Ironman 70.3 world champs

joey100

So a serious field at the men's 70.3 world champs this year. Women's is pretty strong too but it's hard to look past Ryf in the form she has been in, anyone on the list able to match her? Maybe Haug or Fredriksen but even then I'd say it would need to be a good day for them and a bad day for Ryf.

Men's seems a lot more open, Gomez, Brownlee, Frodeno, Kanute, Currie and lots more. More suited towards Brownlee and Gomez than the longer established full distance athletes like Frondeo? When Brownlee goes well he really goes well but there doesn't seem to be an inbetween for him at this distance.

http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2018/08/2018-ironman-70.3-world-championship-pro-start-list.aspx#axzz5OLRnkk9u

mossym

isn;t brownlee still messed up with injury? didn't look too great at the glasgow race, run seems to be in big trouble, again

TriFirst

mossym wrote: »

isn;t brownlee still messed up with injury? didn't look too great at the glasgow race, run seems to be in big trouble, again

He finished 30 seconds behind the winner after coming out in the first bunch on the swim and leading most of the bike. Remember sprint distance is no longer his focus and he wouldnt be competing if he wasn't in with a shout. He had surgery on a longstanding hip injury.

mossym

good point, i didn't see the race but the reports i read afterwards talked about looking off the pace and not running naturally

as you say, sprints not his focus so i'd be more worried if he is not running right after his injury history than being off the pace.

joey100

He said after as well that it was right at the end of a block and he was feeling fatigued too. Not sure if that's an excuse or the truth. I think he's the type of athlete who will either blow them all away or blow up. Great line up though and even having him on the start line could change the way the race goes.

joey100

Anyone see any of this the weekend? Charles pushed Ryf more than I thought she would, but still relatively comfortable for her.

Mens race was good. I've heard 1.06 for the half for Frodeno, course short or accurate? He looked very strong for the whole race, I know Gomez got the stitch and that helped Frodeno pull away but still looked pretty convincing.

I can appreciate how good Brownlee is but I find it hard to warm to him really. He was full of excuses in the interview after, Frodeno slowed the swim, no one worked on the bike, has only been running for 3 weeks. I get that that's part of the mindset of being a champion but I just thought it didn't come across well, seemed to want to take away from Frodeno's win.

mossym

got up and watched the mens, missed the womens as was down in kenmare

cracking race. course was accurate from what i saw online, i think when frodo heard gomez behind him he pushed and never took the foot off, would be great if someone could push him like that in kona.

brownlee looked all over the place, obviously wanted something different to happen on the bike, then dropped off, then came flying back to the front, came out of T2 a few down then flew past them all, then looked like he blew up, but recovered and came flying back. i'm not sure he has this longer stuff fully figured out yet, pacing and fueling wise.

surprised at some of the performances, i thought Braydon Currie would be a lot stronger. seems to like hot races though so maybe saving for Kona?

TriFirst

joey100 wrote: »

Anyone see any of this the weekend? Charles pushed Ryf more than I thought she would, but still relatively comfortable for her.

Mens race was good. I've heard 1.06 for the half for Frodeno, course short or accurate? He looked very strong for the whole race, I know Gomez got the stitch and that helped Frodeno pull away but still looked pretty convincing.

I can appreciate how good Brownlee is but I find it hard to warm to him really. He was full of excuses in the interview after, Frodeno slowed the swim, no one worked on the bike, has only been running for 3 weeks. I get that that's part of the mindset of being a champion but I just thought it didn't come across well, seemed to want to take away from Frodeno's win.

I think Charles' performance was staggering considering this is her first time doing the 70.3 World championships and she's been beaten by Ryf an all time great. Charles swim was 90 secs slower than Frodeno and she has a strong bike too. If she can get some more pace on the run she'll be world champion.

As far as Alistair is concerned I think he's finding himself in an unusual position of not winning. I do think he has been hampered by injury but I also think he needs to believe he can win at these longer distances, even if that's not the case quite yet. Coming second to Frodeno who is already a legend at long course triathlon is no mean feat but I'd agree Brownlee comes across as not very personable, he's quietly aloof in person, business-like but not the friendliest.
I do think he will master the long course sooner rather than later.

Gomez's performance was interesting, was he really affected by the stitch on the run or did he just encounter the mind-blowing speed of Frodeno and fail to match up? Towards the later stages of the run Jan was putting in sub 3 Min kms which is ridiculous.

mossym

TriFirst wrote: »

.

Gomez's performance was interesting, was he really affected by the stitch on the run or did he just encounter the mind-blowing speed of Frodeno and fail to match up? Towards the later stages of the run Jan was putting in sub 3 Min kms which is ridiculous.

definitely a stitch, if he hadn't have stopped on the road i'd have wondered but there wasn't any doubt when he stopped, he was in pain

joey100

Thought Currie would go faster too, but them lads are putting it closer to Olympic distance than full distance at them speeds and paces. I only know 4 of the top 5 but all are top quality ITU racers so probably shows the speed needed now at half distance, even if it has been a while since Frodeno raced at that distance. He looks hugely motivated though, I think that was a real performance to let everyone know that even with Gomez and Brownlee on the way he's still the one to beat. Add Kienle, Lange and Sanders into the mix for Kona and then add Wurf who can change the bike leg and it looks like it could be a great race.

mossym

Strongly suspect Sanders won't even be close this year, agree with comments he has focused too much on weight and looks to have lost some strength.

Lange could be interesting, beaten at Frankfurt on the run by 8 minutes, but should be stronger at Kona.

I've rooted for seb for the last few years, but something about this year makes me think a top 5 would be a great result for him.

Still going with my gut that BC will have a big race.

TriFirst

mossym wrote: »

Strongly suspect Sanders won't even be close this year, agree with comments he has focused too much on weight and looks to have lost some strength.

Lange could be interesting, beaten at Frankfurt on the run by 8 minutes, but should be stronger at Kona.

I've rooted for seb for the last few years, but something about this year makes me think a top 5 would be a great result for him.

Still going with my gut that BC will have a big race.

I think Seb lacks a real killer instinct to make him number one. I think sanders has done a remarkable job to do what he has done so far in the sport without a coach, but he's in danger of over analysing himself out of being competitive. If you watch his videos he talks constantly of tweaking every little thing and pushing his body to the limits. he says he relishes defeat because uit basically gives him a focus, victory apparently doesnt afford him the same opportunity..!! Im not saying he doesnt want to win but he's obsessed with the process of analysis. he cut weight recently because he thought he was too muscular compared with the other guys and thus was giving them an advantage. So then he leaves himself running on empty with no glycogen reserves in the run up to a 70.3 which is daft, he should know better than that. He was on the money last year at Kona, but since then he's been trying to change to many variables constantly. I think if Kona doesnt go well for him , he needs to think about getting a coach to save him from himself.

PWEI

I'm really starting to dislike Alistair Brownlee who is not very gracious when he doesn't win.
He never gives credit to those who finish ahead of him & normally just gives excuses.
Compare his post race interview to Gomez who said regardless of the problems he had on the run, Frodeno was the best.
It was the same at the Europeans last month, just full of excuses when he didn't get a medal.

Izoard

PWEI wrote: »

I'm really starting to dislike Alistair Brownlee who is not very gracious when he doesn't win.
He never gives credit to those who finish ahead of him & normally just gives excuses.
Compare his post race interview to Gomez who said regardless of the problems he had on the run, Frodeno was the best.
It was the same at the Europeans last month, just full of excuses when he didn't get a medal.

To be fair to him, Frodeno was also critical of the other contenders who did nothing on the bike...he said that AB and himself did all the work.

https://www.facebook.com/IRONMANtri/videos/vb.63559965550/1857640444327149/?type=2&theater