I dont think they purposely choose flat courses. I think the host cities that afford to bid and then host races, have very limited urban options, and that when Chicago bids on it, they aren’t going to do the event 45 mins south in a proper tri area, but in the area that “showcases” the Chicago water front and sky line. So unless you have some characteristics in your urban area, more times than not, the venue is going to suck by default. Didn’t they get away from London to Leeds so they could have better racing? London course highlighted every tourist checklist, yet resulted in boring racing.
Yoko is a staple on the circuit yet results in boring ass racing. I would guess there is probaly a 1:3 ratio of good courses to boring courses in the itu host city data base.
(I’m mainly talking about WTCS venues and not world cups…there seems to be more chances of world cup events having better “racing” than WTCS level).
I dont think they purposely choose flat courses. I think the host cities that afford to bid and then host races, have very limited urban options, and that when Chicago bids on it, they aren’t going to do the event 45 mins south in a proper tri area, but in the area that “showcases” the Chicago water front and sky line. So unless you have some characteristics in your urban area, more times than not, the venue is going to suck by default. Didn’t they get away from London to Leeds so they could have better racing? London course highlighted every tourist checklist, yet resulted in boring racing.
Yoko is a staple on the circuit yet results in boring ass racing. I would guess there is probaly a 1:3 ratio of good courses to boring courses in the itu host city data base.
(I’m mainly talking about WTCS venues and not world cups…there seems to be more chances of world cup events having better “racing” than WTCS level).
And there lies the problem. The ITU charge an extortionate amount of money for the “honour†of hosting the race. In addition to that I believe they also have to post an additional £250k but not certain on that.
What is good for triathlon is not good for the people who host the races. Some ITU racing is boring and you can’t get away from that. I would love to know where all that money goes in ITU.
Bergen was a WC not a WTCS and could afford to be a hard challenging course which totally suited their own athletes.
Are you serious? $750k? but how much the host city puts on the table? $150k or the whole pot? I dont think they even can get those 150 back because i dont know where the incomes for the city come from… i dont think it is tourism, neither tickets…so…I ignore…
I prefer the Olympic distance, though since the change is going to happen it might as well happen now.
We will lose the career of the diesels (Gomez comes to mind) if this change occurs. But of course guys like Mola will have even more fulfilling careers.
Speaking of Mola… he needs to get on the podium today. I am taking Abdelmoula for the win, but I think this race plays out well for MAC and Mola too.
But every event gets an AG race and the simple prestigue of hosting an event etc w tourism. But again that’s why it’s the same 10 cities that host these events and it’s the same “tourist†shots every year. Hamburg geeks out on their event, they have 500k people drinking beer and partying. GB has understood the value of Leeds with making it “hard†as it can. Yoko or Gold Coast? They have zero little distinguishing features to make the bike matter. Bermuda has features that gives athletes chances to make the bike matter. Auckland had some bite on the bike but I think weather issues hurt that event. It would have to basically be Spring or Grand Final. Euro Summer time = winter for them.
This is part chamber of commerce infomercial, part race. That’s why the urban events lack great racing though.
But every event gets an AG race and the simple prestigue of hosting an event etc w tourism. But again that’s why it’s the same 10 cities that host these events and it’s the same “tourist†shots every year. Hamburg geeks out on their event, they have 500k people drinking beer and partying. GB has understood the value of Leeds with making it “hard†as it can. Yoko or Gold Coast? They have zero little distinguishing features to make the bike matter. Bermuda has features that gives athletes chances to make the bike matter. Auckland had some bite on the bike but I think weather issues hurt that event. It would have to basically be Spring or Grand Final. Euro Summer time = winter for them.
This is part chamber of commerce infomercial, part race. That’s why the urban events lack great racing though.
You are limiting just the payments to the ITU, which are under represented.
Add into that the permits, local officials, timing and security, road closure costs, clean up costs etc. The list is endless.
Leeds council stated in one of their reports that the true cost was circa £2 million.
It’s also why it’s not worth it for USA to host that level of events (we as a tri culture just don’t appreciate DL, we are too “I only care about my race†and IM culturally focused to support itu events). They lost over a million dollars when they hosted grand final in 15 at Chicago. And San Diego was a poorly attended race outside of the elites (boring ass course as well). I remember they ran kinda like on a boardwalk and literally right beside peoples back yards. This guy is grilling burgers for his family as the greatest in the world were running their ass off and he had no clue. It was funny to watch the aloofness, or maybe it was “we live on the beach who can beat this†attitude lol.
The world cups we host lately have always been at the Sarasota venue, that lacks any distinguishing feature other than strong winds, which groups can sometimes work against the super weak riders but mostly it’s a meh course. But it’s an easy course as half the course is on a greenway type road so costs are kinda super low w/ low road closure costs.
Kalovy Vary WC olympic distance is today. I missed live coverage of women racing first but this course has some teeth, and has allowed a small breakaway from the front group. 2 strong hills and some “technical” tight course may lead to a break sticking here.
Front group of 10 was caught by a chasing group of 10 who had 16s gap after 1 lap of the bike. McElroy is in the front group, with a small break (2 riders w/ Varga trying to bridge the gap) about 10s ahead of them.
Matt to the lead through the first run split (maybe 2.5k). His 5k run has been on point the last few weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how he manages 10k.
Yes he moved up a bunch this period, he’ll probaly move up to fringe top 15th, as he was 20th coming into this weekend.
Just need to get Pearson racing. He’s gotta bring it when he shows up.
Seth Rider finished 15th today, so he’s likely only going to stay in the ~40’s in the olympic ranking.
ETA: Like I said the US “sucks” because the 2 best Americans didn’t race the 1st half of the season, with Pearson still not having raced. A healthy Pearson and McElroy will get regular top 15 finishes and the necessary points to be fine for the federation. However at this point, I wonder what the psyche is for Pearson.
What is the goal for qualifying 3 - getting 3 in the top 40, top 30?
It’ll be good to get McDowell out there as well.
Morgan was at the Boa tent at Nationals in Milwaukee and I was able to have a good conversation. Sounded like his head was in a good place. He had a walking boot that he took on and off - said he could run, but was being careful.
It sounded like he was trying to play it smart with racing and be at his best for the fall WCTS stuff.
McDowell certainly has a chance, but I dont think he has the ability to get “big” points in races. If your consistently in the 10-20’s, that’s consistent good points, but if you miss races, you can then slide down pretty easily. But 1 podium WTCS finish pretty much is all you need to then make big jumps. Just imo I dont think McDowell has that ability. I think he has more “consistent” race result ability. He’s finished 10th 2 times the past 2 years in WTCS (and yes I know he got 5th in the Olympics).
He got covid, and that’s no joke. Look at a guy like Gomez, has he even returned to racing yet and I believe he got it in May. The “long” covid really seems to take it out of you, but I dont know what he was diagnosed with. Some come back after a short break, but the ones who really struggled it’s seemed to really take it out of them.
I dont think she (Taylor Kbibb) has the run to be a real threat in the individual race, but she can be a great addition to an MTR team as the 2nd leg of likely being able to pull back any 1st leg deficit. I think she would need to be in a breakaway and even that, she would need 1+ min to put a scare in the chasers for the individual race.
I am pulling this off the PTO thread because I think it is better to discuss it here.
For MTR Knibb is a better version of what Ben Kanute was 5 years ago. And interestingly, now that Men and Women have switched order places, like Kanute she can be penciled in for that 2nd place relay spot. Outside a mechanical or a disastrous opening leg the US will be at the front of the race going into the 3rd leg of the MTR because of Knibb.
The problem I see is that, in order to make money, she is going to do a lot of 70.3 type distances and that is going to take the speed out of her. I think she actually is suited to make money in Super League because the technical bike courses and bike primes play to her strength. So hopefully she considers it next year.
I think she’s totally a lock in for MTR. But what is interesting, can she “auto†qualify with basically a podium performance again. If she didn’t do her breakaway at Yoko it was almost assuredly going to be Spivey and Kz on the team. I would 100% assume she’s an pick for MTR due to her strength and so whether she AQ or not, she’ll get discretion pick. If I had to guess Summer Rapp wont make it (unless she AQ’s).
But what’s even more amazing. KZ crashed out Kasper at the test event in the breakaway, when those 2 Americans would have very easily finished top 8 and made the AQ Olympic spots… KZ looked back at the chase pack and veered into Kasper and the barrier, crashing both out.
If that crash doesn’t happen, the auto Q would have been Kasper and KZ and likely Spivey gets the discretion over Rapp or Knibb. Knibb’s breakaway wouldn’t have counted as the 2 spots would have already been taken and the 3rd was always discretion.
So it’s odd how random things can go and turn for careers.