Kona 2013 winners

tunney

Don't research, just answer. Trying to get an idea of the numbers who actually follow the pro aspect

BTH

tunney wrote: »

Don't research, just answer. Trying to get an idea of the numbers who actually follow the pro aspect

Third time lucky, hey Tunney.

PWEI

Is Vanhoenacker out of this years Kona also?

Fazz

PWEI wrote: »

Is Vanhoenacker out of this years Kona also?

No he's in.

Only notable name not racing is Dirk Bockel and Andreas Raelert.
Thought i read somewhere that Raelert was in due to a last min change but that may have been Schildnecht.
Not certain if Raelert is in or out.


http://firstoffthebike.com/news-and-features/kona-2014-qualifiers-announced-updated-start-list/

pgibbo

After blowing in the run last weekend or the weekend before Raelart said it would be pointless going to Kona

mossym

well were the results what you expected or a surprise?

I'll be honest, while i know who have won the last few, last years was the first time i sat down and watched the coverage live.

will be doing it again this year though. gibbo will start his prediction thread soon and that will be the build up...might even put it up on the big screen this year

tunney

Bit higher than expected, but still 50% of those polled have zero interest in pros. Extrapolate out to races, 50% don't really give a sh1t and aren't arsed about pro prize purses and "making it better" for pros and elites.

mossym

tunney wrote: »

Bit higher than expected, but still 50% of those polled have zero interest in pros. Extrapolate out to races, 50% don't really give a sh1t and aren't arsed about pro prize purses and "making it better" for pros and elites.

i'd say that's even conservative. the cross section here are interesed enough in the sport to spend a lot of non training/racing time talking about it. walk down a line of racers in t1 and i'd be surprised how many knew off the top of their head.


plus you'll have those that googled it before answering..:)

sconhome

mossym wrote: »

plus you'll have those that googled it before answering..:)

Not to mention those who missed all the #DaretoWin #BeaChampion blurb associated with a certain product and made a complete shambles of remembering who the world champion is!!

tunney

AKW wrote: »

Not to mention those who missed all the #DaretoWin #BeaChampion blurb associated with a certain product and made a complete shambles of remembering who the world champion is!!

Ah not everyone can be expected to rebroadcast everything, this day and age we need to limit the pace of life. Sometimes things can just be too hard to lock onto.

Chartsengrafs

tunney wrote: »

Bit higher than expected, but still 50% of those polled have zero interest in pros. Extrapolate out to races, 50% don't really give a sh1t and aren't arsed about pro prize purses and "making it better" for pros and elites.

No different to athletics / running / jogging / whatever you want to call it. Very little awareness of those at the pinacle of the sport.

desertcircus

Basster wrote: »

No different to athletics / running / jogging / whatever you want to call it. Very little awareness of those at the pinacle of the sport.

Most of the factors that produce a high level of interest in the top tier of a sport - regional teams, mainstream coverage, regular events for spectators to attend locally - aren't present for triathlon. That said, tennis, golf and cycling do pretty well without regional teams and with a worldwide list of venues, so it should be possible. It may simply be because there's not a huge amount of drama in watching an eight-hour race with few obvious indicators of whether a competitor has gained or lost an advantage. You can see a birdie on a difficult hole, or a get-out-of-jail backhand shot, or a sudden attack on a climb, but is there anything that compares for Kona and can occur at any point in the race?

Chartsengrafs

True enough. I never said an eight hour triathlon is entertaining to watch
I watched a chunk of Kona this year but just found it quite dull. Whereas there's few things I enjoy more than watching one of the cycling spring classics (or the last few hours) with a pot of tea, post-sunday spin.

Edit: It's worth pointing out that IM isn't the sole source of preofessionals in triathlon. Kona is far more obscure than the ITU / WTS type stuff and I'd hazard that people are more familar with the olympic-distance end of things. I know I am anyway.

peter kern

id like to point out its more than 50 interested in the pros since i think i voted for chris mc cormack who i his mind has won kona 15en times and still wins ;-)
at the same time less than 50 % of atheltes in kona use a power meter if you know what i mean ;-) ie its seems to be even more irrelevant. ;-)

Ceepo

peter kern wrote: »

id like to point out its more than 50 interested in the pros since i think i voted for chris mc cormack who i his mind has won kona 15en times and still wins ;-)
at the same time less than 50 % of atheltes in kona use a power meter if you know what i mean ;-) ie its seems to be even more irrelevant. ;-)

Also interesting to see Ryf wearing a road helmet and still put in that bike split.

Shedite27

Ceepo wrote: »

Also interesting to see Ryf wearing a road helmet and still put in that bike split.

Saw that alright. I'd say there's a few companies that weren't too happy with that. Suddenly all those fancy expensive UFO helments look a lot less important