Pro race chat (Tri)

W/kg (+descending skills) compared to W/CDA on the bike.

I’ve no idea who this will favour though, Haug who’s tiny? Knibb possibly but almost no prep after Paris.

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Not for Lucy.

Watching the post race interviews I got the feeling Ryf will podium next year in her final race.

Might not be Haug’s day.

Not sure how many Americans will show up.

Not seen anything about that. I am totally not convinced that the world, and cyclists in particular, need a load of 350/400HP 3000kg SUVs with a 5.5s 0-60 on the roads, especially if they are taxis. Luckily the insurance companies seem to be catching on now and charging appropriate premiums.

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Was comparing LCBs time yesterday to for example the top 10 when Kiele won in 2014.

Her time would have got her 8th in the Men’s field, around 10 mins behind Kiele. Now I know conditions make a big difference but considering the women were looking at sub 9 being great, yesterday’s performance is brilliant.

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Opposite here. Urban myth you’re less likely to get ripped off when getting your car fixed.

Also, claiming that title seemed rude to the proper kind, ie. those who actually have a doctorate.

Met a couple of nurses with PhDs which makes for confusing name badges in clinic.

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Whilst her time is certainly impressive, looking back 10 years is so so very different; no super shoes, bike tech, clothing etc etc.

I’ve had a look at the post-Chrissie era and it blows my mind how much the men have surged ahead again :exploding_head:

Chrissie was regularly getting Top 10 overall (outside of Kona) and Top 3 overall run splits, closing that gender gap, that just doesn’t happen now…does it? Do Ryf, Haug or LCB get well inside the men’s field (time wise, outside of Kona)?

Ryf’s time at Roth this year is truly mind blowing - 8:08 :scream:

Sub9 for women seems like a relic of ~2010, but as it’s a nice number, people hold onto it. Sub8:35 doesn’t quite have the same ring to it :joy:

Still, LCB put in a stellar performance yesterday and those small bike tweaks seem to have made a massive difference :boom::boxing_glove:

What blew my mind was the gap when they were cycling down that desolate looking desert road. That was mental.

PS> @fruit_thief - exactly. I changed it back once I’d had the new card delivered and proved my point. Back to being a plain old Prof now :joy:

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The non-medic PhDs I’ve met working in the NHS don’t use the title for that reason.

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Are you sure it’s not just the lack of men on the course that brought the rest down? The slower the biker and the slower the swimmer, the more advantage the (relatively) slower female pro bikers get.

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All you have to do is wear a suit to be confused with a doctor/consultant. Happens to me fairly frequently anyway.

Ooh! Drat and damn you :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::roll_eyes:

Now I’m not sure at all

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Last year the Women raced on Thursday, only a few AG men on the course (as an older AGer I raced with the women), on the bike the women’s race was even more lonely than this year as there were fewer Pro women, certainly no men pulling them along. On the swim, I think that the Pro women had a 15 or 30 min head start, it was a much bigger gap than normal.

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But that was just last year, comparing to the previous years before that which Poet seemed to be, there were loads on the course, and the fast AG men completely pulled the slower swim/bike female pros.

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In men’s racing, younger guys are taking over - iden, Blu, Laidlow etc. In the womens race top 3 all over 30, top 5 LCB (30), Haug (40), Philipp (36), Knibb (25), Ryf (36).

This would suggest that LCB is just hitting prime age.

Is LCB the first Uber swimmer to become the best of a generation? She is also becoming a bit a weapon on the bike too. I think her swim performance forced a lot of her rivals to cook themselves on the bike

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Before last year, we are going back to 2019, which is ancient history. LCB was 26 in 2019 (just 5 months older than Taylor Knibb is now). She is a much more rounded athlete now, I suspect in few years Knibb will also get much better

Not one of the top women but Nice should suit Ruth Astle. She is a strong cyclists and small so should be able to work her way further through the field more than in Kona.

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Ruth had a great race in Kona. She’s not just small, her position on the bike is incredible

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Considering how little running she has done in the build I think she had a really good race too.

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As defending champion LCB gets a free pass for Nice. She is already as close to a triathlon celeb as one can get - she doesn’t need to do a ton of races to earn prize money, she doesn’t have the stress of qualifying, she does have to worry about Taylor Knibb in 2024, she can put all her energy into becoming a 2x IM world champion in Nice

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I thought she did have to qualify/validate still?

She’s said she’ll be mostly racing PTO next year and that’s the focus. Presumably that means she’ll be signing one of their contracts to do 5-7 of their races whenever they announce it.

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I think ‘prime age’ is very very variable between athletes, just like length of career. Only really possible to say at the time/hindsight, rather than assuming LCB will continue to get better just because Haug/others have done.
Obviously yes she’s still young and has a lot longer to compete. I’m just saying that doesn’t automatically mean her prime will be age 36-40 like Haug has been. And what’s to say in 2-3 years there won’t be a host of 25yo females dominating like has happened in the men’s field. Especially when generally you’d make the argument for earlier female maturation compared to men.

the best at it that I can think of, but Laidlow/Brownlee aren’t that far off the same style given they’re very close to being the best male swimmers in their fields. Laidlows wins aren’t far from being ‘gun to tape’, he just isn’t completely soloing at the start of the bike like LCB.

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