Slowman, in your article you mention Lieto, Macca, Wellington and yourself. At Wildflower I asked Joe Gambles if he was going to be doing it and he said “yes”. Can you confirm if the “Tasmanian Devil” will be there doing some damage to egos?
Dev
I’ve heard that there are a couple dozen spots or so, just that you have to pay about $1300 to enter. SO a lot of rich guys and perhaps a pro triathlete whose bike sponsor buys them an entry…I would hope after this weekend that Cervelo would enter Bjorn in the race. Imagine if he put 2 minutes into Leito there, he would probably be top 5…I can see the headline, “Viking slays Spartacus!!”" Come on Gerard, give us all something to get excited about…
bjorn has never won the swedish time trial championships. he has come 6th before (and i think maybe 11th?), but i don’t think he’d be able to beat cancellara, especially not over such a short distance.
I would also like to see Philip Graves in it and that would be quite cool. But yes, a top 10 placing for any of these guys would be very tough
I know it is not likely, but remember that Cancellera has to ride the queen stage the day before, about 140 miles with 14k of altitude climbing, and it will be his 6th day in a row of racing. And it is not that short, 22 miles is a good legit tt, not a prologue type of distance. I think that Bjorn would be the fastest triathlete we could send at this time, so it would just be fun to see what he could do…ANd I think it would be great for Graves to be there as well as Big Matty…Got to get their bike sponsors to pony up and make it a big show for us…
I know it is not likely, but remember that Cancellera has to ride the queen stage the day before, about 140 miles with 14k of altitude climbing, and it will be his 6th day in a row of racing. And it is not that short, 22 miles is a good legit tt, not a prologue type of distance. I think that Bjorn would be the fastest triathlete we could send at this time, so it would just be fun to see what he could do…ANd I think it would be great for Graves to be there as well as Big Matty…Got to get their bike sponsors to pony up and make it a big show for us…
Seriously monty?
The difference between a tired Cancellara and Bjorn… is still… HUGE.
It’s not a show for “us.” It’s a show for cycling.
It’s not a show for “us.” It’s a show for cycling.\
Are we not the fans of this race?? I love the race as a stand alone, but adding this little tt just makes it more interesting for triathletes… A long time ago I helpedorganize and race on a triathlete team in the then biggest stage race in CA, and it was way more interesting not only being a part of the team, but watching guys like Pigg, Zack, Souza Ricitelo, ect., race against some of the best, and hold their own…
I totally agree, I just don’t think it’s a priority for the people responsible for getting non pro roadies into the race.
That being said, I’m pumped to see Lieto put 2+ minutes on Macca.
Also (not to you directly Monty but as a general aside): in today’s interview with Macca I like how he is already coming up with excuses and throwing Lieto a little bit of smack as well by saying that he thinks Lieto is training for shorter stuff so this will be more in his wheel house. Pretty sure Lieto’s focus is Kona.
The difference between a tired Cancellara and Bjorn… is still… HUGE.\
Didn’t I start off saying it is not likley??? In any event, wouldn’t you want to know what that difference might be?? I sure would, and the comparison to the rest of the mortal field after Spartacus…
In the era of powermeters, you’d think people are more realistic about the chances of a top biker-triathlete over the good TT specialists and top bikers…
With swimming and running it has never been an issue. Time is time. In cycling, there was always ‘he rode 50min over 40km at this race’ etc…so you can think we’re closer to cyclists. But it’s just not the case. That power file that David Millar returned after his 18km TT in Belgium, at 470w should convince us…
Anyone wants to take a bet over Gebreselassie killing Javier Gomez in a 10km, even if Gebre ran a half marathon the day before? 
I couldn’t agree more with Monty! Not like I need any more reason to get excited about the TOC but that is going to be awesome. Adding Bjorn would be incredible also. We sit and speculate about it around the water coolers, how many opportunities are there to line them up like this. Can’t wait. I’d pay to throw Bjorn into the mix! Truth be told…my money is for Slowman to surprise everyone and win the day.
**The difference between a tired Cancellara and Bjorn… is still… HUGE. **
People like Bjorn, Lieto, Macca, Chrissie are not exactly sitting on their thumbs waiting for a 21KM TT in two weeks.
As much as the peloton will suffer in the days leading up to the TT, these ^^^^triathletes are also swimming, running and perhaps even racing other events.
I think in terms of fatigue, the peloton gets 12.5% of my sympathy. Everything else is equal.
That power file that David Millar returned after his 18km TT in Belgium, at 470w should convince us…
\
I admit i do not know a lot about power and all the smoothing out and so forth, but I believe when Bjorn set the record on the mountain here, he averaged 460 watts for 45 minutes…Does that tell us anything important???
Put Millar and Bjorn next to one another…
If Bjorn wants in and wears one of my Eclipse Pizza Company kits I would foot the bill for him.
It tells us that if we cut off one of Bjorn’s legs so that he weighs a buck 45, he might have a chance.
Wait…the leg…
Nevermind…
Besides, we have some distant evidence of how Bjorn stacks against pro cyclists…I believe he came 4th (or was that 9th?) in the Swiss TTs a few years ago…which puts him…oh…well…waaaaaay down the pecking order.
I think he was 3rd or 4th and had a flat change I believe. And the winner was no slouch either…(-;
I’d be shocked if a triathlete is top 25, maybe even 40. And whatever training/racing the triathlete competitors are doing prior to the race isn’t even comparable to what the pro cyclists will have done leading up to it.
To give some perspective, Lieto finished 19th at the Tour of Utah ITT when he was road racing a lot. And that was without any Pro Tour guys.
Yah Dave, that would be awesome.
You would need an eclipse pizza skin suit for that race :).