ITU World Series 2016

shotgunmcos

So may triathletes on the forum but little interest in the top end of the sport?

Who got the season pass? Super value for €20 IMO. I have to pay 5 times that to follow my NFL team.

Any bold predictions for Rio? Podium M/W and how will the Irish fair?

Abu Dhabi today. The men just done. 17th for Bryan Keane which was a good result. Lots of athletes gunning for Rio spots.

Women on in about an hour. Interesting battle between Helen Jenkins and Jodie Stimpson for the 3rd Rio spot. I assume Vicki Holland and Non Stanford are already in?

EC1000

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Who got the season pass? Super value for €20 IMO. I have to pay 5 times that to follow my NFL team.

Didn't get the season pass yet as so far it's free on the BBC! Great men's race this morning with Mola building a lead before serving his penalty and pulling away again. Different class to the other runners today.

iAcesHigh

bought and enjoyed the first race. Great pull by Mola, class run as expected... Unfortunately, that mass fall at the end of cycle probably ruined a bit finishing run but lets hope I'm wrong

shotgunmcos

Yeah that crash blew it wide open although you would have expected the brits to be up there. Other highlights. Ashleigh Gentle. Swoon. The bike camera focusing on Tomlins em 'running form' for all of 10 secs

RacoonQueen

I resented paying €20 for it this year as I always get it with the code. With the time difference I always miss half the races so always resent that :P I don't have the discipline to not look up the results and watch a recording.
What a race by Mola - loved how he came out of the penalty box, caught the lads...ran with them for a minute then thought ''screw this" and moves off

Missed the ladies race.

shotgunmcos

So yokohama last night. It's an Olympic year. No threads. No discussion. I've tried. Tumbleweed as Kurt put it...

Later peeps

RacoonQueen

shotgunmcos wrote: »

So yokohama last night. It's an Olympic year. No threads. No discussion. I've tried. Tumbleweed as Kurt put it...

Later peeps

Was just thinking that last night. Haven't watched Yokohama yet though!

BTH

Delighted to see Keane qualify for Rio, seems to have been plugging away for a long time now and was unlucky with injury to miss out on a shot at London.

That said I didn't and won't watch this mornings race. Being an armchair fan is far too time consuming, I've always been more interested in taking part than watching the pros in any sport.

68 lost souls

BTH wrote: »

Delighted to see Keane qualify for Rio, seems to have been plugging away for a long time now and was unlucky with injury to miss out on a shot at London.

That said I didn't and won't watch this mornings race. Being an armchair fan is far too time consuming, I've always been more interested in taking part than watching the pros in any sport.

Congrats to Keane, I've the series link setup to watch the televised races but they area it delayed so watch them a few days after the events

catweazle

The Olympics ruin the WTS - not a sign of Gomez yet, Jenkins has disappeared into the long grass since qualifying, everyone peaking at different times depending on their qualifying event

bryangiggsy

Has Aileen Reid been injured ? 48th at the weekend.

RacoonQueen

bryangiggsy wrote: »

Has Aileen Reid been injured ? 48th at the weekend.

She's been ill

peter kern

catweazle wrote: »

The Olympics ruin the WTS - not a sign of Gomez yet, Jenkins has disappeared into the long grass since qualifying, everyone peaking at different times depending on their qualifying event

I think what is more suprsing that not more people that are not likely to medal at oly games dont seem to go for a top Wts placing
only really flora duffy seems to give it real shot and i guess has a good chance to make the wts podium. I guess she is the most agressive racer in the females and its a joy to watch depsite the fact that she has no chance of a medal in rio my mind ( but defo top 5- 8 potential ) but i guess if somebody would deserve a medal it would be her.
mola I think does the right thing too as there almost only 2 options for him Gold or not even top 5 in rio the brownlees vargas blumefeld gomez kanute etc will push that swim and bike and while i think gomes is the stongest runner i dodnt think he will be in contention of the bike ( at the same time he has improved his swim and has an outside chance to be in a decent postion and the best way to improve his swim chances is to race frequently)

I also think bryan keane can be very proud to qualify, i mean even almost 2 years after his accident he was still not quite right . and he did not give up. Respect for that.

joey100

Who are your tips to win Peter?

I'd like to see Mola do well but like yourself I think the top lads will drive the swim and bike to keep away from him. Some of Mola's chances could depend on Richard Murray too, if he's back fully fit he might be able to help the chase pack catch or at least pull close to the front group. Few of the interviews I've seen they have said the hill in Rio isn't as bad as it was made out to be, mentioned it being a little too short to really split the group. Lot of the top lads from last season seem to be sitting out the early season races, Vincent Luis showed towards the end of last season that he is getting better at the Olympic distance too so might be another contender than the Brownlees and Gomez.

Hard to look past Jorgenson in the women's. Her swim is more than likely good enough to get her into the front group and will probably hang on in that group until the run. Stanford and Spirig both need good swims to get out in that top group and not let the front group get too far away. Would like to see Duffy do well, she likes to go for it on the bike and her run seems to have taken a bit of a jump this season.

68 lost souls

I'd like to see Duffy do well in the women's after our very own of course.

Men's I can't make my mind up about the Brownlees don't seem there's elves in the last few races I've seen but maybe aiming to peak at Rio. Mola could be a good shout. Again hoping Keane has a good showing.

shotgunmcos

In an ideal scenario Duffy makes an eyeballs out break and Spirig and bolts after her, also breaking. There will be breaks to try and shake GJ but Spirig is not going to drag the lot of them with her and the brits will have the gas to cover everything. Its going to be cat n mouse stuff.

I too would love to see Duffy get a just reward for racing as she has done. Hard to see her hanging on though.

Gold Gwen Jorgenson
Silver Non Stanford
Bronze Helen Jenkins

On the Mens the form is all Spanish even without Gomez around. I'm not sure the Brownlees will have it their way but they are so aggressive on the bike its hard to discount them. If Murray could just hit the front pack early. As mentioned earlier. Vincent Louis is a contender too.

Surely Mola can make up a few seconds on the swim between now and then. I think there will be enough gas in a chase group to pull him into T2 with a shot though he may still have some ground to make up on the run.

I actually think a breakaway bike will play into Gomez's hands

Gold Javier Gomez
Silver Johnny Brownlee
Bronze Mario Mola

catweazle

Mens race will be very interesting -

Mens - I expect Brownlees friend Varga will take off like a rocket, and the two Brownlees and Gomez will try and hang on and then try and put more time into Mola on the bike. I think he will have to much to do to get into medal contention

Podium: No clue on position but I think the two Brownlees and Gomez will fill them

Womens - I think Jorgenson has a better chance than Mola at taking the gold home. She will be in or near the front pack coming out of the water. Jenkins has the best chance of denying her if she can get a break on the bike like she did a few weeks ago. Jenkins really needs Routier to take it out full bore in the swim, she is the best swimmer of the top contenders. Gwen has the added safety net of Spirig on the bike who if she misses the front pack might drag her back in to contention

Podium: Gwen, Jenkins, Stanford

peter kern

8 years ago everybody would have thought the gold medal would be fought out between snowshill and fernades , and i think nobody in their right frame of mind would have made an prediciton who wins. than around this time of the year fernadez had a bad race in galicia and never really recovered. a coupble of weeks before the olys i bet 40 euro on snoshill...but I would certainly not have done it 4 month before the race .
so what iam saying is a lot can happen and historcally often the gold winner was not the real favorite , frodeno , alan , EPO brigit,whitefield etc etc .

bryangiggsy

Am calling it here first. Jorgensen like so many other times will not make the front group on the bike.. Will be Just like London (her chasing). The second group wont be able to do the work on the bike just like London and Im predicting this again will be a group of 10-12..with Spirig and Duffy driving on the front. ...Jenkins...groffy , Stanford and Holland will be in that group on the bike along with 4 or 5 others. I believe Stanford will win gold, Jenkins silver...with a sprint finish for bronze. My sleeper is Andrea Hewitt. I expect a huge race from her after the 12 mths she has had.

joey100

Would Gwen's swim not be as good or better than Stanfords though? Stanford is usually a bit like Mola, trying to catch front group on the bike and then run through. Forgot about Hewitt, showing some good form too and always seems to be around a podium position when she races.

bryangiggsy

joey100 wrote: »

Would Gwen's swim not be as good or better than Stanfords though? Stanford is usually a bit like Mola, trying to catch front group on the bike and then run through. Forgot about Hewitt, showing some good form too and always seems to be around a podium position when she races.

You may be right there ... I thought she was a front pack biker. ... I'm thinking the pressure on Jorge sen will be immense and I really think she will crack. I believe all the medals will come from the front bike pack.

bopperr

Jorgensen just has to stay on the bike to win gold. Her swim has improved massively from 4 years ago.

The brownlees (and friends...Varga) will absolutely hammer the swim to drop Mola as he is a massive threat. Murray was the threat in London and his race was over after 750m then. I'll expect similar tactics.

I'll go

Ali Brownlee
Gomez
Some outsider

joey100

Australia have announced their teams for the Olympics. Bailie, Fisher and Aaron Royle for the mens and Moffat, Densham and Gentle for the Women's. Two good teams and alot of good athletes missed out. Have to feel sorry for Birthwhistle, had a good showing at Yokohama and won a French Grand Prix at the weekend beating J Brownlee and Gomez (I know it's not a race that counts towards qualifying but does show signs of good form). Can't have been an easy job for Selectors, a lot who missed out could have got onto most other teams.

pgibbo

There always seems to be controversy/questions around the Australia selection process.

What's the story in the UK. When is the Benson/Bishop decision being made? For some reason I thought Benson had secured his Olympic spot by winning in Baku last year. Did something change there?

mossym

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Other highlights. Ashleigh Gentle. Swoon.

be watching the olympics this year so Mike?rooting for australia?

peter kern

uk was top 3 in rio and grand final ( benson gained a spot at europeans for uk but that dosnt mean he got it ) .

i guess if you win a medal at oly games you get a bonus for the next, but 33,34 and 35 th place in the last 3 wts races and one 6th place in a sprint Wts...

...when the other athlete has a 5 th and 6 over oly distance in wts this year. I am sure thats going legal as so many times in oz . ( but it has been more than a year since i read the oz quali criteria so i dont rember what they had but i think they had top 8 results.)
but to be fair densham was in a similar situation 4 years ago. and that she is a top runner when fit is a fact.
tough descisons.

joey100

American women's team confirmed. Jorgenson, True and Zaferes. Them and the UK would have the strongest team going. Some athletes early enough in their career didn't make the American team but if Cook and tomlin keep working hard we might see more american clean sweeps.

catweazle

joey100 wrote: »

American women's team confirmed. Jorgenson, True and Zaferes. Them and the UK would have the strongest team going. Some athletes early enough in their career didn't make the American team but if Cook and tomlin keep working hard we might see more american clean sweeps.

They took their time with Zaferes - bet they were trying to coax Sarah McClarty out of retirement to guide Gwen on to the run - unless True and Zeferes form improves, I find it hard to see them beating any of the three brits.

Its impossible to make the case for Lucy Hall again but a real high end swimmer and biker would do Jenkins no harm either

joey100

I think the first 2 women's slots on the British squad where taken by athelets who met the criteria. Non Stanford and Vicky Holland both met the criteria so I'm not sure the selectors would have the freedom to pick a domestique for Jenkins.

peter kern

catweazle wrote: »

They took their time with Zaferes - bet they were trying to coax Sarah McClarty out of retirement to guide Gwen on to the run
that would not be possilbe as you have to be top 140 in oly ranking.
intersingly they had haskins in the top 140 last year but she did not race this and is also not top 140.
I am all for domestiques if you dont have another ahtlete in the top 20 in the world as third person ,at the end federations get money for medals. but if you have a top 8 athlete in the world ( or in the case of uk males 2 athletes in top 12 in 2012 i think . using a domestique is a bit of a shame.as the best athletes in the world should race.

catweazle

Yeah they qualified last year which I think is crazy but I suppose the athletes like the certainty and can peak solely for the big day. They might be regretting that yet unless Holland shows a big improvement on her last outing

Gomez cant even win the WTS now as he wont have the quota of races completed :eek:

joey100

English teams announced yesterday. Stanford, Jenkins and Holland for the women, Two Brownlees and Gordon Benson for the men. Two strong teams. Last few ITU races have nearly been an audition for the men to take the support role with them pushing the bike legs.

Sutton has come out and said too that the american team should have used a domestique for Jorgenson and that by not doing that they are giving the gold medal to the UK. Hard to know, didn't look like they had anyone good enough to take on the role and each of the 3 they have taken would have a podium chance. Jorgenson has been nearly unbeatable the last 2 years and hasn't used one, even though she has raced Jenkins very little in that time.

mossym

think sutton may be playing same games as alex ferguson used play. distract attention from his own by getting everyone focused on the others. pretty sure he'd love to have his "champ" spirig win

peter kern

joey100 wrote: »

English teams announced yesterday. Stanford, Jenkins and Holland for the women, Two Brownlees and Gordon Benson for the men. Two strong teams. Last few ITU races have nearly been an audition for the men to take the support role with them pushing the bike legs.

Sutton has come out and said too that the american team should have used a domestique for Jorgenson and that by not doing that they are giving the gold medal to the UK. Hard to know, didn't look like they had anyone good enough to take on the role and each of the 3 they have taken would have a podium chance. Jorgenson has been nearly unbeatable the last 2 years and hasn't used one, even though she has raced Jenkins very little in that time.

gordon benson is the best choice ,at 22 already european champ at senior level and the future for uk. Still the best thing they did was getting vargas to leeds who is kind of the best domestique in the world.

joey100

Did Benson win Baku last year too? Think that was originally on the qualification list for the UK but they changed it. Didn't realise he was only 22 as well, anything I've seen of him (not a lot) he looks older.

peter kern

I can not undertand why not more Itu athletes do 70.3 races as prep for rio ( given the course in rio which is quite a bit strenght based ) espcially if you are likley to push on the bike in rio ( either you want to break away or might be off the lead pack after the swim )

anyway spirig run what looks like a legimate sub 1.15 of the bike in a 70.3 today and i bleive it was windy...
2nd fastes run split and there was a few ex males olypians in the field

RacoonQueen

Just watched end of ladies race from today - what a run from Gwen!

catweazle

Looks like the men were practicing on how to beat Mola in Rio

Really enjoyed that - a minute or two into the bike leg and you just knew if Gomez didn't close the 4 or 5 metres and get on the back of the Brownlees it was race over.

Women's race was good too - Gwen wouldn't have won if Hall had done her share on the bike.

iAcesHigh

fantastic one, wait for the brother and then push for your life, fun stuff While I do think there isn't that big of a difference between The big trio and the rest of the field as it was 4 years ago, I still think Brownlees and Gomez are the ones to lose a medal before Mola (primarily) and others can get their hands on one, especially with these three dedicating the whole year to just one (Gomez) or two (Brownlees) races. I really do like Mola, but I just feel he won't be as prepared + don't see him getting close enough to run his way up to TOP 3... Either way, going to be a really interesting one!

joey100

Have only seen bits of the race but what I seen it looked good. Did I hear somewhere that Alistair Brownlee helped design the course?? Definitely looked like a course that suited him, get your super domestique (Varga) to hammer the swim and then push the bike and cause a few splits.

Few lads missing though that could have had an impact on results, someone like Murray/Luis could have really helped the second group and Gomez catch that front group. All making it very interesting for Rio.

Feel sorry for Duffy, had a good lead off the bike, was running well and still got caught by Jorgenson. If it wasn't for one of the best females ever in ITU she could be a big star (not that she's not, just everyone is in Jorgenson's shadow). Hopefully she might get a world series championship out of this season though with Gwen concentrating on Rio.

joey100

Another thread bumped.

Good result for Duffy in Stockholm, another great bike, not the same lead off it but held onto it this time to win. Still no Vincent Luis on the mens side, doesn't look like he will race an ITU race before the Olympics. No Gomez or Mola either.

This weekend could be good to see some of the newer athletes in the relays in Hamburg. Always a good race to watch and should be some of the younger athletes taking part from the looks of it.

And Germany announced their team, from 5 places they earned it looks like they are only sending Annie Haugh. I know some countries will only send Athlete who have a chance of medals but would it be worth sending someone for experience or even as a helper for Haugh?

mossym

watched the womens race, really seemed like duffy pulled back on the second half of the bike in order to hit the run hard. well executed race from her, she's in decent form

joey100

Just watched it last night on the turbo and I'd agree, seemed like she definitely pulled it back. Won by nearly the same amount as the lead she had off the bike so definitely worked for her.

Commentators made some good points too about who will be in the lead and chase pack in Rio. Spirig they reckon will be chase and maybe Duffy too, could see them pull a lot more athletes, Stanford, up to the front group on the bike. Then it becomes about do they sit in or keep it going? Setting up to be a great race.

peter kern

i think its right they dont send a male team the federation wanted but the sport council rejected it .
why the sport council rejected the females is interesting. One anne haug as a week swimmer could do with domestiques , b there is quite a lot young talent they should have sent.

Fact is the geramns have not performed this year ,the males for a few years now and the females after a very promising 2015 went backwards 2016.

joey100 wrote: »

Another thread bumped.

Good result for Duffy in Stockholm, another great bike, not the same lead off it but held onto it this time to win. Still no Vincent Luis on the mens side, doesn't look like he will race an ITU race before the Olympics. No Gomez or Mola either.

This weekend could be good to see some of the newer athletes in the relays in Hamburg. Always a good race to watch and should be some of the younger athletes taking part from the looks of it.

And Germany announced their team, from 5 places they earned it looks like they are only sending Annie Haugh. I know some countries will only send Athlete who have a chance of medals but would it be worth sending someone for experience or even as a helper for Haugh?

joey100

Any young german males coming up Peter?

Does anyone know if them slots will be offered to other countries or are they now gone from the race completely?

mossym

you'd have to wonder why you wouldn't look at your young pool, see if any have a shot in 4 years time, and send them for the experience. managing the workload up to rio would be the key, but with the right coaching and expectation management should be managable. in 4 years time then they are challengers and going to the olympics holds less pressure

MD1983

joey100 wrote: »

Just watched it last night on the turbo and I'd agree, seemed like she definitely pulled it back. Won by nearly the same amount as the lead she had off the bike so definitely worked for her.

Commentators made some good points too about who will be in the lead and chase pack in Rio. Spirig they reckon will be chase and maybe Duffy too, could see them pull a lot more athletes, Stanford, up to the front group on the bike. Then it becomes about do they sit in or keep it going? Setting up to be a great race.

cant see duffy in the chase pack, she is a top swimmer and has been in the first few out of the water in all the races i have seen her in. i dont think she can cycle away from a very motivated pack all on her own in the olympics though

catweazle

I agree with that, will be shocked if she isn't in the front pack out of the water, she came out in Leeds with two of the best swimmers in ITU Hall and Learmonth when they were driving it, she will have nothing to fear in Rio in the swim

Think she even said it in BBC interview recently that she wished she had Jenkins and Hewitt with her in the break that day in Leeds, think her chances will rest on who comes out with her on the swim

joey100

Gomez has said on twitter he is out of Rio, came off his bike today and done damage to his elbow. Can't link to twitter on work computer.


http://www.mundodeportivo.com/juegos-olimpicos/20160714/403201080272/gomez-noya-se-pierde-los-juegos.html


Spanish site, using google translate

catweazle

joey100 wrote: »

Gomez has said on twitter he is out of Rio, came off his bike today and done damage to his elbow. Can't link to twitter on work computer.


http://www.mundodeportivo.com/juegos-olimpicos/20160714/403201080272/gomez-noya-se-pierde-los-juegos.html


Spanish site, using google translate

Ah thats a pity as Gomez would have added an extra dimension to that race - you can nearly call that race now - Varga will drive the swim, the Brownlees will drive the front bike pack and have a comfortable lead on Mola going out on the run, the brothers will run away from the rest and then Alistair will break Jonny around the 8-9k mark - Mola will run through to 3rd

EC1000

catweazle wrote: »

Ah thats a pity as Gomez would have added an extra dimension to that race - you can nearly call that race now - Varga will drive the swim, the Brownlees will drive the front bike pack and have a comfortable lead on Mola going out on the run, the brothers will run away from the rest and then Alistair will break Jonny around the 8-9k mark - Mola will run through to 3rd

If Mola can be dragged around in the swim and remain in the front bike pack then it's his to lose? Have Spain got a domestique he can use?