Yeah on the TTL podcast this week she all but said she’s doing at least one full next year. I think she’s gonna pass on the T100 contract and focus on IM brand events. I think at her age it’s now or never and she has an itch to do Kona even though the heat is not normally kind to her.
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Racing an Ironman next year is compatible with T100 race schedule, and there was chat about IMLP (20 July). That would mean a miss on T100 London (and Findlay missed that this year fwiw). Any other IM is problematic.
I didn’t sense a big ’ I’d like to do Kona’ vibe.
If IMLP was successful, preparing sensibly for Kona (11 October, H&H) means an Ibiza miss, and LLV a fortnight later would be ‘challenged’: we saw the post IMWC Nice carnage (DNSs) this year.
Assume there’ll be more races to count in T100 2025 so misses more than 2 (say) will cost, no discards.
Also, on that pod, Findlay outlined the design differences in the 2025 T100 contract (cf 2024), to incentivise participation (which another has described as ‘coersion’) - it’s a contract!
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In the fun intersection of what my wife does for a living and triathlon…too much control exerted by T100 and their athletes are no longer independent contractors, they are employees. Which in a long way could see athletes form the exact kind of union that the PTO was supposed to be.
That’d be mildly amusing…
…anyways. I do think you’ll see roughly 3-4 names come over from WTCS to T100, with some of your existing middle / long course guard transitioning over to IM Pro Series and focusing there, much like Lange did.
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Matthews had not yet received her T100 contract when interviewed for the Triathlete magazine article… so maybe she also had a change of heart given the supposed revised financial distribution of the T100 contracts for 2025.
That Triathlete article was ‘ages’ ago ?late November. I doubt the payment structure of the contract which Findlay shared yesterday on the joint TTL/PTN podcast will have been a significant factor.
From what Findlay said, it sounds as if it’s designed to reward athletes who race at least the number of races contracted and also to pay more than it did for 2024: Findlay said ‘potentially double’ so base contract plus 7 races’ worth of position prizes plus final tour bonus.
Both Findlay and Matthews raced per contract as did 17 (of 20) men. But only half the women’s field did, for various reasons.
I have suggested upthread that Ironman are deploying ‘resources’ to encourage those athletes who are in line for a T100 contract and are full distance capable to race the IM Pro Series rather than T100. In the frame:
Laidlow, Ditlev, Long, RvB, Philipp, Haug, LCB, Matthews, Knibb (even), Sanders (even), Lee
I don’t think Findlay falls into that category, though if she raced an IM and KQd and raced the IMWC she’d be some way there (two IMs and 3 70.3s). This year she’ll score 7400 IM Pro Series points, with her two wins (St George and MT) and tomorrow. Add to that two good IMs and she’d be on 17500 points: which would’ve got her #4 in the IM Pro Series this year. Findlay and Hering between them carry the two flags of/for North American (tri) women: vital ground for Ironman.
The other issue for the few who want to really prioritise the IMWC (Nice or Kona, but particularly Kona given the time to prepare for that environment) is that committing to that many T100s is too onerous. The women will have to miss Ibiza and LLV so soon after is likely a miss too, and that’s your two dropped. So every other T100 would have to be raced, ready or not, with a IMWCQ IM to be slotted in somewhere.
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She also mentioned it in the cross-over podcast with PTN. Very interesting and happy for her. Not necessarily because ‘full distance is the right distance’ BS, but because the full IM really requires motivation. And you can hear it in the episode that she might really fancy an IM.
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Absolutely unless one knows the sponsorship agreements it’s very hard to know what works best for an athlete.
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I’m an independent contractor and no, I don’t get paid for services not performed 
It makes sense that if you promise to race somewhere for money, you can’t screw your client and not race and keep the money like a few have done this season. It doesn’t make you an employee.
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Sure. But there do exist specific control tests with regard to employee vs contractor classification.
Kelly had written kinda extensively about this when the PTO was known as the PTU and was talking about being a union…which it couldn’t be. If anything, the scale has tipped further towards “contractors” being improperly classified. But most of those posts have been tossed into the ether as we killed off our independent site a couple years ago.
If the athletes don’t like the contract then they shouldn’t sign, but they also shouldnt be first in line for wildcards or PTO will be biting themselves in the foot for their year long narrative. If enough choose not to sign, or just to turn up, they may decide to go back to the old system, no contracts, slightly bigger fields and much bigger individual event prize money. If the prize money to race is considerably higher then the athletes will prioritise that race. I hate the just turn up (some didn’t even need to race) to fulfill the contract requirements to get their big $$.
Agree. But I think managing the whole wildcard bit will be real difficult. The PTO will still be keen to get any athlete in the top 10 racing T100s, even if they prefer not to commit to 7 races. Otherwise the PTO will need to reach down the pile for athletes who are mostly just making up the numbers and add little to the race spectacle.
Your theme of going for the performance theme (with the addition of a Tour bonus to be raced for with, say, 6 scores to count) might achieve success (and as alluded to by Findlay) the contract is designed along those lines anyway.
Those athletes who did not satisfy their contracts (?8 women) will receive well less than the contract would’ve paid (less than half, so <$60k). The % of ‘just turn ups’ was very low, mostly injury related.
@marcag Findlay said on the joint TTL/PTN podcast that signatures had been requested by “15 December” (assume CoB in UK).
Findlay gives her take on the T100 contract; @19:37 and insight on the contract design: remuneration back loaded (to encourage athletes to actually completing the tour) [5 minutes]
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It will be interesting to see how T100 announces it.
For a while I have been predicting some of the big names in IM racing will turn it down.
Will they announce, say 8 of the 10, or do they wait until they have 10, or do they wait until they have the whole thing figured out ?
Not that I am saying this will happen but if Philip and Matthews says no, they ask Spivey and LCB, LCB says no, so they ask Haug and Jewett, who say no, they probably go to 16 to fill the top 10.
The top 10 have been offered ‘gold’ contracts to sign. (Drawing on Findlay’s overview) the contracts are written with less money ‘up front’ and more per race and final bonus depending on final standing. And counting more scores for that to reward athletes who come to race as opposed to turning up. She suggested that actually the amount there for a committed athlete was greater than in 2024.
No more ‘gold’ contracts will be offered. The number which don’t sign will be added to the “11-16” set and those contracts will go out this week. That’s why the PTO want athletes to sign by Sunday. Some of the ‘hot shot’ contracts will also go out this week (based on exploratory activity).
I do not think the progress of successfully signed contract numbers will be shared: this is ‘commercial in confidence’.
Some have suggested that IRONMAN have generated some competitive juices, as one might expect from a racing organisation.
PTO is absolutley right to do this. They rely less on the big name IM folks. They couldn’t afford to be too demanding last year. This year they can.
We will see the consequence. I am curious to see if ANY of the big name IMers (Magnus, Laidlow, Haug, Philipp,…) will sign. I suspect not. 0 is my guess.
The one that interests me the most is LCB. On one hand I can’t see her signing, on the other, she was the ‘big thing’ at the start of the 2024 campaign.
Love’em or hate’em PTO has shook up pro racing in 2024
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At the same time if they lose to much 2024 it’s not going to help them either
A shake up is one thing repeating the shake up another thing
So it’s a bit complicated I understand what they are doing
At the same time the more races the more challenging it gets to do the series and the ironman champs and the ironman champs rule. So if you want some big names you have to take this into account
I agree. I guess if we talk “big names”, what is a bigger name ? Cassandra Beaugrand or Laura Phillip.
I know Cassandra isn’t a candidate here. But I think AGers associate IM stars to being the big names. Maybe that will change ?
I do think the IM stars will be far far fewer moving forward. They probably can’t compete for the win and it costs them on their chance to win IMWC.
Agree on 0 full distance specialists signing T100 contracts next year.
Truly no idea what LCB is going to do. I’d guess she would like to but with it being a Kona year I think I’m leaning towards her giving that 100% focus, but we’ll probably have a pretty good idea later today then T100 releases her walk and talk from Dubai with Jan.
Do you think Trevor Foley would sign a contract?
Since I woke up way too early I’ll throw out these names as my guess at the 2025 lineup though I’m sure there are many selection errors @Ajax_Bay can point out.
- Marten Van Riel
- Kyle Smith
- Rico Bogen
- Sam Long
- Mathis Margirier
- Pieter Heemeryck
- Youri Kuelen
- Frederick Funk
- Mika Noodt
- Gregory Barnaby
- Nicolas Mann
- Justus Niechslag
- Menno Koolhaas
- Jelle Geens
- Hayden Wilde
- Vincent Luis
- Panagiotis Bitados
- Leo Bergere
- Max Stapley
- Casper Stornes
–
- Taylor Knibb
- Ashleigh Gentle
- Julie Derron
- Flora Duffy
- Lucy Byram
- India Lee
- Imogen Simmonds
- Taylor Spivey
- Lucy Charles Barclay
- Emma Pallant-Browne
- Kaidi Kivioja
- Caroline Pohle
- Els Visser
- Marta Sanchez
- Taylor Spivey
- Laura Madsen
- Ellie Salthouse
- Lotte Wilms
- Georgia Taylor Brown
- Grace Thek
I doubt it. (I have 0 inside info on this).
Cool fact on Trevor. He is now a Jeep owner. Says a lot about a person.
He could have had an incredible Kona this year.
I would not be surprised if Sam, LCB and Taylor don’t make the list.
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Sam and LCB turning down T100 wouldn’t surprise me at all. If it was a Kona year for the men I’d say almost certainly that Sam would say no, but I don’t think Nice suits him as well.
Taylor turning them down would shock me.