That’s going to be one messy trisuit by the end of the race. 
It’s hard to tell where the back of the scoop is because of the towel, but from this angle it looks like might be fine?
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'Fraid not, Ben. The quote is from the ‘interpretation’ document whereas the actual rule is below.
IM Competition Rules
5.01 (m) Except as set forth below in Section 5.02(b) [helmet], additional equipment that is deemed to have the effect of reducing wind resistance, as determined by the Head Referee, is prohibited during the bike segment of the Race (whether such equipment is worn under the athlete’s clothing, over the athlete’s clothing, or is otherwise attached to the athlete’s body or the athlete’s bike). This includes, but is not limited to, (i) any bottles/hydration or any other insert located in the front of an athlete’s race suit (DSQ)
I note that this rule says “front”. The Pro’s GPS device is required to be worn on the back.
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Here’s a better angle. He probably can just move the whole bottle forward a few inches and be fine though.
With that bottle size it certainly does seem to be illegal, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the bikes look like on course in San Fran this weekend.
Well I guess young Jamie will know he has hit the big time now that he is the center of a " 'Twitch Hunt ". 
Right, but you can’t really see where the “lowest edge of the arm support” is, and that’s where the measurement is taken, not from the elbow (that’s only when there’s no arm support):
When measured from the lowest edge of the arm support (if none exists, the lowest edge of the athlete’s elbow in the rider’s intended aero position) […]
So I think this one might be fine because the end of the bottle is in front of the back edge of the arm scoop (assuming it’s under the towel where the second line is).
Anyway, I think you’re right that if it’s not within spec it should be an easy fix.
Note that the interpretation document specifies the datum point as:
“the lowest edge of the arm support (if none exists, the lowest edge of the athlete’s elbow in the rider’s intended aero position),”
NOT the “back edge”. (Because otherwise one could circumvent this restriction bay having a massive ‘scoop’ extension on the arm rests.)
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Lol, I don’t fault him. This was likely just his default position.
I only bring it up because the mid-season change and lack of communication about how/when/where it applies is terrible practice. All the parties should be working this out now behind the scenes, and then together make an announcement about 2026 once they’ve worked out the kinks.
Instead we get promo videos and emails showing pro athletes clearly in the wrong position about new rules which aren’t yet uniformly enforced.
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You’re totally right, I was assuming the lowest edge was at the back here.
Anyway, now that we are (or I am… ) combing through promo videos for rule violations here’s Kate Waugh’s setup. Its hard to tell from the angle where the bottle starts relative to the arm cups, but the 1L bottle makes it easy.
I don’t believe she’s compliant either. This is going to be a fun weekend for the refs 
You can still get around it by having a false extension on the back of the bars that goes nearly horizontal. Then just tell the officials that your “intended aero position” is with your elbows off the back.
An even easier workaround, by the exact letter or the rule, is to show your “intended aero position” with you elbows hanging off the back of your bars, almost like the Obree Praying Mantis.
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For an amateur passing the bike check maybe it might work, but you wouldn’t want to risk this as a pro who has many more eyeballs on them during the race. If you spend most of the race with daylight between the arms and bottle it’s easy to spot. If not by a moto, then on video where another competitor can lodge a protest. Isn’t the penalty an auto DQ?
Mark Matthews was saying that if Laura Phillip came to Hamburg with both an internal bladder and a BTS setup, he’d lodge a protest - not likely specifically against Laura but against the absurdity of the rules and how unclear they are and to force the ref’s hand.
That’s exactly why it’s such a problem. There’s no definition of “intended aero position”. What if a rider truly has their elbows off the back of their pads and uses the back of their elbows as the datum (like below) - are they ever allowed to move their arms forward? If their elbows cross the invisible line 250mm in front of their bottle for 1 second will they be DQ’d? What about 1 minute, 1 hour, the entire race?
You can conceivably set something up that passes by the exact letter of the rule, but then be DQ’d because an official chooses to interpret the rule differently.
It’s not the responsibility of the athlete to determine the intent of the rule. It’s the responsibility of the rulemaker to write rules that accurately constrain equipment/behavior in an unambiguous way.
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Or make the elbow pad longer ?
Then if we’re looking for something more objective, the better place to measure from is the point at which the front wheel pivots vs the top tube.
Even here there might be some gamesmanship - Felt could clearly make the cutout further back should they choose, but at least its an objective point from which to measure
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The ref (DTU) charged with scrutiny and enforcement will tell him Philipp’s Canyon is ‘fine’. No hand will be forced.
From the interpretation doc:
Mounted in the bicycle frame: Bottles attached to the inside of the bicycle frame or inside the bike frame itself (internal bladder) are excluded from the maximum volume capacity limits.
Internal bladders are fine in the frame generally: the only exception is at the REAR: an integrated rear hydration aero wing (e.g. Shiv) can be of any size (ie not restricted to 30x30) (forward of the rear axle) however no bottles BTS will be allowed.
Datum points:
When measured from the lowest edge of the arm support . . . all attached objects on the handlebars or the clip-ons (bottles, holders, containers, etc.) must be . . .
The top surface of LCB’s ‘Torpedo’ is less <200mm above datum and its rear end is well less than 250mm to the rear of datum.
Yes, that is ONE of the datums (?data?) called out in the rules. But remember exactly what it says:
“If none exists” is doing a lot of work. I’m not entirely sure how any material thing can exist without having a lowest edge. That aside, the language suggests that it’s an “or” statement—The lowest edge OR the athlete’s elbow, whichever is lower.
The critical measurement in terms of aero is the 250mm rearward. We should expect all but the shortest athletes to have their bottles at/near the back top corner of this box. It’s wild that the critical point of measurement for this box is defined in two ways, one of which seems like it could be easily exploited.
I am one to push the rules. It’s going to be trivially easy to move my aero bars rearward to their legal/physical limit and test the aero inside of the new rule framework. Under the old rules long reach was the way. I’m curious if under the new rules the benefit of moving a big bottle back towards the stomach outweighs moving arms back. Wouldn’t be much more uncomfortable than current setups.
I think “if none exists” means “if no arm support exists,” not “if no edge exists.” In other words, if you don’t have arm pads, then the measurement is taken from the lowest edge of the elbow.