The bottom line is this: according to the tax return, USAT’s expenses exceeded their revenue by just over $2 million, approximately $250,000 more than the gap in 2022. The tax return, however, does not paint the entire picture, as it does not include certain donor restricted contributions and/or non-cash or unrealized assets. Review the financial statement that pairs with the Form 990, and it’s a slightly better picture — a combined (unrestricted and restricted) positive gain of almost $477,000. That’s a huge improvement over 2022, which showed a loss of nearly $3 million.

Let’s pull back a couple of layers on the revenue generation and expense side.

Revenue: Memberships, Sponsorship, Events and Grants

As expected, USA Triathlon memberships make up the largest percentage of revenue for the organization. 2023 membership revenue was $7.3 million. That figure is $173,000 less than reported membership income from 2022. 2023 was the launch of USAT’s Youth and Junior Premier Membership, which saw a one-time $25 fee valid from the date of purchase until the athlete’s 18th birthday. It was also the final year of the prior membership rate structure for adults, as USAT now offers tiered memberships. USAT states their membership base as “over 300,000 unique active members.”

Contributions to USA Triathlon totaled just under $3.4 million in 2023; this is a sizable increase of almost $1.4 million from 2022. The bulk of these contributions fall in the “donor restricted” bucket. These contributions are separate to those from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Contributions from USOPC were down in 2023 by roughly $70,000, totaling $1.4 million.

Sponsorship is also a critical component of USAT’s financial picture. Those sponsorships, which currently list 34 different partners in varying levels, brought in just under $3.3 million. That, again, was a smaller slice than it was in 2022; sponsorships that year raked in just over $4 million.

Then there’s events. USA Triathlon events in 2023 included Multisport Nationals, Age Group Nationals, Youth/Junior Nationals, and the Legacy Triathlon. There was also the sizable industry conference Endurance Exchange, held in January of that year in Austin, TX. Combined, events, camps, and clinics brought a total of $2.56 million. That’s up by about a quarter of a million over the previous year.

All told, these major programming sources of revenue were down compared to 2022. What made up the difference? Investment income. USAT made money on investments in 2023 — just over $1.2 million after expenses. That’s a nearly $3 million turnaround against the sizable loss suffered in 2022.

The grand total of revenue, depending on whether you’re looking at the 990 or the financial statement, comes out to $17.4 million (990) or $20.8 million (financial statement).

Program Service versus Support Service Expenses

There are two buckets that expenses for USA Triathlon are divided into. The first are program expenses. These are the types of expenses that are in service of USAT’s mission statement: “…to grow, inspire and support the triathlon community.” And then there are the so-called “support” services; they are the staffing and other operational expenses that come from, well, having an organization in the first place.

Top-level: USAT’s expenses topped $20 million in 2023. Of them, roughly 64.3% were related to program services (just over $13 million). The remaining $7.26 million is attributable to support services: General & Administrative, Business Development / Strategy, Marketing & Communications, and USAT Foundation General & Administrative. These expenses were slightly down versus what the organization spent in 2022.

Looking at program services, there are two areas that drive the bulk of spending. The most spending occurs in the “high performance” bucket, representing a total of $4.2 million. According to the Form 990, spending in this area represents support for “Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as approximately 450 elite athletes across the country, from youth and junior to Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, to continue to pursue their athletic goals.” The financial statement breaks this down further, including: $1.8 million for travel; $877,000 for salaries; $499,000 for professional fees; and $492,000 in a bucket of “other event/athlete.”

The other main bucket of spend is to “constituent services.” What are constituent services? According to USAT, “this division and program is unique to providing infrastructure, support and resources to our entire Multisport ecosystem…” and includes support for membership, race directors, coaches, clubs, and officials. The spend here was just over $4 million. $2.6 million of that was spent on insurance, with another $632,000 on salaries/wages.

There are two other areas of spend under program services. The first of these is events; after all, producing races is not a free endeavor. USAT spent almost $3.3 million in producing events in 2023. As you might recall from the section above, USAT brought in $2.56 million in revenue from those events — so, on paper, a net negative. That said, that’s where things like sponsorship, or in-kind donations, help make these events a net positive. And the last area of spend is in “sport development.” Sport development includes the youth, junior, high school, and collegiate club / NCAA efforts, as well as the DEIB program “Together We Thrive.” Spend here was just under $1.2 million — the two largest line items were salaries and wages ($383K), followed by entry fees of nearly $363,500.

From the support services perspective, the largest single expense are salaries and wages of key staff across the four functions mentioned earlier. Salaries for support function staff total $2.86 million. In total, USAT spends over $5 million on its staff, or roughly a 7.7% increase from 2022, although half of this increase can be attributed to inflationary pressures. The salaries of the top-eight highest paid officials represent over $1.5 million of that budget allotment. Those individuals and salaries (base, bonus/incentive compensation, and “other reportable” compensation) are:

1. Victoria Brumfield, Chief Executive Officer: $346,255
2. Tim Yount, Chief of Sport Development: $213,904
3. Camellia Noriega, Associate General Counsel: $191,406
4. Sheri Trahern, Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operating Officer: $170,824
5. Scott Schnitzspahn, High Performance General Manager: $165,134
6. Krista Prescott, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer: $161,208
7. Gabe Cagwin, Chief Advancement Officer: $151,830
8. Brian D’Amico, Director of Events: $115,202

Most other expenses, across the board, were held relatively flat to slightly down against this backdrop. The only other sizable increased expense in 2023 was travel, most of which was attributed to the high performance program. Support services accounted for only $260,000 of the total travel expense, which wound up at just north of $2.9 million — or an increase of nearly $500,000 over 2022.

What Does the Future Hold?

According to the financial statement, USAT has just under $13 million in financial assets that could be used to meet cash obligations within a year, with a total asset availability a shade under $16 million. It means that, barring a total collapse of either the membership or sponsorship revenue generation, USAT is in a decent position to operate. It is perhaps somewhat unsurprising to report that Brumfield has an employment agreement that runs “through 2028” and the home Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Still, the question of the value USAT provides its members is looming. How sustainable is it for insurance to make up 60% of the spend on constituent services? Or, put another way, for every membership dollar expended, roughly 35 cents of it is spent on insurance. For how long can that cycle continue to last? We’ll look forward to seeing the numbers for 2024, which will provide the data for the high-performance spend from the first “normal” Olympic year since the Games in Rio in 2016.

Images: World Triathlon

The post USA Triathlon’s Finances Revisited first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

IRONMAN Arizona is celebrating its 20th year this year. The long-standing event is the staple closer of the North American full distance racing season. Although the event has ebbed and flowed in popularity, IRONMAN is reporting a race sellout for the weekend. It’s traditionally a Slowtwitch favorite — both for the ease of the event in Tempe, as well as producing typically fast times and an early ticket to the IRONMAN World Championships. This year is solely spotlighting the age group field, as it is one of the few times this race does not feature professionals.

We will be on site late this week for Sunday’s race. Here are a few of the age groupers we’re going to be keeping an eye on.

Could a World Record Be Set?

The current world record for the oldest finisher is Hiromu Inada. The Japanese athlete has finished races through 2022 and attempted another finish this year at IRONMAN Cairns at the age of 91 (he finished the swim and bike). That record is in jeopardy with Steve Gray from Mount Pleasant, Utah. At 98 years young, Gray (assuming he starts) will break Inada’s start record by seven years, and would shatter the finishing record by a decade. As of this writing, conditions look ideal for an IRONMAN finish for all athletes — light winds and temperatures in the upper 60s.

On the women’s side, Gail Hughes from Flagstaff, AZ is the oldest competitor at 72. Hughes is a long-time IRONMAN athlete, having qualified for the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona before. She’s also a former member of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors.

Young Athletes Racing

Looking to the opposite end of the age spectrum and you’ll find two eighteen year olds toeing the line this weekend. Ashley Forrest is the youngest woman in the field. Lane Wheeler is the youngest man. He’ll be racing with his father this weekend. Wheeler has Tourette’s syndrome with Coprolalia; it involves involuntary utterances of obscene words or phrases.

Athletes With Charitable Causes

As is typical with an IRONMAN event, many athletes starting are doing so as part of a fundraising or awareness campaign. One such athlete is Timothy Bolen of Tempe. Bolen founded 2Gether We Live in 2017, an organization which gives sport participation opportunities to individuals who can’t actively compete by themselves. Volunteers for the organization provide the propulsion for these individuals, whether in triathlon, skiing, hiking, or other opportunities. The organization currently has a roster of approximately 30 families they are assisting with participation, and over 70 athlete volunteers. According to the organization’s website, their greatest need are additional Hoyt chairs. Bolen is racing alongside his daughter, Cloe.

There’s also Dan Lee from Boulder. The 31-year old veteran struggled with adjustment into civilian life following his exit from the Army in October, 2021. Like some of his fellow vets, Lee experienced panic attacks and an identity crisis. Counseling was a great assist for Lee. Lee is racing IRONMAN Arizona to raise funds for ROGER, which provides free counseling, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention services to veterans and service members.

The post Some of the Stories of IRONMAN Arizona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The inaugural season of T100 racing is reaching its conclusion, with the Dubai T100 Final this weekend. It should shape up to be the exact kind of spectacle that the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and World Triathlon envisioned when they announced “the official World Championship tour of long course triathlon” in January.

It hasn’t exactly gone to plan over the course of 2024. Primarily, Dubai was never supposed to be the series ender, with one more race originally supposed to be serving as the final. But there have also been major retirements of contracted athletes (Daniela Ryf), athletes who initially avoided the allure of IRONMAN racing but opted late to try their hand at it (e.g., Lucy Charles-Barclay), and athlete injuries whittling start lists (the latest: Sam Laidlow, who with a hamstring tear will miss this weekend’s racing). Not to mention, a lot of other athletes are calling it a season, like Chelsea Sodaro:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CHELSEA SODARO (@chelseasodaro)

And Daniel Baekkegard:

View this profile on Instagram

DANIEL BÆKKEGÅRD (@danielbaekkegard) • Instagram photos and videos

Still, there is much for triathlon fans to be excited for. Point values for this weekend’s race are inflated, with 55 points (20 more than a normal race) available to the winner. It means that Marten Van Riel, despite a 19 point advantage over Magnus Ditlev, could finish as well as fourth and still wind up losing out on the initial series title. The women’s series crown should come down to a battle of Taylor Knibb and Ashleigh Gentle, with Knibb holding a 13 point margin at the start.

But there’s battles throughout the field for series placement. Crucially, contracts and guaranteed starts for the 2025 series are on the line. Athletes need to finish in the top 10 of the PTO standings in order to earn their automatic contracts for next year. With Charles-Barclay not racing, she’s in a precarious position in the standings and will likely miss out on this round (although her world ranking should get her in; the six best in the PTO World Rankings who didn’t get auto-slots from T100 racing also earn contracts). On the men’s side it’s near anyone’s ballgame — anyone on the start list could, in theory, make enough of a jump in the standings to earn a contract. That’s particularly valuable for someone like Jason West, Aaron Royle, or Leon Chevalier — they’re in range on the points standings, but their PTO World Rankings may see them miss out on a contract if they don’t have an excellent finish this weekend.

What Will 2025 Look Like?

Dubai will give us another opportunity to view what T100’s business model for 2025 will look like. There is, of course, the headlining professional races. Those are also being broadcast across a wide-variety of traditional media channels or streaming services, in addition to the PTO’s unique PTO+ platform and YouTube. It’s a more robust streaming package than that of IRONMAN and its Pro Series. There’s significant age-group racing here, too, with the unique 100 kilometer distance and a sprint-distance race. There’s also The Music Run, which happens on Saturday night. In total, the PTO estimates roughly 10,000 participants across the weekend.

The calendar for 2025 is also firming up far earlier than the PTO has previously been able to confirm. Seven events are already locked into the calendar for next year:

• Singapore: April 12-13
• French Riviera: May 16-18
• San Francisco: May 31-June 1
• London: August 2-3
• Ibiza: September 27-28
• Las Vegas: October 25-26
• Dubai: November

The French Riviera event had significant detail announced this week. In addition to the headline 100 kilometer triathlon, the port towns of Fréjus and St. Raphaël will also host age group super sprint racing, an open-water swim, bike and run events, and a three-day festival. It doubles down on the type of atmosphere that made the original couple of PTO Tour events in Ibiza and Milwaukee interesting, as they were partnered with existing large-scale events (World Triathlon age group championships and USA Triathlon Nationals, respectively).

There is also a return to Canada next June in the works; permits have been approved, and it is all but waiting official announcement.

There are two potential wildcards entering 2025. The first will be the impact of the twelve-year partnership agreement between the PTO and World Triathlon, which cements world champion status to the T100 Tour champion. We’ve seen greater alignment on professional rules and start list procedure between the two organizations. And Wild Card entries to T100 events have increasingly gone towards athletes who are coming from a World Triathlon Championship Series background; look no further than Julie Derron, who will likely earn a full contract for 2025. But we’ve also seen names like Matthew McElroy, Sophie Coldwell, and Henri Schoeman filling out fields.

The second is the cost of the investments that the series is said to be making in its age group experiences. Putting on a weekend festival of events is notoriously difficult. There’s a reason why I’ve said for years that the easiest way to make a small fortune in race directing is to start with a large one. Ultimately, that investment in age group racing means there has to be offset somewhere else. Will it come at the expense of the size of the contracts awarded to T100 athletes? Will it be on the prize purse side? Or somewhere else? In the end either the revanue must go up or the bleeding has to stop.

But, for arguably the first time, the series appears to be maturing into its final form: a weekend festival of racing that, while having professional athletes at the center of it, provides a strong experience for all athletes. It makes for what should be some potential competition for age group dollars next year. And it should also make for another good earning year for professionals.

The post With Grand Final Looming, Where Does T100 Go From Here? first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Overwhelmingly, men qualifying for the IRONMAN World Championships choose ISM saddles to ride, with the brand ridden by nearly a third of the field. Even when you combine the totals of second and third place Selle Italia and Fizik, it’s still 91 saddles short of the count that ISM puts up.

Saddle choice, as we know, is a critical component of bike fit. And ISM has led the way in split-nose saddles for decades now. They continue to tinker, having multiple lengths, widths, and padding options. It also helps that multiple third-party companies make accessories dedicated to their saddle designs (e.g., XLAB’s hydration systems). And ISM has also become a common stock offering on bikes, including Quintana Roo.

Selle Italia, meanwhile, enjoys part of its growth from a similar OEM arrangement, except you can find some of their saddles on new Canyon bicycles. But the Watt Superflow offers a split-nose design that riders frequently prefer as they move more forward in their respective positioning. It’s also the preferred saddle range of IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange.

Fizik in third may not seem like much, but it’s a sizable fall from their second-place finish in the count the last time men raced in Kona. Fizik tends toward slightly more traditional shaping out of their saddles; I, for one, love them as a road saddle but is not my preference for triathlon. Still, there’s also some creative innovations, like their Adaptive 3D printed padding in the Transiro Aeris Long Distance line.

Other interesting factoids: Prologo edged Specialized for fifth place by a single saddle. Smaller saddle companies continue to make in-roads to the counts, as Gebiomized, Cobb / JCOB, and Dash all had somewhat strong showings. And I’m still somewhat shocked that Shimano doesn’t make better in-roads, as their three triathlon-specific saddles (as well as the Stealth road saddle) are all quite comfortable options. I think as Eric has alluded to in some of the other count articles, Shimano seems to be struggling with the market more in the multisport space, which is hurting them despite having solid options available to riders.

The total counts we have are below. As a reminder, professionals are excluded from results, which is why you don’t see a brand like Wove included in these totals. Also some saddles are just missed so the totals may be off a little as well.

The post ISM Remains Preferred Saddle Choice in Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Bike manufacturer Canyon has issued multiple stop ride notices this week, covering the triathlon, mountain, and e-bike categories.

The Speedmax CF sold with the V21 aero stem is one such bike. Owners of these bikes, sold by Canyon in the U.S. up through April of this year, should “immediately stop use of your bike and do not ride it until you have had your fork checked and fixed by a professional bike mechanic,” according to emails sent to owners.

According to the email sent by Canyon, “we discovered rare instances where the fork steerer tube can crack or break, leading to a detachment of the cockpit assembly (stem and handlebar), mostly after a harsh impact such as hitting a deep pothole or another similar stress event. This might lead to a fall or in severe cases also an injury depending on the situation and the environmental conditions you are riding in.”

The Speedmax CFR and CF SLX are unaffected by this notice, as are Speedmax CF bikes sold after April 2024 with the new, single piece carbon cockpit.

Owners should expect remedies to start being available in December, with Canyon stating that they will cover the cost of repair.

Canyon also has issued stop ride notices for their Spectral:ON CF and CFR bikes, as well as the Torque:ON CF, as the battery casing / housing could catch fire.

The post Canyon Issues Multiple Stop Ride Notices, Including Speedmax CF first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Breaking down the riding choices of the top bike splits from this year’s race in Kona, a few trends emerge. First, Continental retains brand supremacy in tires — eleven of the top 15 bike splits were taken by riders using their products. There’s also a consensus emerging for 1X cranks in Kona. And yes, customized cockpits are now the norm, rather than the exception and everyone was on tubeless.

Here are, in order, your fastest riders from the 2024 men’s IRONMAN World Championships and the bikes they used to get there.

1.) Sam Laidlow – 3:57:22

Frame: Canyon Speedmax CFR
Wheels: HED Vanquish V84 (front), HED Jet 180 (rear)
Tires: Continental Aero 111 (front), Continental GP5000TT TR (rear);
Cockpit: Canyon Custom
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Favero Assioma
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Prologo Dimension Tri CPC
Front Hydration: Canyon, Dual Bottle XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: Canyon, XLAB Gorilla Cage

2.) Leon Chevalier – 4:01:38

Frame: Cervelo P5
Wheels: HED Vanquish V84 (front), HED Jet 180 (rear)
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR
Cockpit: Drag2Zero
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 170mm
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: ISM PN 3.0
Front Hydration: Dual Bottle BTA
Rear Hydration: Single rear bottle

3.) Robert Kallin – 4:01:44

Frame: Orbea Ordu
Wheels: Ron Wheels Ultron (front), Ultron 105 (rear)
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR,
Cockpit: Uniqo
Drivetrain: Shimano 2X
Crank: 172.5mm
Pedals: Favero Assioma
Rear Derailleur Hanger: unknown
Saddle: ISM PN 3.1
Front Hydration: 2 Bottle BTA, TriRig Cages
Rear Hydration: XLAB Gorilla Cage

4.) Magnus Ditlev – 4:02:52

Frame: Scott Plasma
Wheels: HED Vanquish V84 (front), HED Jet 180 (rear)
Tires: Schwalbe Pro One Aero
Cockpit: Custom
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 172.5mm
Pedals: Garmin
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Wove V8
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA
Rear Hydration: 3 bottle custom, XLAB Gorilla Cage

5.) Kristian Høgenhaug – 4:03:32

Frame: BMC Speedmachine 01 ONE
Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 80mm
Tires: Vittoria Corsa Speed 26mm
Cockpit: Profile Design and aeroGain.dk cups
Drivetrain: SRAM 1X
Crank: 170mm
Pedals: Shimano
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Selle Itallia Watt 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow
Front Hydration: Mono Dual Bottle BTA with XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: Large plastic box with XLAB Gorilla Cage

6.) Cameron Wurf – 4:03:59

Frame: Pinarello Bolide F TR
Wheels: Princeton Carbonworks Mach 7580 TS V2
Tires: Continental Aero 111 (front), Continental GP5000TT TR (rear),
Cockpit: Most
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Shimano
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Fizik Arione
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA, XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: XLAB Gorilla Cage

7.) Matthew Marquardt – 4:04:55

Frame: Trek Speed Concept
Wheels: Princeton Carbonworks Mach 7580 TS V3
Tires: Continental Aero 111 (front), Continental GP5000TT TR (rear)
Cockpit: Sync
Drivetrain: SRAM 1X
Crank: 175mm
Pedals: Shimano
Rear Derailleur Hanger: SRAM
Saddle: JCOB Type 5
Front Hydration: Dual Bottle BTA, XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: Single Rear Carrier

8.) Menno Koolhaas – 4:05:02

Frame: Scott Plasma
Wheels: Zipp 858 NSW
Tires: Continental Aero 111 (front), Continental GP5000TT TR (rear)
Cockpit: SpeedCo
Drivetrain: SRAM 1X
Crank: 170mm
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed
Saddle: Syncros Belcarra
Front Hydration: Dual Bottle BTA, XLAB and Syncros Cage
Rear Hydration: Single Rear Carrier

9.) Nick Thompson – 4:05:28

Frame: Cervelo
Wheels: Princeton Carbonworks Mach 7580 (front), HED Jet 180 (rear)
Tires: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS
Cockpit: Vision Superbar
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Favero Assioma
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Dash
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA, XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: XLAB Gorilla Cage

10.) Kristian Blummenfelt – 4:05:47

Frame: CADEX Tri
Wheels: CADEX Aero 4-Spoke
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR, 25mm
Cockpit: Drag2Zero
Drivetrain: SRAM 2X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Shimano
Rear Derailleur Hanger: SRAM
Saddle: Wove V8
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA, XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: Mono Dual with XLAB Gorilla Cage

11.) Rudy Von Berg – 4:05:49

Frame: Factor Hanzo
Wheels: Cadex Aero 4-Spoke
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR
Cockpit: Speedbar
Drivetrain: SRAM 1X
Crank: 175mm
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Wove V8
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA, XLAB Gorilla Cage
Rear Hydration: Mono Dual with XLAB Gorilla Cage

12.) Kacper Stepniak – 4:06:01

Frame: BMC Speedmachine 01
Wheels: Evolve TroikaMAX (front), Prototype (rear)
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR
Cockpit: Drag2Zero
Drivetrain: SRAM 1X
Crank: unknown
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Rear Derailleur Hanger: unknown
Saddle: Bontrager Hilo
Front Hydration:
Rear Hydration:

13.) Gregory Barnaby – 4:06:08

Frame: Trek Speed Concept
Wheels: Vision Metro SL 81
Tires: Vittoria Corsa Speed, 26mm
Cockpit: AeroCoach
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Favero Assioma
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Fizik Transiro Aeris
Front Hydration: Single Bottle BTA with Vision Cage
Rear Hydration: Single Vision cage

14.) Patrick Lange – 4:06:22

Frame: Canyon Speedmax CFR
Wheels: Swiss Side Hadron 800
Tires: Continental Aero 111 (front), Continental GP5000TT TR (rear); logos blacked out
Cockpit: Canyon Custom
Drivetrain: Shimano 1X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Wahoo/Speedplay
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Ceramicspeed OSPW Aero
Saddle: Selle Itallia Watt 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow
Front Hydration: Dual Bottles, XLAB Gorilla Cage and lower mounted aero bottle 
Rear Hydration: Canyon, XLAB Gorilla Cage

15.) Antonio Benito López – 4:06:32

Frame: Orbea Ordu
Wheels: Progress A-7F Tri-Spoke
Tires: Continental GP 5000 TT TR
Cockpit: Uniqo
Drivetrain: Shimano 2X
Crank: 165mm
Pedals: Favero Assioma
Rear Derailleur Hanger: Unknown, carbon cage
Saddle: Selle Itallia Watt 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow
Front Hydration: XLAB Torpedo
Rear Hydration: Mono Dual Rear with Vision Cages

The post The Bikes of the Fastest Pro Riders in Kona 2024 first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Other popular brands amongst the fastest runners in the pro field were ASICS, HOKA, and Adidas. All four brands featured have been towards the forefront of carbon plated run shoe development. Of them, ASICS and HOKA have the more robust stable of athletes sponsored in the field; Nike has extremely limited triathlon sponsorship, whereas anything Adidas does is focused in their home of Germany.

Here’s what we saw on the feet of the fastest professional men on the run in Kona. Interestingly, almost a third of these came from athletes who did not earn prize money; the bike pace was just that hard.

1.) Patrick Lange – 2:37:34 – IRONMAN World Champion
Shoe: Adidas AdiZero Adios Pro Evo 1
This shoe was run to the marathon world record in its debut race in Berlin last year. It’s astonishingly light for a carbon racer, coming in at a mere 4.8 ounces for a men’s US size 9. It’s perhaps the best of both worlds shoe some have been looking for — the weight of pre-carbon racing flats, with all of the benefits that high cushioning and carbon plating can give you. It comes with a price, though: $499 USD.

2.) Matt Hanson – 2:45:23 – 10th Place
Shoe: On Cloudboom Strike
It is no surprise to see Matt Hanson carve through a field on the run. He’s been wearing the Cloudboom Strike for a couple of seasons now. Considered to be On’s marathon racing shoe, it has all of your typical features you would expect: highly cushioned yet rebounding foam, full length carbon fiber plate, slight rocker in the forefoot. It’s 3 ounces heavier than the Adidas Lange wore — that’s not a knock on this shoe. This is more in line with what you would expect a carbon racer to weigh. And as evidenced by Hanson’s run time, it didn’t make much a difference.

3.) Jonas Hoffman – 2:45:46 – 16th Place
Shoe: Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1
Another German wearing Adidas, Hoffman takes the unfortunate mantle of “first guy not to earn prize money.” Hoffman’s background is in running, so seeing him make this list should be an expectation.

4.) Magnus Ditlev – 2:46:10 – 2nd Place
Shoe: Nike AlphaFly Next%
Ditlev is the first Nike wearing athlete on the list. Curiously, he chose to wear a nearly three-year old model of the AlphaFly for this race. One of the advantages that the current generation shoes have is that the move to Pebax cushioning over EVA means shoes have a longer shelf life. If you find a shoe you love, you can squirrel them away for a couple of years and burn through them. My suspicion is that Ditlev’s foot fits this upper quite well, and wet comfort is critical in Kona conditions.

5.) David McNamee – 2:47:09 – 13th Place
Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3
Meanwhile, McNamee used the current generation AlphaFly for the fifth fastest run of the day. This generation of AlphaFly features more ground contact under the midfoot, enhancing platform stability. It’s also the lightest version of the AlphaFly, coming in at 7.7 ounces for a men’s size 9.

6.) Rudy Von Berg – 2:48:11 – 3rd Place
Shoe: TYR Valkyrie Elite Carbon Runner
TYR isn’t a brand you think of when it comes to running shoes. The Valkyrie Elite Carbon Runner (yes, that’s the full name) features — you guessed it — Pebax foam sandwiching a full-length carbon fiber plate. The knit upper helps reduce potential friction points.

7.) Dylan Magnien – 2:49:49 – 27th Place
Shoe: Nike Vaporfly Next%
Magnien appears to be shoe agnostic; a cursory look through his Instagram sees him in a wide variety of shoes at races. A classic VaporFly appears to be his current preference, having worn it both here and for his third place finish at IRONMAN Barcelona just three weeks before Kona.

8.) Leon Chevalier – 2:49:56 – 4th Place
Shoe: HOKA Cielo X1
Chevalier had been wearing the Rocket X2 since its debut in Kona in 2022. However, for this race, he opted into the more recent Cielo X1. Launched in late 2023, the Cielo X1 is the heaviest shoe here, outweighing its prior platform mate by 40 grams. That said, the Cielo trades that off with a more robust plate and foam combination that, for those it fits, seems to provide a racier ride.

9.) Menno Koolhaas – 2:50:02 – 5th Place
Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3
The first man out of the water, Koolhaas was also quite fleet on land. He, too, opted for this year’s AlphaFly on his way to fifth place.

10.) Cameron Wurf – 2:50:11 – 7th Place
Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3
Wurf had a strong performance in Kona. The long-time Nike affiliated athlete had one of his best runs in Kona as he took seventh place, narrowly missing out on catching the next athlete on our list. Wurf, as you would expect, wore this year’s AlphaFly.

11.) Gregory Barnaby – 2:50:33 – 6th Place
Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Sky Paris
It’s perhaps only surprising that it took to 11th place to find an ASICS wearing athlete. The MetaSpeed line has steadily gained share amongst professionals and age groupers. The Sky, meant for athletes who gain speed via longer stride length versus turnover, is more popular with professional men; the Edge (for athletes who gain speed via turnover) appears to have better in-roads with women. Yawn if you’ve heard it before: PEBAX foam, sandwiched by a carbon fiber plate, then try to add lightness. The MetaSpeed Sky Paris only trails the Adidas for lightness here at 6.5 ounces in a men’s size 9.

12.) Kieran Lindars – 2:51:49 – 8th Place
Shoe: Nike Vaporfly 3
Lindars opted for the original carbon racer Vaporfly over the AlphaFly. By comparison, the Vaporfly is half an ounce lighter than its stablemate. The Vaporfly is also a bit lower to the ground in stack height which, combined with a revised midsole geometry for this year’s shoe, makes it a bit friendlier to those with fatiguing run form.

13.) Mathias Petersen – 2:52:37 – 12th Place
Shoe: HOKA Rocket X2

14.) Braden Currie – 2:54:25 – 28th Place
Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Sky Paris

15.) Mike Phillips – 2:54:35 – 17th Place
Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Sky Paris

The post Nike Reigns Supreme Among Fastest MPRO Runs in Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Deboer was worn by the fastest swimmer of the day, as well as by five other men in the top 15. Sailfish was also quite popular amongst the front of the field.

Without further adieu, here’s your top 15 MPRO swims of the day and the gear they used for it.

1.) Menno Koolhaas 47:02
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

2.) Sam Laidlow 47:06
Swimskin: Sailfish Rebel Pro Plus1

3.) Antonio Benito Lopez 47:08
Swimskin: Orca Athlex

4.) Patrick Lange 47:09
Swimskin: Aquasphere Phantom

5.) Gregory Barnaby 47:12
Swimskin: Roka Viper X

6.) Kieran Lindars 47:12.
Swimskin: Synergy Synskin 3

7.) Ben Kanute 47:15
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

8.) Finn Große-Freese 47:16
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

9.) Sam Appleton 47:16
Swimskin: Sailfish Rebel Pro Plus1

10.) Paul Schuster 47:17
Swimskin: Sailfish Rebel Pro Plus1

11.) Matthew Marquardt 47:18
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

12.) Rudy Von Berg 47:18
Swimskin: ARK

13.) Kacper Stepniak 47:20
Swimskin: BlueSeventy PZ4TX+

14.) Kristian Blummenfelt 47:21
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

15.) Braden Currie 47:22
Swimskin: Deboer tsunami 3.0

The post Swimskins of the Top 15 Pro Swimmers in Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The IRONMAN World Championships in Kona are notoriously hot and humid. Although this year’s race was gentler than average on conditions, it still reduced plenty of men to doing everything in their power to cool themselves off. Where do they usually start that problem? The bike. So it’s always been common to see creative solutioning to carry more and more fluid on board bikes, despite averaging an aid station every 11 miles.

There’s also, of course, the chase for aero benefits on front hydration systems. With the prohibition on using empty bladders down a tri suit, we’ve seen more athletes using a bottle in that space to try and fill the space between the arms and chest.

So it perhaps comes as a slight surprise that of the nearly 2,300 bikes that the collective team counted in Kona, only slightly more than half of them — 1,253 — had front hydration systems that we could identify. Rear hydration remains more popular, with 1,661 systems counted. And of those, there’s one brand that dominates: XLAB. They accounted for 42.2% of all the rear hydration systems, nearly doubling the count of second-placed Profile Design.

PD, however, outpaced XLAB on front hydration carriers, 412 to 315. But the most popular front solution was one integrated into the frame or bars from the manufacturer. I think this is something that we’ll need to watch for over the next couple of seasons, especially if Canyon continues its trajectory in the bike counts; any of their bikes will come with some type of front-mounted hydration either built into the frame (CFR, CF SLX) or with one available to purchase (standard CF).

Same with Quintana Roo and their V-PRi, which has an integrated FuelBay system. Both Profile Design and XLAB are helped by other QR bikes, though. Either a Profile Design or XLAB hydration system is offered as part of the purchase on the V-PR or X-PR bikes (the PD Aeria system is included, with the XLAB Torpedo a minor upcharge offering).

No other brand cracked a combined total of 100 carriers, either front or rear. The closest was Bontrager, which had 48 front carriers, 46 in the rear. And how the mighty have fallen, as Speedfil has just 5 total systems in the field, a far cry from their days as a major age-group team sponsor (and, in turn, showing up on the pier).

The totals:

Perhaps the most interesting statistic to me, though, are the roughly 630 athletes who eschew either a front or rear hydration system, relying instead on traditional frame bottle bosses (or their best Faris Al-Sultan impression). Was it a matter of budget, a lack of aero knowledge, or some other factor that led them there? We’ll need to keep an eye on this end of things as well, particularly if bike prices continue their march upward.

Photos: Eric Wynn / Slowtwitch

The post XLAB is Top Hydration Carrier in Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

There are now three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Ashleigh Gentle winning the Noosa Triathlon.

Gentle unleashed another trademark performance to claim her eleventh Noosa Tri title, and her tenth in a row. Coming out of the water in tenth, Gentle started progressing her way through the field once on the bike. Midway through the ride, Gentle put her nose in front and would never relinquish the lead again, with a minute margin of victory over second placed Richelle Hill. Natalie Van Coevorden earned third place.

Post-race, Gentle was elated, saying, “This year there was a particularly strong swim field, I know I don’t have the speed to come out with some of those women, the short course specialists and super swimmers but I still had a reasonable swim actually, the group of girls that I came out with and then I just tried to hammer the bike really hard at the start, just to try and get to the front of the race as quickly as possible, I surprised myself a little bit with how strong I was riding and how quickly I did catch the field but then from then on I led the whole way on the bike and once I got off I just tried to stay composed as best as I could.”

GARMIN NOOSA TRIATHLON – WOMEN’S RESULTS

1. Ashleigh Gentle – 1:55:56
2. Richelle Hill – 1:56:58
3. Natalie Van Coevorden – 1:58:49
4. Sophie Malowiecki – 1:59:01
5. Tara Sosinski – 1:59:20
6. Nicole Van Der Kaay – 2:01:39
7. Chloe Hartnett – 2:02:26
8. Lotte Wilms – 2:04:05
9. Charlotte McShane – 2:04:15
10. Mikayla Messer – 2:04:33

The men’s race was a long-time duel between Brayden Mercer and Jamie Riddle. Mercer had the fastest swim of the day, emerging just ahead of Riddle and Tayler Reid. With typical pack jockeying, Mercer and Riddle traded positions on the front until shortly before T2, where Riddle pushed onward to build a gap on the chasers.

However, it would not stick, with Mercer never letting Riddle out of sight. At 2.5 kilometers, Mercer re-took the lead and continued pushing onward to take the win. Mercer would fade slightly, passed by Reid and Luke Willian. The top four men all finished within 1:07 of one another.

“I knew that the swim is my strength so I thought if I could push it from the start, get a little group together on the bike and then if I rode to what I knew I could do on the bike, which I did, and then come off the plan was to push myself to the finish line on the run and that’s what I did and I got the win, I’m honestly over the moon,” said Mercer.

Over 8,000 athletes took part in the 41st edition of the Olympic distance event.

GARMIN NOOSA TRIATHLON – MEN’S RESULTS

1. Brayden Mercer – 1:43:20
2. Tayler Reid – 1:43:58
3. Luke Willian – 1:44:15
4. Jamie Riddle – 1:44:27
5. Jake Birtwhistle – 1:45:30
6. Kurt McDonald – 1:46:08
7. Caleb Noble – 1:47:53
8. Jack Sosinski – 1:48:43
9. Jack Crome – 1:49:02
10. Joe Begbie – 1:49:22

Photos: Alex Polizzi

The post Ashleigh Gentle Goes to Eleven at Noosa first appeared on Slowtwitch News.