If someone has their pro card for xterra races, are they also considered a pro for regular triathlon races? Or can they race age group if they want to.
Someone told me that regular tri pros (USAT) are 2 year ‘cards’ where Xterra are 1 year?
Just wondering.
XTerra pros are not pros for regular on-road tris. On-road pros (regular Elite license holders) are, however, pros for XTerra by default.
So technically, an XTerra focused pro could race Xterra as a pro and an Ironman or LifetimeFitness series race as an age grouper.
ALL USAT elite licenses are for one year, but there is a two year “eligibility” window, based on performances and qualifications. I believe that is the case for all USAT licenses - that qualification keeps you in good standing for two years, whether it is for a regular elite license, an off-road elite license, or a duathlon elite license.
Thanks.
That seems backwards to me though. I’d think if you were an Xterra pro, you’d be a road tri pro by defailt, since if you are good mountain biker, you can probably ride a road bike, but just being a good road cyclist (or good enough to be a pro triathlete), doesn’t mean you have any skills on the mountain bike.
But you answered my questions.
I think it comes because (especially for the women) from the fact that you can do well in XTerra while being ONLY a good mountain biker (and simply an adequate runner/swimmer), whereas that won’t really fly in most non-drafting races. You see this regularly - good road pros - especially the ITU guys - decimate the XTerra guys if they are good enough MTBers. Hamish Carter won Maui on his first try, mostly because he put an inordinate amount of time on those guys in the swim and run. The track record of ITU/oly-non-drafting → XTerra is MUCH better than the track record of XTerra → ITU/oly non-drafting/Ironman/etc. So while your logic might be correct, it’s undone by the fact that many XTerra pros are not particularly good swimmers or runners. They are, for the most part, hella good MTBers tho.