Hey slowtwitchers, I had a chance to watch the World Cup race in Cancun on Sunday. Most of the folks on this board (from my perspective) seem to be focused on Ironman and the true spirit (non-drafting) of triathlon. However, this is the second time I’ve watched a world cup event, and I can assure you that this format is great for being a spectator. I wouldn’t mind racing this format except for the fact that most tri-geeks can’t handle their bikes all that well.
Women’s race was first, men’s race was second.
In the women’s race, Joanna Zeiger was back from about two years of injury. Watching her race was really great. You could see her focus on the bike and the run after each lap. She definitely had something to prove and came back in style with a podium finish. What was neat for me is that I had a chance to hang out with her mother on the race course. I managed to schlep my way into a VIP pass. Joanna’s mother is a really sweat lady and I’d bet that Joanna inherited her passion for racing from her. It was neat to see that first hand during a race at this level. I guess I’m not the only parent that gets excited at seeing their kids in competition.
The men’s race started later in the day. It was hot! The US men’s team looked very strong and ended up with 3 in the top ten, with Hunter Kemper finishing on the podium. The bike leg was closer to criterium style than the women, but, I think this is due to the speeds and tactics. There were four our five groups. An interesting thing is that once the first group was caught, all those in the second group kind of sat up and slowed. Too me, a better tactic may have been to launch a planned attack and get away with about five or six guys. But, then again, they had a fast 10k to run, and in that heat may blow up.
I’d like to see more of this style of racing in the states. It will be more of a logistics struggle because of the requirement of a closed course. However, you only need 5k of closed bike course and 2.5k of closed running course. I’ll bet we could find this in many parks, college campuses, etc.
Now that I’m back from my annual pilgrimage to Mexico, I need to slice off some of the fat I added to my sorry carcass. Its going to take a bit of work. Too much food, too much beer, too many pastries, and not enough exercise add up.
Since no one has replied yet, I guess I’ll chime in.
I had this same thought after the Cancun race. I’ve become a to World Cup races since watching them on OLN. I plan to watch the Rio race on ITUtv.com this weekend. These races are just exciting to watch.
Let me clarify also that I am historically strongly against draft-legal racing, but after watching more and more of these races, the format has grown on me.
I’d love to see more chatter on this forum about World Cup races.
I think ITU draft-legal format gets a bad rap. Mind you, I’m not advocating movind draft-legal to other areas of tri, but for ITU I think it works.
Yes, you get to draft on the bike, and that means you’re getting some benefit from other riders. But ONLY if you can swim fast enough to get on your bike with other riders. And those riders had better be good or you’ll (a) get caught by the group behind you and/or (b) get dropped bigtime by any group(s) in front of you. If you get out of the water with lesser riders, it’s up to you to catch the next group up or your podium hopes are over. Remember, many of these folks are doing this for a living, so points and podiums mean everything.
Then there’s the run. If you’re not super fast, you’re buzzard meat, because with the draft-legal format your chances of building a big lead on the bike aren’t so good. There are people who do it (Walton?), but it’s really hard. So whip on your racing flats and crank out a sub-33 minute 10k (for the men) or find another career. I guess what I’m saying is that draft-legal doesn’t, in my opinion, mean that you can get away with a weakness.
Now, for IM distance, I agree that there’s no place for draft-legal. That’s you against the race, the elements etc. No wheel sucking. Also, for AGers, draft-legal doesn’t make much sense. You’d have huge, unruly and perhaps dangerous packs. But with the reasonably small fields of ITU athletes redlining for 2 hours, I think draft-legal provides a really exciting format and doesn’t allow slackers of any sort to survive.
I remember racing in Cancun in Nov. F*cking hot, over 100 degrees at the finish.
The ITU races are soooooo fast. There is some interesting research out about ITU racing. The swim leaders in something like 89% of the races go through the first 300m in 3:09. They avg 1:12 for the next 1200m.
The winner in 60 something % of the races is the runner who runs the first 2k of the run the fastest.
I’ve seen a few world cup tris and du and those athletes are fast and tactical.
If your only running a 33:00 in ITU you know it’s time to move to IM racing.