That’s assuming that races, especially at the start of year, go according to plan. More races mean more things are bound to go wrong. As he found out last weekend, accidents do happen. A mechanical early on means an extra race down the line.
Magnus Ditlev lost several thousands from a crash prior to Singapore, which he could have won, and a mechanical in Dubai leading to lost points in the final ranking. And he’s probably the only man who did well juggling long course and T100. The women’s field is completely different given the level of competition.
The deduction from that concern is that an athlete should race as seldom as possible, commensurate with their season goals. So just seven T100s then. Or just one IM to IMWCQ and the IMWC itself.
In the T100 Tour, a mechanical or a DNS/DNF is entirely recoverable as a proportion of results can be dropped.
In the IMWC an injury beforehand (see also LCB) or a mechanical (see also Haug) may mean that your whole season is 'recked.
Philipp raced 6 times before IMWC and then twice after. Would you recommend to her/Philip that she chooses between the T100 and IMWC?
Or Matthews: same question?
Or LCB: same question (and which objective do you recommend)?
Combining the IM Pro Series and the IMWC is an easy choice as one is embedded in the other (minimum 5 races).
But way less lucrative.
The average of the top 5 racing T100 and the IMWC (2024 figures estimated, bromaths) will make circa $463k (includes T100 contract, Tour bonus, PTO Ranking EoY bonus)
The average of the top 5 racing the IM Pro Series including the IMWC and the 70.3WC (2024 figures estimated) will make circa $292k (includes IM Pro Series bonus, PTO Ranking EoY bonus)
I don’t think he will get a slot. But really, I am not sure he is too worried. He shows up at the end of the season with little IM specific training and the guy does a 7:56 leading most of the race with a 20 minute handicap. He can easily race again during the winter and claim the spot. The guy reached his peak as far as ITU racing goes, but he has a long way to go in mid and long distance.
They should absolutely offer him a slot as the race would be better for it and they are a private org that can do whatever the fuck they want. I don’t think they will though.
Well he is a world champion who just validated, so that seems like a path perhaps? It would be a nice gesture to throw him a spot anyway, staying at the scene for so long and then running a winning run afterwards seems like extenuating circumstances…
Or they could just snub him and he snubs them back and we are all the less entertained for it. Really no winners in that scenario, but I give odds this is what indeed happens. Never underestimate the grudge power of WTC, unless the new leader has some real juice…
FWIW I was in the race and got lapped by MVR’s group (he was behind Chevalier) near the special needs area on the northeast side of the bike course. 5-7 miles later, while crossing the island, I did see an ambulance on the side of the road but can’t remember if it was near the one aid station on that section of the course. That was a fast section though, but not well manned by police and had rough sections of road, cat eye’s, and generally more debris than the rest of the course. I almost hit a pack of dogs right where he crashed a few days prior. Highly doubt there is footage of the crash, there’s not much on that part of the course.
That’s fine if you consider IMWC an “open invitational” event for pros, with all the pros (no pun intended) and cons. And yes, they can do whatever the hell they want.
My polemic with PTN was about Marten being owed a slot (which is what they implied: that he sort of did qualify). He ain’t.
I finally listened to the first part of the podcast and I tend to agree. He waited to make sure the bystander was helped and then (allegedly) was detained by outside officials while the race management tried to let him proceed to race. Then he finished the race with a strong effort.
That run split would suggest to Ironman that he still honored the race and ran competitively. So I feel a little differently about wondering if it was wise to run that marathon when he had no shot. I think running the marathon was sending a message to Ironman that he’s going to finish the race and not just DNF because of what happened, somewhat outside his control (the detention).
There’s some weird takes in this thread. In no way does he deserve to just get given a spot to the WC. He crashed his bike and injured someone. If its bad enough that the girl required a trip to the hospital and that police required a statement, while unfortunate, it’s on him to abide by local laws and wait.
I don’t think he finished the run to “send a message”, most likely he just kept chugging away in the hopes that one or more athletes up the road cracked and he’d get his spot.
Shit happens, and it’ll be up to him if he feels the need to try qualify at another race or if he’ll just focus solely on T100 next year.
Totally agree. Not sure why he is special and deserves special treatment?
Imagine if Knibb had a mechanical and stood on the road for 30 mins and lost her 15 min lead but finish the run 6th, does she deserve a slot too? Answer is no. Play by the rules and no one will complain
'Tis a bit tricky though, without adversely affecting his T100 campaign. Ditlev raced this last year (no swim) to snag a slot before a busy T100 season, as he wanted to race Roth as well, before a late October IMWC.
The IMWCQ window closes on 17 August. Frankfurt looks optimal with 5 weeks to recover before T100 London.
For MvR in 2025 the T100 and IM (decent money and broadcast) calendar is:
Has MVR talked about what his 2025 would look like? It will really come down to what he wants to target in 2025. T100 will get even more competitive, Geens already beat him in Vegas, and with other ITU guys likely focusing on T100, he is not going to cruise as easily to win the races as when he only had to beat the 70.3/IM guys. I could be wrong, but I don’t think he can target and win both i.e. T100 overall title and Nice.
ETA: kind of changing my mind about the IM slot, it will make sense for the sport if they give him a wild card. It will pay off in views whereas if they have him go to another IM event he might not even go.
There is a precedent for giving him a slot, they have given them to olympic medal winners and other 70.3 world champions. He is the newly crowned ITU long distance world champion, so I would say within that grouping of races they have previously allowed in…
And…unlike Laidlow who just refused to take a penalty - MVR did the right thing and with class (it would be easy to just say you needed to leave and be a baby about it) and raced with the complete Ironman mentality - overcoming and doing his best no matter the circumstances. Plus he’s engaging, funny - seems like a great dude - they would be smart to give him the slot in my view.
The HABS club of Triathlon just kills me, and why people on this board listen to them I just don’t get. Who said that? Mark? Perhaps he should get back to racing or back to Active Duty?
It’s great that van Riel stuck around and his performance shows he was in qualifying shape, but thems the breaks.