This popped up on my Twitter/FB feed this morning but also noticed that Lucy has posted it on ST too.
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/The_PTO_and_Collins_cup.__P7130858/
Yeah i think theyâve had the go ahead to talk about it. I saw it from Braden Currie. Be interested to see how it goes.
I guess it all hinges on what level of pros take part. If itâs not the top notch then it will just be like FA Cup ties when the top teams put the kids out and the result is kind of meaningless.
ETA - The link shows the qualifying slots as the top 4 in each category, if that really is the case I canât wait, but Iâm not holding my breath.
Havenât they been talking about this for eons?! Are we any nearer to anything materialisingâŚ
The talk seems to be that itâs on, May in Samorin. A lot of proâs promoting it heavily in the last 24 hours or so, Joe Skipper just posted about getting enough points to get in.
Hopefully this will get a few more people to the Challenge Championship event the following day (31st May). Watching the online coverage last year was embarrassing to see the small number of supporters out there. With this new event the day before then hopefully thatâll draw in a few extra people.
Surely part of that is the venue? I donât know, but is Slovakia a hotbed of endurance sport fans?
I get why they use the venue, but youâd think if it were in Germany/France/UK then it would see much larger crowds etc.
They are clearly trying to leverage/piggyback the Challenge brand/logistics.
Just heard about this in The Times newspaper of all places. Is $2 million biggest prize purse ever in Tri? Could be to be a great days entertainment I reckon, 12 races 10 mins apart with bonus points for big time gaps. The only problem I can see is that Europe might dominate from the gun and that could be less exciting than if it goes to the wire. Anyway, bring it on!
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Another problem I read about was that the prize money is already allocated as per the âleagueâ table standings prior to the event. So theyâre not actually racing for anything
How weird
Yeah, I thought that too, but then read somewhere (canât remember where), that Ryder cup players donât get a penny for that event, and, as was pointed out, theyâd kill one another to take partâŚ
It could work if it gets coverage.
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This is just another little pet project for a halo investor; just like Team J David or Tri Dubai. Itâs a shame that it will be another unsustainable flash in the pan. Even more of a shame that the âspoilsâ are being kept by the few top-tier pros, and development and support of the majority doesnât appear to be factored in. The PTO could do with a prescription for that myopia.
I see Sarah True has been tweeting about not being involved and the money staying with the top few. She probably has a point but after her accusations when someone tried to help her when about to pass out, sheâs starting to come across as a bit of whinger.
Sutto tweeting to back her up just put the cherry on the icing of the cake
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Theyâre talking about the Collins Cup on Talksport - donât think Iâve heard that since the Olympics/Brownlees.
So can someone âsellâ the format they are using to me? Why am I going to be watching it?
Because a few top tier pros said you should and did a tweet
I think the question is really âWhy will anyone else watch it?â
Weâre the people that watch Kona which, to most people is dull as ditch water, but itâs our Mecca. Getting non-triathletes to watch it will be the real deal breaker (maker) but I donât see the format pulling that off either.
Theyâre going for a Ryder Cup head to head format. The problem is, most of these people have vastly different capabilities in each discipline, and as the running order is, as I understand, like the Ryder Cup and secret until all teams submit their lineups, itâs not like you can stick your best FPRO swimmer in with LCB and hope she can hang on, as you wonât know where Europe decide to stick LCB in the running order.
So I predict you have a dozen âracesâ of head to head to head, where each one becomes just three people solo-ing 10 mins apart from the race up the road, and the race behind. At least theyâre giving bonus points for margin of victory, so thereâs incentive for the person in front to put as much time into the others as possible.
Iâm unclear what happens if you catch the race in front. Can they work together? Depending on how the lineups play out, you might have a team sacrificing one of their racers to drop back and give someone else a tow on the bike for example, but I canât find anything about the rules to know if anything like that would be legal.
I did find this though, which has put my mind to rest a least 
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