I´ve been competing in Roth for last two years, and I´ve caught for twice Belinda Granger and Jo Lawn. I´m happy because they didnét win- This year they didn´t deserve to win. Granger was always 4 meters behind me (excepto when the marshall was close to us), and Lawn was always 2 meters behind Belinda.
I don´t like this way of racing, and I don´t know if these girls do the same in other races, but in Roth 2006 and 2007, it has been infamous.
They do it every race, it’s how the game is played for the top women.
Why else would Jo Lawn see it as necessary to comment on having to ride carefully at Roth because there was a draft marshall there all the time.
Yeah what cyclenut said, It couldn’t have been to obvious though. 2 metres hmmm I don’t think so you don’t get away with that, and is your estimation of distance really that good.
heh i rode ‘with’ jo lawn for a while at mount half, got a lil tv time. heh…i wonder what shannon barnett thought about her riding at ironman nz, both almost exactly the same time. jo lawn has repped nz in cycling though. there was another female pro at ironman nz who pretty much used a group to get her to where she wanted. i caught her easily coming back from reporoa on first lap, then passed her, then a few guys caught up to us, and she took off with them. my pace didn’t change…
but i guess it’s all part of the game. using people in front of you to ‘pace off’ whilst keeping it legal. i’m sure most people have used the people directly in front of them to their advantage at some point.
anyway aren’t the people passing everyone from behind pretty much ‘drafting’ the whole time when there are people fairly even spaced in front of them? ie the rubberband effect.
There will always be percieved drafting at any race anywhere by individuals, whether or not there actually is I would suggest would be very subjective esp in relation to another competitors view of things. Yeah you are right everyone has used the person in front of them to some advantage at some time, why would you not?
Jos times at ironman now match what she would have been capable of as a pure cyclist - based on the tt time she did on the local course ~10 years ago and my nifty course comparison model.
Also bear in mind that the breakaway in the womens race at the commonwealth games averaged 30kph - it’s not always a huge deal to be an NZ rep in womens cycling.
jo kiesonowski, sarah ulmer and meshy holt don’t do too ‘badly’ from what i can gather 
was jo lawn track?
Meshy is a minute quicker over 16km than jo was, sarah another 44s better than that. Jo did some pursuiting. I’m not saying that we don’t have some fast girls - just that you don’t necessarily need to be top class to get to rep. I know a few of the current crop of girls racing overseas and most of what gets them there is having not quit rather than being superstars.
i’ve been trying to get my sister to do triathlons…apparently used to beat rushlee buchanan on the bike with no training (albeit at a young age at school), used to win school cross country at st peters (a strong running school) and was a swimmer.
having said that…i think rushlee has improved somewhat.
michelle hyland used to be a triathlete didn’t she?
used to see lots of girls out training in cambridge…more than guys.
Rushlee is getting good - helps to have Sarah as a mentor. And Michelle H was a triathlete - a good one, hopefully she will come back then ST could comment that her saddle was too high.
You’re probably seeing the rowing squad out there, they all head out on road bikes for a bit of cross training.
edit of comments as I was wrong and BG has now explained the actions.
TB
yeah they do. altho the evers swindells sit on a bike indoors when it gets closer to their big races…i assume this is so they don’t hurt themselves by crashing somehow! hah. ben fouhy is down there now as well, altho i dunno if he cycles much these days.
used to see sarah ulmer at the pools on occasion. her swimming is not as good as her cycling!
michelle h is still pretty young too aint she? i remember reading somewhere something about gordo byrn being stoked to keep up with her in that tour de vineyards.
i remember messaging this girl on nzdating who used to be a triathlete but has now switched to cycling. girl in wellington. went to gamagori worlds or something. was quite snobby! hah
Yeah, I agree with you about Granger being a drafter and a bad sport.
I passed her in a tri a few years ago and she sat **right **behind me for several miles, despite my looks back and moves across the road. I eventually talked w/her about it, she was extremely rude, and talked some shit about “Americans” so I just decided to just push the pace for a bit and dropped her.
I’ve actively rooted against her ever since.
Granger is not only a draft cheat (She did it for all of the 180k at IMOZ) she is a bad sport.
She abuses the officials and denys it even when there is video proof.
Her husband who is a good Ironman himself rides in front of her usually and drags her around the course.
She is actually like Jo a fantastic cyclist but still finds the need to cheat.
Granger was busted at Kona for drafting (From IMLIVE: She was 3rd off the bike Belinda Granger (#77) at 1:05 but was not out on the run until 5:05 and in 5th.)
Witness account Ironman Australia (not me) QUOTE: there were about 14 in a group around B Granger. This group had come out of the water within a minute or so of each other and a combined swim / bike time with a difference of between about 2 seconds to 30 seconds.
I can’t be bothered looking but I know the below has happened about 5 times now. Even this year at Ironman Australia he was with her until he pulled out.
In Ironman Australia 2004, I think the numbers prove it
Granger Belinda 2004 FORSTER IRONMAN 0:54:16 4:54:51 3:21:28 9:10:36
GRANGER Justin 2004 FORSTER IRONMAN 0:54:13 4:54:16 3:05:42 8:54:12
As I said the thing that has me stuffed is that she is good. She went top 5 at Kona even with a sin bin. Sadly for her now rebecca keat is back racing, Belinda will never be the top Aussie female Ironman athlete again. Maybe time for her to go back teaching…
As for Jo Lawn, I know she rode solo for most of IMNZ this year so is Roth a one off? Or a 2 off as you suggest?
jo lawn actually rode with shannon barnett…they exited water together and entered transition after bike together. jo had a fantastic swim this year.
Juicy never lived in Wellington! LOL
Who was it then.
Stop admitting you date online. Makes you seem scary and weird. Live in a town with some women around (Auckland) and you won’t have to spend all your time on your computer, but could date live women. LOL again. Damn I’m funny some times.
I’d love to date online, except even cyber chicks can tell I’m old fat and stupid. Woe is me.
someone horsfall??? i think? can’t remember.
Fulla, you crack me up.
I’m off to the pool, so maybe one day, I can swim as fast as you used to swim.
Later duuuuuuuude
someone horsfall??? i think? can’t remember.
that would have been Amy-Kelly, she was a Mafia member as was Michelle Hyland.
I have fond memories of those two handing me my head on a plate at club races.
Granger is not only a draft cheat (She did it for all of the 180k at IMOZ) she is a bad sport.
She abuses the officials and denys it even when there is video proof.
Her husband who is a good Ironman himself rides in front of her usually and drags her around the course.
?
Yes. It´s true. She was swimming behind me for first mile, touching my feet every stroke with TWO HANDS!!! for almost 5 minutes. I started to kick faster, “telling her” she was bothering me in my swimming. 5 minutes later with her hands in my feet I stopped to swim and I recriminiate her attitude. I Can´t understand english when swimming, but she wasn´t very happy about it. Unfortuntaley, it was a bad decision, because I lost my swiimming group in that action.
This time, Justin Granger rode 50 meters behind her til km 145,
OK- this is my first post on Slowtwitch and I don’t normally feel the need to reply or write on a forum but after reading this thread I had to repond as I do not think you realise just how hurtful all of your comments are and how absolutely untrue they are.
This was my fourth time in Roth- I absolutely love this race and the place- it is almost like a second home for me. I know the bike course like the back of my hand- I have ridden it at least two dozen times. I know every corner, hill and road surface throughout the 180km. I DID NOT draft in this race this year. In fact for the entire first loop of the course Jo and I rode solo- together- yes, but LEGALLY. I had been told in the pro race briefing that the lead female would have at least one race official with her for the entire ride and I did! On the second loop of the ride a group of about 6 males caught us- I always use every single person that comes past me- I pace off them but I do it legally. This is exactly what I did when these boys came past me. Why would I risk a drafting call of 8 minutes by sitting 4 metres off their wheels if I know I have a draft official right there watching my every move?
My bike riding is my only strength in this sport. I am not a fantastic swimmer and I am certainly not a runner. But I can ride- I have always been able to ride. At IM Australia this year I pleaded with the race organisers to give the pro wave a seperate 15min start- they said it was impossible because of the two lap swim. I told them it would be a disaster and it was. At least I did try to stay legal distance at all times unlike some of the others. Again I asked the race organisers at Roth to think about breaking up the packs on the second lap of the ride- they were able to improve on this and the problem wasn’t nearly as bad as it has been in the past. That group of six men was the only pack I saw all day. Next year I will ask if the pro women and all age-group women can start 5 minutes behind the pro men and ‘sub 9’ men.
Last year I raced IM Canada and I won- the one and only reason- because of my ride. I did not see or get passed by one age-group man that day. At IMC we are given a seperate 15 min start. Every single professional woman that day rode the entire course solo. I finally got the lead that I am capable of and it was enough for me to hold on for the win. I did not do anything differently to any other race- my swim was nothing special and my run was the same time I had run at IM Australia earlier in the year. My ride was good but then I expected it to be.
As for being a bad sport- well that is just plain crazy!! Blew I do not know why you feel the need to put shit on me all over the world. I know you do not like me and even though I do not understand it- I can live with it. I do not abuse officials. I did not abuse anyone in Hawaii last year. What you saw on TV was me telling the photographer what had happened. I knew him and he wanted to know what had happened. There was no abuse- I am not an idiot. You gain nothing by abusing an official. As for my husband working for me- if only you knew how he felt in races where I have caught him. He doesn’t even speak to me. He hates it. Blew the reason he pulled out of IM Australia this year was because he knew people would automatically assume he was riding with me. He would rather pull out than cop that crap.
Now to the hitting of feet. Yes I was hitting your feet- but do you not understand that I was having the same thing happen to me- unfortunately in open-water swimming you get that. I had a swimmer right on my heels slapping my ankles and that pushes me up onto your feet. I don’t like it happening either and I am really sorry that you took such offence to it. But when I did realise that it gave you the shits I came around you and took the lead. You could have then sat on my feet- I would not have had a problem with that.
It is just so crazy that you had Macca, Thomas and co. in the lead men working off each other- pacing legally off each other but no one accuses them of ‘drafting’. Jo and I were doing exactly the same thing- pacing off each other and then off the boys when they came past us in the secong loop. That is racing.
Anyone that knows me, knows how upset I get with drafting. They also know just how upset I get when I am accused of being a ‘drafter’. I love this sport- I have been doing it now for 17 years. I do not boast to be the best at it, in fact I do not even think I am that good at it. But I do know that I have a great passion for it, I train incredibly hard and I always give 100% in races- that is why I have been able to make it my job for the past 5 years. When I read comments such as the ones made here, it really does affect me. I cannot tell you how upset it makes me. I know it is only opinion but we would all be lying if we said that opinions don’t count. You people, even though I don’t know you are part of the triathlon family and that is also my family, so of course I care about what you think.
I know that if Jo ever reads this she will also be devastated. Both of us were very proud of our cycle times in Roth this year. It was my fastest ride time ever but not a time that my coach and I thought was unattainable. It it what I am capable of.