Looks a bit like ‘middle of a big St George block’ race for Joe. The Saffas, not sure if any on the St George start list but probably really wanting to win their home race and chasing KQ.
Also ‘faded to a disappointing 2:45’, wasn’t so long ago sub 2:50 from the lead bike pack was pretty much the W.
I’m surprised he’s surprised he got a penalty. He was alongside, in between Kanute and Brownlee for an absolute age.
McKenna, drafting?
And Ryf was DQd for not slowing on the speed restricted section.
He didn’t draft but early in the bike he went to overtake, obviously having to take all the leaders. They started up a rise as he was about level with AB in 2nd wheel but couldn’t get past Kanute. He was stuck there for a fair while. The moto pulled up next to him and had to give a penalty. Why he wrote he was shocked, I do not know.
he should have known to drop back if he couldn’t make the pass.
it always amazes me that so many LD athletes just don’t “get” what drafting is about and have no idea how to manage these situations
There was a post complaining about the blatant drafting at Salou by Tom Davis as well that i just saw. Skipper posted (think they’re mates) that he had stopped racing in Spain due to that very fact.
No idea on the accuracy of either statement. Anecodtally, that argument does come out time and time again though,.
Ah amateur mistake. I say amateur because I’ve been caught out starting an overtake before an uphill several times! 
In that situation, what is the rider in 2nd, who gets overtaken and drops to 3rd supposed to do (Ali in this scenario)? Do they just continue maintaining the legal distance to the first placed rider, or are they supposed to consider the overtaking rider (now in 2nd) also and drop back from them?
It kind of looked like Ali dropped back slightly after the overtake, but not the full distance, so like 18m to 1st place and 4m to new 2nd place, so kind of half & half?
I think there is some leniency from Marshalls in on short steep climbs and the gap opens up at the crest.
Yes I saw Harry Palmer moaning about the drafting too.
No swim didn’t help things there it seems
I hope he does a good Michael Caine impression
Have Brownlee or Skipper broken silence about the race results yet?
Brownlee put something pretty bland out - been a while since i last raced, bla bla.
Saw Skipper in his comment to Tom Davis saying that he tried a few surges on the bike, couldn’t shake them and then just didn’t have the run legs.
Standard
Is that correct for Ironman rules? They always describe the pro rules for Ironman as being required to pass the entire train if everyone is riding legally at 12m, and if you fail to get to the very front, you’ll get a drafting penalty.
If you come up on the back of 10 riders all at 12m from one another, and passed 9 of them but couldn’t get to the very front and original rider #2 is still 12m from original rider #1, then you either get to the front, or you’ll get pinged. There had to be a minimum 24m gap between two riders (so you can drop into a legal gap) to not go to the very front.
That’s how it’s always explained anyway. Can’t recall if World Triathlon approach things differently and you are just judged on each individual athlete you pass in isolation?
I actually think it’s a crap rule. It’s frequently talked about as stifling races. People at the back of a train are required to put out a good 5+ minute effort well above threshold to pass a long line. They should just let them pass a single athlete and then that athlete has to drop back
the overtaker has 25secs to make the pass and once they are past the front wheel of the rider being overtaken, the one that’s been overtaken should drop back to the draft zone distance ( I think for Salou this was 20m). so there should always be that gap between riders.
however, if the overtaker is unable to complete the pass, or has consecutive attempts to make the pass they can be given a drafting violation - as can the one overtaken if they don’t make an effort to drop back.
allowances are made for steep uphill sections, for safety reasons, before and after aid stations (100m) and tight turns where riders may bunch up.
I think the problem there is that if you drop back, the next guy will pass you as well, and so on until you are at the back of the train.
