Bike | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura | Philipp | GER | xx | xxxx | xxxxx |
| 2 | Kat | Matthews | GBR | xxx | xxxxx | xxxx |
| 3 | Chelsea | Sodaro | USA | xxx | xxx | xxxx |
| 5 | Lucy | Charles-Barclay | GBR | xxxxx | xxxx | xx |
| 6 | Taylor | Knibb | USA | xxxx | xxxxx | xx |
| 16 | Solveig | Løvseth | NOR | xxx | xxxx | xxx |
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I donât think that is her kona helmet. Check her insta.
So sheâll race in this one? Looks good. And the fairing in front of the top bottle has gone: using a torpedo instead.
Yeah I would think heâs going to Kona, unless he has other obligations or doesnât want to spend the money.
Philipp*
Yeah so he likely went yesterday or the day before depending when they recorded this. I didnât doubt he was going to be there, I was just pointing out that he did the Phillip interview remotely.
Good callâŚGot caught in the mire of past seasons while trying to pack my bike and trsiler for todays ride.
*
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Lack of differentiation visually
Weâve now seen Philippâs, LCBâs and Matthewsâ race suit colour schemes and theyâre all predominantly white tops (like maybe 7 of the top men in Nice). I expect Løvseth to wear a white top too. Sodaro? too?
So the vital aesthetic (and spectator) question is: Will Knibb be the lady in red?
The real question is, will she have any sponsors on her kit or is she waiting for a good Kona result before she signs?
What if Taylor is 30 seconds behind LCB but they finish in the same pack?
Taylorâs new position on the bike and new bottle placement post-wind tunnel. Looks superman-y a la Iden and Blu last yeat. Iâm guessing a custom Trek SC too based on the crop.
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Taylor is smiling.
Thatâs all we need to know.
Kona is gonna
light up and glow.
The heat, the hills, the oceanâs roll â
but sheâs calm, sheâs fierce, sheâs in control.
When others fade, sheâll find her flow,
âcause Taylor is smiling â and thatâs how weâll know.
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