That was brutal for sure, pretty rough injuries, but glad to hear it wasn’t worse. Hopefully with the length of windows and the two point windows, that it doesn’t take anyone out of the OG selection running.
And yes, JB was right on the edge, he probably could have eased off ever so slightly once he made his gap, to prevent bonking which he came dangerously close to doing, and to opening the door to Messias…
In terms of Mola and others, with a 3 year olympic quadrennial it’s a bit odd, since we’re right back into qualifying, when normally a year after the OG we’d be in mess around with Middle/Long distance phase. Mola could easily get the points needed to be eligible for selection, if he even does a couple of races in the next 12months. That said, will he ever be competing with the pointy end of the field, that I am not so sure. The front runner right now for Spain is Serrat Seone, and he was probably showing better form than most of the spaniards that made Tokyo then too. If he remains healthy, he’s more or less a shoe in. Mola could be in that convo for sure, if he has the motivation to push on. But for now there are no flashing panic buttons for those taking their time to build into the qualifying cycle…
WTCS Leeds this weekend, Huatulco World Cup next weekend, and then Montreal Sprint and relay world champs the following weekend. Lots of exciting racing coming up.
No Duffy? I think the usual women will get a successful break but just, no Learmoth is a massive blow for them.
The men front swim pack with Luis and Jonny will kill themselves trying to keep that gap but it will come together at some point is my point I’m guessing.
It’s going to be very windy.
Not sure what that means for the race, but maybe smaller groups??
My shot in the dark.
1-Wilde
2-Yee
3-Brownlee
1-GTB
2- Lindeman
3- Periault
it is always a crap shoot at the races becaues we do not know where every athlete is in their training cycle. But if we don’t pretend to be experts this isn’t very fun soooooo.
I think Bergere and Hauser are as good as anyone in the swim/bike so I’ll put at least one of them on the Podium. Yee and Brownlee because it is a home race and a little more important to them.
GTB / Duffy are a lock for podium until they prove otherwise. I think Rappaport’s results are negatively correlated to Flora Duffy being on the start list. So I don’t know who else will be on the podium but I will say it will not be Summer.
I am looking forward to the relay the most. I won’t be checking in until I’ve watched the races on the bike trainer. I am sure I’ll have a good laugh at my predictions.
I’m just guessing here.
Knibb isn’t there, Duffy just had Covid, and Jess isn’t starting.
So maybe a bigger group at the front? I have no clue. Especially with the wind and knowing the starting hill is steeper than a few years ago. That almost makes me think we could see a few girls off the front.
I just picked three girls that are healthy and can run a fast 5k.
I don’t know that Wilde and Yee will make it to the front. A windy day on the Leeds course (are we back to the old course, or are they using the new course from last year which they had to use because crowds weren’t allowed due to COVID?), seems rife for breakaways out of T1 to get big separation. I am not sure that Yee or Wilde will be close enough on the swim to ever see the front. I would guess that we’d see a break out of T1, likely with a couple of the French, Brownlee, one of the Japanese athletes, Aaron Royle and maybe another athlete or two, that would likely stay clear on the bike and start the run with 2min ish advantage on the field, if that’s the case, the podium is likely 2 French and Brownlee… The Wildes and Idens & Yees will run into the top 5-10, but will likely miss the podium if I had to guess…
For the ladies, I would also be betting on a Break out of T1, possibly doing even more damage. I would guess Duffy, GTB, Kingma, Coldwell, Spivey, Beaugrand & Rappaport to be in the mix (possibly Kasper as well), possibly with a couple others. I would bet the the pack splits part way, with Beaugrand & Rappaport being dropped, possibly with others. I would guess 3 of Duffy, GTB, Coldwell, Kingma & Spivey to make up the podium…
Of the current WTCS courses, Leeds is by far the most selective. Last year was a bit different, being one of the few pre-olympic tune-ups, on a different course, with smaller fields, which completly shook up the dynamics from normal, so I would put less stock in last year’s results…
From memory it was only two years on the old course the Brownlees (due to Ali) the bike managed to keep a gap, no Ali and I don’t think there’s any break on the bike for the men (they couldn’t manage a break away even with Ali on the new course)
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Just a bump to remind folks that the Leeds men’s race coverage is supposed to begin at 9:00am Eastern daylight time. The temperatures and sky conditions sound nice and winds forecast to be strong enough to influence the bike leg.
Just a bump to remind folks that the Leeds men’s race coverage is supposed to begin at 9:00am Eastern daylight time. The temperatures and sky conditions sound nice and winds forecast to be strong enough to influence the bike leg.