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.

SuperTri kicked off its 1st of 5 races last week in Boston. Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair and Great Britain’s Alex Yee claimed victories. Lehair got redemption after a disappointing Olympic Games. Yee defeated his friendly rival, Hayden Wilde, in dramatic fashion, crossing his arms as he crossed the finish line replicating the same move Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is famous for. It looked like Wilde took exception to the celebration, although the two congratulated each other shortly after. Some in the triathlon community seem to have not liked the move either but I would welcome some more personality into our sport. You see players in major sports leagues celebrate for a lot less (sometimes for a routine play that takes a handful of seconds). Our athletes are incredible. It is okay to show some emotion!

Stop two on the SuperTri tour stayed in the United States, as athletes took to Chicago’s lakefront to do battle. The race paired with the Chicago Triathlon, which welcomed more than 8,000 age group athletes over the weekend. The women’s race came down to five athletes on the final run. Olivia Mathias and Taylor Spivey used short chutes to edge ahead and try to chase down the victory. It was Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, however, who eventually caught the leading duo and would go on to take the win. Olympic Champion Cassandra Beaugrand moved up for 2nd. America’s Taylor Spivey held on for 3rd. Taylor-Brown said, “It’s really nice to be back on top. I forgot what it’s like to lift the tape. It’s a nice feeling but it’s so hot out here. All the girls did incredible.” Spivey added, “It feels so good. I always seem to get 4th place so just being in the top-3 is really satisfying.”

Short chutes and penalties were the story in the men’s race. Wilde and Vasco Vilaca separated themselves at the start of the final run, utilizing their short chutes, while two of Tim Don’s Podium Racing athletes had to serve penalties. Wilde encouraged Vilaca to take a turn at the front towards the end of the first of two laps. Vilaca, appearing to be at his upper limit, could not go to the front and Wilde carried on ahead of him. That move proved to be decisive, as Wilde built a small lead from there and crossed the line first. France’s Leo Bergere passed Vilaca late to finish in the runner-up spot. Vilaca rounded out the podium, after missing the time cut in last week’s race. Wilde was excited to get the win saying, “(I’m) Super stoked to be finally back on top. It’s been a long time.” He said he changed his tactics from last week & committed to a more conservative race strategy, with less time spent off of the front of the race.

Women’s Race

Temperatures approached nearly ninety degrees fahrenheit for today’s race. The water temperature was in the mid-seventies and some wind created choppy swim conditions in Lake Michigan. Competing on home soil, Kirsten Kasper led out the swim and secured a short chute for Stars & Stripes Racing. Beaugrand and Taylor-Brown, teammates, pushed the pace on a very technical bike course, traversing the lakefront path. Leonie Periault fell behind the pace early. Brownlee Racing picked up the second short chute. Mathias and Jessica Fullagar got onto the run first. Several of the pre-race favorites worked their way back into the main group. Beaugrand picked up the final short chute for Crown Racing and created a small gap heading into the second swim leg. Nine athletes were separated by ten seconds heading onto the second bike leg. Mathias, Beaugrand, and Spivey were given the short chutes by their team captains. Brownlee Racing had to decide between Beth Potter and Mathias.

A group of four athletes were all in contention on the final bike leg. It looked like the winner would come out of a group consisting of Mathias, Taylor-Brown, Spivey, and Fullagar. Mathias and Spivey took their short chutes to gap Fullagar and Taylor-Brown by a few seconds at the start of the final run leg. Beaugrand moved up into 5th place, leading the chase pack. Taylor-Brown quickly closed down the gap and moved into the lead. Mathias and Spivey tucked in and let her dictate the pace. The pace proved to be too much for the pair and Taylor-Brown moved clear of them. A hard closing Beaugrand came through for second but she ran out of the needed real estate to catch Taylor-Brown, who won the race. Spivey rounded out the podium in 3rd.

Men’s Race

Similar to last week’s opening swim leg, this week started with what we might call a full contact swim leg. Matt Hauser and Chase McQueen led out of the water and went back and forth several times, pushing and shoving each other, trying to get the first short chute. McQueen struggled to locate his bike in transition and Hauser took the first short chute for Podium Racing. One of the announcer’s remarked that “bumping is racing.” Vilaca picked up the next short chute after the first bike leg. Eleven men were within eight seconds of the lead. Notably, Alex Yee was not in that group. Wilde, wanting to keep things that way, pushed the pace on the first run and grabbed the final short chute for Crown Racing.

The second iteration of swim-bike-run saw Yee continue to fall off of the pace. He now trailed by more than twenty seconds. Tim Hellwig went down on the bike, into a hay bale, but was able to get right back onto the group. A large group of eight were all within contention heading into the final swim. Kenji Nener reached the bike first but the group quickly reeled him in. It was going to come down to a run battle. Tim Don expressed frustration with Crown Racing Manager Chris McCormack, who he accused of fixing Wilde’s bike chain in transition and tending to a bike shoe issue for a different athlete. Wilde, who had time to put on a Red Bull hat in transition, and Vilaca took their short chutes and gapped the field at the start of the final run. Wilde and Vilaca ran together for the first of two laps. It did not look so much that Wilde increased the pace but that Vilaca had reached his limit and dropped back. Wilde took the win. Bergere moved up to finish second. Vilaca rounded out the podium with a hard fought third place finish.

(Not so) Quick Take: Today’s race, just like last week’s, was entertaining. We are getting to see some of the best short course triathletes trade blows in a fast paced environment. The first two races have taken place in large US cities but, in general, away from where people live. The Chicago lakefront is actually somewhat difficult to get to. You have to cross a major highway (Lakeshore Drive) to get to where the race was. It can be difficult to find parking on the lakefront. The race course did not pass any residences. There seemed to be people around the start and finish but a lot of the course looked empty. I do not know what the fix is because there would not be a clean body of water to swim in other than Lake Michigan in Chicago proper. It looked like many age group racers passed on staying for the race. When you have professionals compete at the same time as age groupers you benefit from all of their family and friends attending the event. Watching today’s race I, again, thought to myself that this format is made for television and that a casual sports fan could watch on a summer in August, without a lot of other options to choose from. I watched it on TriathlonLive. There is still a sign-up requirement to watch through SuperTri directly. SuperTri can help grow the sport. It just feels like a little something is missing. More people should be seeing these incredible athletes racing like this right after the Olympics.

Photos: SuperTri

The post Taylor-Brown, Wilde Win SuperTri Chicago first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The beautiful capital city of Tallinn, Estonia, played host to the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championships today. Stacked fields, consisting of athletes contending for the Pro Series and athletes transitioning from short course to long course, looked to make their mark on the race. Athletes were greeted by unseasonably warm temperatures that reached eighty degrees fahrenheit and winds that reached twenty miles per hour. This led to a healthy number of athletes not being able to finish the race. It was Greece’s Panagiotis Bitados on the men’s side and Germany’s Caroline Pohle on the women’s side who would prevail.

Bitados was a surprise winner but does have a pair of wins in 2024. After the race he said, “That’s the point for me to enjoy, to finish safe, and to push everything of my body, and for me I am happy for myself, and that’s the goal for me. So I am happy today.” He tried to do each discipline at a high level and was happy that his run came through today. Asked what comes next he added, “Training, and then training.”

Pohle was much less of a surprise on the women’s side but did well to hold off her challengers. Known as a strong swimmer, it was her bike and run that solidified her result today. She tells us, “I’m absolutely speechless. At the moment I think it’s just a dream. I worked so hard the last month and today it pays off the hard work the last month so, yeah, I’m absolutely speechless and happy and proud of myself.” Pohle continued, “I played my cards at the swim and at the bike. I tried to push hard from the beginning. I hoped for a good run and worked really hard on my run performance the last month.”

Men's Race Recap

Germany’s Hannes Butters led out the swim in 21:07. That was enough to put a small gap on the rest of the field. Great Britain’s Sam Dickinson, who you might know as Alex Yee’s sherpa for the Paris Olympics, came out of the water in second in 21:36. Dickinson was second at 70.3 Bahrain in 2022 in his only other start at the distance. Marc Dubrick, Jelle Geens, Panagiotis Bitados, Kevin McDowell, Kacper Stepniak, and Justus Nieschlag, all joined Dickinson up front. The main chase pack included names like Joao Pereira, Antony Costes, Peter Heemeryck, Leonard Arnold, and Robert Kallin. The Tallinn bike course is fast and flat. Butters maintained an early lead over the field. Kallin bridged up to the chase pack by halfway and then to the front of the race with 15km left to go. Kallin would only be able to gap Butters by thirty seconds heading into T2. The rest of the field, however, was much further back. Kallin had distanced them by four minutes.

Germany’s Leonard Arnold was the only person within three minutes of the leading duo. Arnold moved into the lead of the run early, with Kallin falling back. By the 10k mark, however, Bitados had moved all the way through the field and into the lead. Arnold was in second. Geens, one of the strongest runners in the field, was one minute back in third. From there, Bitados’ lead would only grow. He pumped up the crowd down the finishing chute, as he broke the tape in 3:36:09, splitting 1:09:18 on the run. Arnold and Geens would hang on for second and third respectively.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Bitados, Panagiotis 3:36:09 21:46 2:02:49 1:09:18
2 Arnold, Leonard 3:36:45 23:06 1:59:58 1:11:04
3 Geens, Jelle 3:39:13 21:45 2:03:00 1:12:20
4 Stepniak, Kacper 3:39:52 21:50 2:02:53 1:13:04
5 Nieschlag, Justus 3:41:57 21:52 2:02:58 1:14:46

Women’s Race Recap

Germany’s Caroline Pohle took control of the race from the start and would lead wire to wire. She put approximately forty seconds on the main swim pack, which included Marta Sanchez, Kate Curran, Pamalla Oliveira, Sif Madsen, Lauren Brandon, Luisa Prat, and Grace Thek. You know that you swam well if you can put that much time into some of the strongest swimmers in the sport. Lisa Norden, Kaidi Kivioja, Kat Matthews, Maja Stage Nielsen, and Tamara Jewett were a little further back but still in contention. Pohle did not wait for anyone to catch her on the bike. She led by ninety seconds at halfway. Madsen and Matthews had broken away to form a small chase pack. Norway’s Solveig Lovseth rode in between them and a larger chase pack. Pohle’s lead would grow to more than two minutes, with only the three aforementioned women within striking distance.

The only question that remained was if Matthews could run Pohle down? Pohle maintained her lead early in the run and then her lead began to grow over the second half. Matthews was seen taking water and ice at pretty much every aid station. The conditions were clearly playing a role in deterring her comeback attempt. Pohle would not come under any pressure on the run, clocking a superb 1:20:17 run split in warm conditions to take the win. Matthews would have to settle for second. Lovseth rounded out the podium in third. Thek and Curran used strong runs to move up to take fourth and fifth place respectively.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Pohle, Caroline 3:59:40 25:10 2:11:50 1:20:17
2 Matthews, Kat 4:02:39 26:20 2:12:46 1:20:55
3 Lovseth, Solveig 4:05:56 27:12 2:12:44 1:23:23
4 Thek, Grace 4:08:23 25:54 2:18:55 1:20:42
5 Curran, Kate 4:09:35 25:49 2:18:44 1:22:28

Quick Takes

Quick Take #1 – Caroline Pohle was excellent today. It is not easy to go wire to wire and beat someone as good as Kat Matthews by three minutes. Matthews will not be happy not being able to take full points in the Pro Series. This looks to be Pohle’s best run result of her career. It also came on a warm day, not meant for personal bests. Pohle will only be harder to beat moving forward if she is able to replicate this kind of a run performance. It is not easy to run well, after being off the front of the race all day.

Quick Take #2 – Panagiotis Bitados is ranked 101 by World Triathlon. He was 8th at the Hong Kong World Cup earlier in the year, one spot ahead of Matthew McElroy. He is now three for three this season at the half distance, winning Challenge Walchsee and 70.3 Kraichgau earlier in the year. He took down some strong competition in those races utilizing a similar blueprint. He is a front pack swimmer and excellent runner. If his bike keeps him close enough to the leaders then he is going to be a threat in any race he enters. We do not know what is next for him except for, of course, more training.

Quick Take #3 – Let’s not be quick to anoint short course Olympians at long course. Geens and Lovseth both took 3rd today. McDowell was 19th. Dickinson was 20th. Bitados is more of a hybrid athlete, crossing over into both formats. This is not meant to put short course athletes down but to simply acknowledge how good long course racing has gotten. The bike is so difficult now that it does require specific training to figure out how to put a good run together. It will be interesting to see how more athletes perform who make the move after this Olympic cycle.

Photos: Brit Maria Tael for IRONMAN

The post Bitados and Pohle Take 70.3 European Crowns in Tallinn first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The Olympics are over and SuperTri is back. The four teams have been rebranded as Brownlee, Crown, Podium, and Stars and Stripes Racing. Today’s race took place in Boston, Massachusetts, paired with a longstanding event that saw age groupers race earlier in the day.

Sixteen athletes took to the start line in the women’s race, which consisted of three “mini” triathlons back to back to back. It was Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair who emerged victorious. The race came down to four women, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh, Taylor Spivey, and Lehair, on the final run leg. Lehair blazed ahead of the others just past the 50:00 mark. Lehair was a DNF at the Olympics and said after the race that “It was a bit of frustration from Paris in my run today.”

The men’s race, similarly, came down to a run battle. Just like a couple weeks ago in Paris, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde ran neck and neck in the closing minutes of the race. Wilde had a small lead on Yee early in the final run leg but Yee worked his way back to the New Zealand athlete to move into the lead. The race leader would change again just 30 seconds later. Wilde stayed on Yee’s shoulder and passed him back. Would Yee be able to respond? The answer was a resounding yes, as 20 seconds later Yee would hit the lead again and sprint to victory. He crossed the finish line with his arms crossed, which left Wilde visibly upset. After the race Yee said that, “We want SuperTri to be exciting.” Today’s races definitely checked that box. Wilde, when asked about being so close to victory, immediately cut in and said, “Close isn’t good enough.”

Women’s Race:

Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes led out the women’s race and picked up the first short chute for Podium Racing. For those new to SuperTri, short chutes are awarded at different points in the race to the leaders’ team. The team captain (manager) can then pick any athlete on their team who can cut a small part of the run course later in the race. Most of the 16 person field stayed together through the first bike leg, with American Katie Zaferes being the only one to fall off of the pace. Brownlee Racing picked up the second short chute. A small group of 5 edged ahead on the run, leaving Olympic Champion, Cassandra Beaugrand, with the chasers. Georgia Taylor-Brown was the main aggressor, pushing the pace at the front of the race. Taylor-Brown and compatriot Kate Waugh led out the second swim, with Lehair closeby. American Taylor Spivey also bridged up to the front pack. The lead group whittled down to 5 on the second bike leg and then down to 4 after the second run leg.

The winner was going to come out of the lead group consisting of Taylor-Brown, Waugh, Spivey, and Lehair. That group would come out of the water together on the final swim. Lehair was last to get on the bike, opting to run with her bike a little longer before hopping onto it to avoid the tight first corner coming out of transition. The two Crown Racing athletes, Taylor-Brown and Waugh, attacked on the bike right as Spivey went for a sip from her bottle and opened up a small gap on her and Lehair. Lehair looked to be falling off of the back. Spivey managed to hang onto their wheels and emerged in first after the final transition. Taylor-Brown and Waugh were right behind her. Lehair was 6 seconds back but had a short chute to use. Taylor-Brown moved into the lead. It looked like it could be her day but then Lehair, utilizing her short chute, pulled even with her. Lehair made a hard move at the 50:00 mark and the race was effectively over. Taylor-Brown looked behind to see where Waugh and Spivey were. Lehair, possibly running on some anger after her disappointing Olympics, pulled away and even had time for some high fives at the finish line. Taylor-Brown finished in 2nd. Waugh was 3rd and Spivey was 4th. France’s Leonie Periault, who had been running great all day, moved up to take 5th. Beaugrand finished well off the pace in 8th.

Men’s Race:

The first 100m of the swim made triathlon look more like a combat sport instead of an endurance event, with athletes jostling for position. Matt Hauser beat Max Stapley out of the water to pick up the first short chute. The first bike leg went to plan for most athletes, with 14 of the 16 starters within 6 seconds of the lead. The first run started to break the field up a little, as Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee hit the front of the race. A group of 7, including Yee, Wilde, Hauser, Vincent Luis, Tim Hellwig, Dorian Coninx, and Sergio Baxter, emerged from the next swim leg in the front pack. Wilde made the next bike leg difficult on the others and, at first, dropped two riders. He could not find any solidarity among the other leaders, as nobody else wanted to take a pull at the front of the race. That allowed the two dropped riders, Hellwig and Hauser, to latch back onto the group. Hauser would lose contact with the group on the next run leg and then the race was down to six athletes.

Coninx picked up a 5 second penalty for not putting his goggles into his box at the end of the final swim leg. Wilde was definitely trying to inject some pace into the final bike leg but he, again, had no takers to share the work and the pack was content to let the final run leg decide things. Yee had a bad transition, struggling to rack his bike, and came out of the final transition in 6th. Coninx used his short chute to move into first but still had to serve his penalty, which he did take halfway through the run. That dropped him from 1st to 5th. Wilde took over the lead. Yee had moved all the way up from 6th to 2nd. At the 48:00 mark, Yee pulled even with Wilde. The two would trade blows from there to the finish line. Yee went ahead of Wilde first but that move was only good for 30 seconds. Wilde passed back and injected more pace into the run. It was not enough to shake Yee, as he would be passed 20 seconds later. Yee charged to the finish and seemed to let up a couple steps before the finish to cross his arms in celebration. The two shook hands shortly after but Wilde seemed unhappy with the celebration choice. Wilde said after the race that it was a shame that some of the other boys did not want to share the work and that he has been seeing too many silvers in the last couple of weeks. It would be nice to get gold in Chicago. We will see if he can do one place better next weekend.

Not so Quick Take: I have been covering a lot of different races for SlowTwitch this summer and SuperTri, perhaps, seems like one of the most compelling formats to take to mainstream viewers. I do not know why today’s race was buried on Triathlonlive or a sign-up link on the SuperTri website. SuperTri racing is exciting from start to finish. Its fast and furious racing style, with real time statistics and tracking, should appeal to casual fans. You can shut down a small area of a major city and really put out a great product. Obviously Formula 1 is not a fair comparison for triathlon but my mother-in-law, who is not the biggest sports fan, watches it and is fascinated by all the little things they detail for their audience, like tire pressure and type of tire. There is no reason a stream like this cannot dive into equipment selection that casual fans would understand. Are athletes using clear or tinted goggles? Are they wearing a wetsuit? What tire pressure are they using? What kind of tires do they have on their bikes? What super shoes are they wearing?

My mother-in-law is also a huge fan of the Olympics. This window that we are currently in only exists once every four years. A lot of people just watched Yee and Beaugrand win gold. There is no reason a series like this cannot have a Sunday afternoon time slot on a real network at a time of year when some of the major sports are in their offseasons. I would love for everyone to sit down and watch an 8 hour IRONMAN with me but it is much more realistic to pull folks in with a race like this. Both races were full of excitement today. Both gold medalists were on the start line, racing right after the Olympics. There has to be some sort of pathway to get more eyes on the sport. I think there is an opportunity in front of us, right now, with SuperTri.

Photos: SuperTri

The post Lehair Gets Paris Redemption, Yee Over Wilde at SuperTri Boston first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

For someone coming off of the Olympics simply hoping to validate for the IRONMAN World Championship, Kristian Blummenfelt had himself a day in Frankfurt. The Norwegian superstar was coy in his pre-race remarks about his chances of winning today’s race. Blummenfelt said: “Last week we had a mixed relay in Paris. So, it's like almost 10 days ago, and that's like a 20-minute race versus seven hours, 40 minutes or eight hours – it's a completely different energy system.” It was not unrealistic to think that Blummenfelt would have his hands full with such a strong field assembled. As the race progressed, however, Blummenfelt was always near the front. The strongest swimmers in the field were not able to get any separation, as he came out of the water in the lead group. Uber-biker Kristian Hogenhaug built a small lead in the back half of the ride. Blummenfelt was in a perfect position in the chase pack and would run into the lead before the 10k mark. From there, the only question was if he would set the fastest marathon split ever recorded in an IRONMAN. In the end, he would clock a 2:32, good for the 3rd fastest split all-time, only behind two marks held by Patrick Lange. Blummenfelt crossed the finish line in 7:27:21, setting an IRONMAN Frankfurt course record.

After his stellar performance, Blummenfelt said, “I’m quite surprised. I felt I came in with really not much preparation, really lack of riding the TT bike, barely done any long runs. I was realistically thinking go out as normal and expect the wall to hit me quite early on the bike.” Blummenfelt would go on to say that at the 160k point of the ride he realized he was towards the front of the race and could run for the podium if he was feeling good. It was clear that that was the case, as he reached the lead quickly and went on to win by nearly 5 minutes over a class field. Kieran Lindars, donning bib number forty-eight, was a surprise 2nd. Gregory Barnaby came 3rd. Blummenfelt reasoned that he might have trained a bit too heavy on the aerobic capacity side of things heading into Paris versus training his speed. He can now put his Olympic campaign behind him and look forward to trying to win for the first time in Kona – maybe the only thing missing from his very impressive resume.

Race Recap

The European Championships attracted a strong field, looking to secure Pro Series points at the final full distance race on the calendar aside from Kona. An $87,500 prize purse and 6 Kona slots were on the line today. Germany’s Wilhelm Hirsch led out the swim in 45:51 on home soil. Pristine conditions at Langer Waldsee did not allow the stronger swimmers to build any sort of lead heading into T1. Hirsch towed another 15 competitors with him to the front of the swim. Plenty of big names were in the main group including Menno Koolhaas, Braden Currie, Kristian Blummenfelt, Gregory Barnaby, and Kieran Lindars. The chase pack, led by Robert “The Wolf” Wilkowiecki was 2:00 in arrears. That group included Paul Schuster, Kristian Hogenhaug, and Clement Mignon. Patrick Lange, Pro Series Leader Matt Hanson, and Jackson Laundry were 4:00 back. Sam Long and Trevor Foley were 7:00 back.

By the halfway point of the bike, Kristian Hogenhaug had reached the lead and had begun to put time into everyone else. Hogenhaug was in control of a Kona Qualification deep into IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz just a month ago, before seeing the slot slip away in the closing kilometers of the run. Would he be able to better hold things together this time around? He played the card he had and made the bike difficult on the chasers. He would increase his lead to 2:00 by 112k and to nearly 3:00 at the bike finish. He split a 3:57:09 for the 180k ride. Ruben Zepuntke came off the bike next, 2:44 behind Hogenhaug. Blummenfelt led the main chase group off next, close to 5:00 behind Hogenhaug. Blummenfelt’s group included Barnaby and Lindars. Koolhaas was nearly 10 minutes down. Lange and Hanson were 12 minutes back. Long rode a surprising 4:09:05, 25th fastest in the field, to come in 17 minutes behind the leader. Foley was more than 24 minutes back and eventually DNF.

The 4 lap run course was perfectly flat. Temperatures reached 70 degrees, with some humidity. Conditions were far from perfect but Blummenfelt looked like he might break 2:30 halfway through the run. He caught Hogenhaug before 10k and did not look back from there. He would go on to run 2:32 and set a new Frankfurt course record. Lindars ran into 2nd place. You could see the raw emotion on his face in the closing kilometer and how much this performance meant to him. Barnaby rounded out the podium in 3rd. Hogenhaug would hang on for 4th and earn that coveted Kona slot. Koolhaas ran 2:35 to move up to 5th. Lange wound up 8th but importantly finished ahead of Hanson in 14th. The two were running together at the 25k mark, before Hanson fell off of the pace. This result could have major implications in the Pro Series standings.

Top 5 Results

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Blummenfelt, Kristian 7:27:21 46:06 4:03:14 2:32:29
2 Lindars, Kieran 7:32:14 46:29 4:03:26 2:37:05
3 Barnaby, Gregory 7:33:44 46:15 4:03:33 2:38:53
4 Hogenhaug, Kristian 7:35:32 47:57 3:57:09 2:45:13
5 Koolhaas, Menno 7:35:51 45:55 4:08:36 2:35:54

Quick Takes

QT #1: Kristian Blummenfelt is my favorite for Kona. He might have sand bagged a bit before this race but he still took down a class field by 5 minutes and should only get better with a couple months of specific training. We might get to witness something truly special in October when we add in a few other big names into the mix. Rumors have been swirling about a move to professional cycling for Blummenfelt. Kona is the one thing he has not won in triathlon. He is going to want to win there before moving on (if that’s what he chooses to do).

QT #2: Be honest, where would you have slotted in Lindars pre-race? Maybe top-20 or top-30? Very few would have put him in the top-10, let alone 2nd to arguably the best long course triathlete of the last few years. Lindars had some strong results last year, including a 2nd place finish at the prestigious full distance race Challenge Almere, where he more or less crawled to the finish line after pushing it to his upper limits. He had not found the same success this season but showed up to this race with a great attitude. He spoke post race about not having the same resources as some of the top guys. He couldn’t escape the rainy season to go train somewhere warm and took the morning rain as a sign that he was ready to perform in these conditions. He talked about how he has assembled a team of volunteers who guide and support him. He started with bib number 48 and is now heading to Kona. What a ride!

QT #3: Gregory Barnaby has been quietly putting together a strong 2024. He was 3rd at 70.3 Mallorca, 8th at IRONMAN Cairns, and 10th at T100 London. Add in today’s 3rd and he has been a model of consistency this season.

QT #4: It was great to see Kristian Hogenhuag bounce back today after losing a Kona slot late at IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz just a month ago. The Kona bike record is officially on watch.

QT #5: Max Neumann was unfortunately a DNS so he has not qualified for Kona. Will IRONMAN exercise its Wild Card Policy on Neumann or anybody else this cycle?

QT #6: We will do a story on the IRONMAN Pro Series next week. Today was the last race to score points at the full distance, outside of Kona. Lange finishing ahead of Hanson is significant. Foley’s DNF is significant. Long finishing 22nd basically takes him out of contention. Look for a deep dive into the Pro Series standings and how we see things shaking out as we approach championship season.

Photos: Getty Images for IRONMAN

The post Blummenfelt Validates with Big Win in Frankfurt first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

I didn’t grow up on swim teams. Sure, I swam a lot in our backyard, above ground pool, and living on Cape Cod meant plenty of time at Nantucket Sound facing beaches, on Bass River, or out on the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. But goggles were never part of the equation.

It wasn’t until I came back to swimming as an adult, a baby triathlete, that I started wearing swim goggles. And I’ve always taken the mindset that if you want to improve as a triathlon swimmer, well, you should treat your swim training like a swimmer. It means that, in the pool, I’ve almost always worn Speedo goggles of some type — Speed Sockets, or Vanquishers, or if I’m feeling frisky, the Fastskin Hyper Elite.

All of these goggles have one thing in common — the gaskets sit inside your eye sockets, versus over them. Want to get that lovely raccoon look from swim goggles? Any of these pairs will suffice. And they’re great in the pool. For open water? Well…less so. They’re more prone to giving you a headache over a long period of time, and a kick to the face definitely hurts a bit more.

For open water I’ve almost always worn something larger — like Zoggs Predator Flex. It’s a lot like a decent hotel room. It’s fine. You won’t write about it. You won’t think much of it. But they work. They serve their purpose and do nothing else.

So color me surprised when I received a pair of sailfish’s open water specific goggle, the Blizzard. Like a lot of open water goggles, they feature polarized lenses to reduce glare and a gasket to fit over, not inside, the eye socket. The lenses are curved, which when in water provide a clearer picture of what’s swimming around you (like 2500 of my closest friends in Mirror Lake this week, or hopefully, the cable so I can be lazy and not sight). And there’s easy adjustability near the temples.

I wasn’t particularly impressed out of the box. The packaging is fine, but not descriptive. You can buy them in any color you want, so long as it’s black on black. It just seems like another open water goggle in a sea of them.

And then you actually wear them.

I cannot understate this enough: these are the best goggle I have ever worn outdoors, period.

It comes down to three factors. First, the soft silicone gaskets and adjustable fit made for leak-free, comfortable performance for swims lasting upwards of 90 minutes. Second, the polarized lenses simply work. I am lucky enough to have access to an outdoor pool, but lap swimming only occurs in the afternoon, and you’re usually staring into the sun if you breathe to the wrong side in each direction. You can breathe to whatever side is most comfortable, even with the sun brightly shining on that side, and you won’t then be blinded. And three, micro adjustments to the straps are possible quickly, and without having to take the goggle off.

It’s rare for me to be shocked by a product. It’s even rarer for that shock to be because the product is excellent. For it to be a swim goggle, of all things, has me dumbfounded.

They are that good.

$45.00, Available Now
Buy at the Slowtwitch Shop

The post Quick Test: sailfish Blizzard Swim Goggle first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

It was not until the 29 kilometer mark of the run that Antonio Benito Lopez hit the front of the race for the first time. Robert Kallin came off of the bike with a nearly 6 minute lead over Kristian Hogenhaug. Lopez trailed by 13 minutes in 5th place. That did not seem to affect the Spaniard, who set off on a mission on the run in front of his home crowd. He moved up into 3rd by 10k, still more than 8 minutes back. By the halfway point, however, his gap was down to 3:00. Lopez soon overtook Hogenhaug, who had passed Kallin, and did not look back. He expanded his lead over the last 10k, would win by nearly 5 minutes, and take the course record.

Through an IRONMAN translator, Lopez said that his main goal was to get his Kona slot. He felt good during the race and it became clear that it was going to be his day. Lopez took time at the end of his interview to shoutout Spanish tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz, who is playing at Wimbledon today, and the Spanish National Team, who is playing England in the European Championship Final tonight. It is certainly a strong day for Spanish athletics.

The United Kingdom’s Stephanie Clutterbuck used her unmatched swim speed to come out of the water more than 4 minutes over all other competitors. That set up a long and lonely day for Clutterbuck, who would not see another racer until after the 100 kilometer point of the bike. Kat Matthews swam in the chase pack and would be among the group of women to catch Clutterbuck on the bike. Matthews worked with Ruth Astle to break away from the others to reach T2 and get onto the run first. From there, Matthews would not be challenged. She increased her lead all the way to the finish line and went on to win by 8 minutes.

On being told that she smashed the course record, Matthews said, “Oh, cool, course record, yeah, didn’t know, wasn’t aware, great.” On her race, she added, “Honestly, I had a bad swim. I felt really disconnected. I felt like I was having fun on the bike…I thought it was just so fair, so honest, such a great course, and then the run it was a bit of a just get through it day.” Matthews sought redemption after being disqualified at IRONMAN Hamburg in early June and certainly got it. She earned full points for the second time at the 140.6 distance, bolstering her position in the Pro Series standings.

Men’s Race Recap

Former ITU star and Slovakian Olympian Richard Varga led out the swim (45:23), putting 1 minute on the rest of the field. A chase pack of more than a dozen athletes formed behind him. Sam Laidlow, David McNamee, Antonio Benito Lopez, James Teagle, Robert Kallin, and Bradley Weiss, were all in that group. Kristian Hogenhaug was another minute back. Robert Wilkowiecki, Cam Wurf, and Arthur Horseau were gapped even further. Kallin quickly went to the front of the bike and began putting significant time into the rest of the field.

Right before the 70k mark, reigning IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow was handed a drafting penalty. He failed to serve the penalty at the next penalty tent and was subsequently disqualified* (*more thoughts on this in our Quick Takes at the end of the article). Kallin led by almost 6 minutes over Hogenhaug at T2. Kallin did well to protect his lead over Hogenhaug early into the run. At the 10k mark, Hogenhaug was only able to chip into his lead by a minute, but others were charging up to both athletes. By the halfway point of the run, Kallin’s lead was down to a minute over Hogenhaug. McNamee and Lopez were sitting just 3 minutes back. Hogenhaug soon passed Kallin but his time in the lead was short lived. Lopez made the catch at 29k, and extended his lead from there.

He broke the tape in 7:36:38 to set a new course record and put together a 2:37:57 marathon on a day where temperatures reached more than 80 degrees fahrenheit (26 celsius). McNamee was a clear 2nd, finishing almost 5 minutes later. The battle for the remaining places was on after that. Hogenhaug was clinging onto 3rd and the last Kona slot late into the race. Weiss and Wurf passed him after 7:30:00 of racing. Wurf was able to separate from Weiss in the closing stages of the race to round out the podium.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Lopez, Antonio Benito 7:36:38 46:30 4:07:53 2:37:57
2 McNamee, David 7:41:20 46:29 4:08:40 2:42:03
3 Wurf, Cam 7:43:16 50:29 4:03:15 2:44:41
4 Weiss, Bradley 7:43:51 46:37 4:07:55 2:45:11
5 Hogenhaug, Kristian 7:44:36 47:36 3:59:49 2:53:23

Women's Race Recap

Stephanie Clutterbuck exited the water (50:40) with a more than 4 minute lead. Kat Matthews (55:07) led a chase pack of 7 women including Els Visser, Simone Mitchell, Elisabett Curridori, Ruth Astle, Daniela Bleymehl, and Katharina Wolff, out next. Gurutze Frades was back in 11th in 58:27. Clutterbuck rode off the front of the race for more than 100 kilometers, before being caught by Visser, Matthews, Bleymehl, and Astle. Visser was impressively coming off of a 3rd place performance at Challenge Roth just last weekend.

Matthews began attacking around the 110k mark. She was able to break away with Astle heading into T2. Bleymehl and Visser were around one minute back. Clutterbuck faded by another couple of minutes. Nobody else was within 14 minutes of the lead. Matthews immediately went to the front of the run and Astle held onto 2nd place early. Visser was able to catch Astle shortly after 10k and the pair would run together for several kilometers, until Visser was able to pull away. Matthews was never seriously challenged on the run and would win in 8:24:23. Visser claimed 2nd. Astle hung on for 3rd, after having to walk several aid stations in the last 10k. It was encouraging to see Astle finish, after injuries prevented her from beginning her 2024 season until now.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Matthews, Kat 8:24:23 55:07 4:30:07 2:54:40
2 Visser, Els 8:32:29 55:08 4:31:04 3:01:41
3 Astle, Ruth 8:38:07 55:11 4:29:54 3:08:24
4 Bleymehl, Daniela 8:41:12 4:30:41 3:10:30
5 Mitchell, Simone 8:41:39 55:09 4:44:21 2:56:35

Quick Takes

(Not so) Quick Take #1: Let’s talk about drafting!
This isn’t a new issue. We’ve seen stars, like Lionel Sanders, get disqualified at the biggest races in our sport. We saw a blue card (5 minute penalty) get handed out at IRONMAN Cairns. Today, we saw IRONMAN Champion Sam Laidlow receive a drafting penalty. Once the penalty is issued, the athlete has no direct recourse. Laidlow failed to stop at the next penalty tent and that meant he was disqualified. He should know the rules so this is 100% on him. He was, however, reportedly not notified until T2 of his disqualification and he continued onto the run, planning to protest it after the race. The issue here is that he did not serve the penalty during the race. He stayed in the pack he was in, received the disqualification, and the panel that heard his protest after the race affirmed his disqualification.

My main concerns are that 1) penalties are not handed out regularly, 2) the length for drafting penalties effectively end your chances at a podium/pay day, 3) you cannot serve penalties in transition – it has to be at the next penalty tent (although I do hear the argument that if you did the thing you’re accused of doing then you shouldn’t get to stay in your group but then I’d go back to point 2 as you have no chance of ever catching back up once you come to a stop), and 4) communication- Laidlow should have been told of the DQ (maybe he knew the rules?) before T2 so that he could have chosen to save his legs for another race. My understanding is that the length of time to serve a blue card penalty is meant to deter people from drafting. If you were to just receive a 30 second or 1 minute penalty then it would encourage people to draft the entire time. The reward would be greater than the risk.

That logic follows until you add in Race Ranger. For now, referees still have to see the drafting violations – Race Ranger cannot penalize an athlete on its own. Riding into a draft zone does not initiate a penalty on its own but theoretically Race Ranger is collecting that data and there must be a way to see that in real time. If there was a way to find some balance here I think that could be best for everyone. Maybe Race Ranger (or just referees on their own) could trigger smaller penalties that could be taken in transition or at a penalty tent of the athlete’s choosing. That way, if someone is pushing draft zones throughout the ride they would pick up penalty after penalty. Maybe have a certain number of those violations trigger a disqualification. If someone enters into a draft zone one time but is known as a clean racer and does not do it again, maybe they don’t deserve a 5 minute-end your day-kind of penalty. What do you think? I am certainly against drafting but it seems like penalties like this are harsh in a sport that does not allow a lot of athletes to piece together a comfortable living. Laidlow has a PTO contract and still has to validate for Kona. Will he get to race on the big island? Is that what IRONMAN wants?

Quick Take #2: Okay, back to the fun stuff. Is Lopez a serious Kona contender? It feels like IRONMAN racing has turned into an event to see who can hang on the best on the run after a monster bike split. Lopez is a part of an almost dying culture in the sport, where you’re an athlete where your run is your strength and you can use it to secure a late race victory. Kona is the great equalizer (bike/run balance) race where the conditions do allow runners to excel. While it wasn’t humid in Spain today, it did get warm on the run and Lopez was comfortably under 2:40. In his last 10 races, between this year and last year, Lopez has had the fastest run split on 7 occasions, even beating out Belgian superstar Martin Van Riel’s run split in one of those races. In his 3 other races, Lopez had the 2nd fast run split twice and the 3rd fastest run split once. Over his career, he has not always chosen races with the strongest competition. This was probably the strongest field he has faced and we caught a glimpse of what he is capable of. I’d pencil him in as a Kona contender.

Quick Take #3: I’m not even going to ask if Kat Matthews is a Kona contender. My question is if she is the Pro Series favorite. Matthews has now taken full points at 2 full distance races. She is going to need to put together a pair of strong 70.3 performances to stay ahead of someone like Jackie Hering. If Hering wins Lake Placid next weekend she would also have full points at 2 full distance races. She also has 2 strong 70.3 performances banked. Matthews has a PTO contract to honor but plans on racing 70.3 Tallinn. She has an auto qualifier for the 70.3 World Championships at the end of December too. It would be exciting for Year 1 of the Pro Series if the women’s champion is crowned based on who has the better result in the last race of the season. It looks like that’s where we could be heading.

Quick Take #4: I just wanted to give some quick appreciation to Els Visser’s race schedule. She was 3rd at Challenge Roth last weekend and was 2nd today. This was her 10th race of the season. She has 3 wins, 8 podium finishes, and the furthest back she’s been is 5th.

The post Lopez Victorious in front of Home Crowd, Matthews Masterclass at Vitoria-Gasteiz first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Magnus Ditlev and Anne Haug turned in two of the strongest full distance performances to capture titles at Challenge Roth. Both trailed after the swim but quickly worked their way to the front of the bike. Ditlev broke 4 hours for the 180 kilometer bike leg, riding 3:59:25. That’s an average of 45 kilometers per hour (28 mph). Haug was equally impressive on the bike, splitting 4:27:58 (40 kph, 25 mph avg.). Both athletes carried large leads heading into T2. Neither athlete would be meaningfully challenged on the run.

All attention quickly turned to the clock, as both athletes began to threaten the fastest long distance times in the world. Ditlev went through the halfway point of the run in 1:16:16. From there, Ditlev would give back some time but would still run a 2:34:18 marathon. He crossed the finish line in 7:23:24, taking more than a minute off of the record he set at this race last year.

On his record setting performance, Magnus Ditlev said, “I had a really good swim so that set me up for the first half of the race and then on the bike I actually pushed really good power, by far better than last year…I felt really good on the run because of all of the amazing people cheering [me] on.” Haug opened the front half of her run in 1:19:45. She would get faster in the closing miles and turned in a 2:38:52 marathon to break the tape in 8:02:38. That bettered Daniela Ryf’s record from last year, and gave us the second world best time of the day.

Men's Race Recap

Germany’s Lukasz Wojt led out the swim, with a small leading group that he was eventually able to put a gap on. He came out of the water in 45:21, followed by compatriot Jan Stratmann (46:10) and Denmark’s Daniel Baekkegard (46:14). Ditlev wasn’t far off of the pace in 46:23. Patrick Lange, one of the best runners in the sport, was an early DNF on the bike due to a rib injury. Lange was expected to chase a sub-2:30 marathon clocking on the run.

Ditlev moved to the front of the bike and began to build up his lead. The crowds willed the chasers up Solarer Berg but they could not gain any time back on Ditlev. Baekkegard crashed out of the race but seems to be okay. Ditlev reached T2 first after a sub-4 hour bike split. Rudy Von Berg led a group of three, including Tom Bishop and Stefan Zachaeus, into T2 next. Stratmann was a little further back in 5th, after getting a flat tire. Ditlev did well to maintain his lead early on the run, and let the others battle for the remaining podium places. He clocked a sub-2:35 marathon to win by almost 15 minutes. Bishop ran in 2nd for much of the run, until Von Berg caught him around the 25k mark. Bishop would respond and go on to take 2nd by 36 seconds. Stratmann moved up to take 4th. France’s Leon Chevalier finished in 5th.

Women's Race Recap

Anne Haug (52:37) and Rebecca Robisch (52:39) led out the women’s swim. Laura Philipp (55:14), Svenja Thoes (55:16), and Els Visser (55:17) made up the chase pack. Robisch took the early lead on the bike, closely followed by Haug. It did not take long after that for Haug to make her move and start putting time into the rest of the field. At last year’s race, Haug biked 4:39:17. She rode more than 10 minutes faster than that time to take a commanding lead into T2. Haug made a sub-2:40 marathon look easy off of an incredibly hard ride to go on to win in 8:02:38. Philipp was the best of the rest, clocking the 2nd fastest run of the day (2:44:34) to take 2nd. Visser held on for third to round out the podium. Anne Reischmann moved up to finish 4th, after running a 2:50:09 marathon. That was enough to hold off a fast charging Danielle Lewis in 5th.

Quick Takes

Quick Take #1: We witnessed two exemplary performances today. Both long distance records (on accurate courses) went down today in similar fashion. Ditlev took a little over a minute off of the record he set last year. He ran sub-2:35 for the first time in his career. Conditions were close to ideal today but if he can replicate that run form at future full distance races, I am not sure if there is anyone who will be able to beat him. In Haug’s decorated long course career, she has never broken 4:30 on the bike. She did that today and, similarly, looks unbeatable at the full distance. Haug's 2:38 marathon split was 2nd fastest overall out of all male and female professionals. Only Ditlev ran faster.

Quick Take #2: With all of the competing races professional athletes need to choose from this year, the Challenge Roth fields took a big step back this year. This is one of the biggest races in our sport and the atmosphere looked incredible today. Hopefully they find a way to keep this race highly competitive moving forward. It looks like more effort went into the men’s pro field so that is something that should be looked at as well.

Quick Take #3: The live stream lost power a couple of times but the coverage of today’s race should be raised up. The commentary, featuring Belinda Granger and Sebastian Kienle, was engaging from start to finish. They gave us multiple cameras on the athletes at the front of the race and did not miss any of the key moves that were made. PTO and IRONMAN should take some notes from this broadcast.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Ditlev, Magnus 7:23:24 0:46:23 3:59:25 2:34:18
2 Bishop, Thomas 7:37:54 0:46:17 4:05:46 2:42:42
3 Von Berg, Rudy 7:38:30 0:46:19 4:05:46 2:43:25
4 Stratmann, Jan 7:38:57 0:46:10 4:08:31 2:41:21
5 Chevalier, Leon 7:39:11 0:48:38 4:05:59 2:41:33
6 Zachäus, Stefan 7:40:28 0:46:25 4:05:44 2:44:44
7 Eggeling, Marc 7:44:14 0:48:38 4:12:04 2:40:33
8 Lewis, Joshua 7:52:32 0:46:24 4:08:07 2:54:37
9 Störzer, Christian 7:52:41 0:54:24 4:15:43 2:39:12
10 Huerzeler, Samuel 7:53:06 0:48:40 4:11:48 2:48:55

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Haug, Anne 8:02:38 0:52:37 4:27:58 2:38:52
2 Philipp, Laura 8:14:13 0:55:14 4:30:47 2:44:34
3 Visser, Els 8:24:47 0:55:17 4:31:02 2:55:25
4 Reischmann, Anne 8:26:07 0:58:41 4:34:43 2:50:09
5 Lewis, Danielle 8:26:50 1:01:14 4:33:21 2:48:47
6 Græsbøll Christensen, Katrine 8:34:55 1:00:53 4:38:42 2:52:24
7 Robisch, Rebecca 8:36:51 0:52:39 4:37:25 3:03:03
8 Zimmermann, Laura 8:40:43 4:39:05 2:57:17
9 Skala, Julia 8:43:54 0:59:32 4:47:35 2:52:53
10 Pohjalainen, Tiina 8:45:10 0:58:46 4:41:57 3:01:27

The post Ditlev and Haug Set Records at Challenge Roth first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The professional fields did not seem bothered racing one day early to accommodate the snap parliamentary elections taking place in France on June 30th. Run battles were a feature of both the men’s and women’s races. In the women’s race, it was Denmark’s Laura Madsen who secured the victory. Madsen came off of the bike in a large lead pack but used an efficient transition to get onto the run with one other athlete. She would go on to run a steady 1:19:31 to get to the finish line in first. The top-5 finishers in the men’s race were separated by less than 2 minutes. Rico Bogen, after his recent sprint finish with Martin Van Riel at T100 San Francisco, looked like he would run away with the victory. He built a small lead in the early kilometers of the run but was eventually overtaken by Germany’s Nicolas Mann. Mann ran 1:11:12 to break the tape. After an injury riddled 2023, Mann is now 2 for 2 in IRONMAN 70.3 racing in 2024. He convincingly won 70.3 Mallorca in May and then took down a class field here.

Women’s Race:

Brazil’s Pamela Oliveira led 5 women through the swim in 22:04. She pulled along Luisa logna Prat, Caroline Pohle, Kate Curran, and Julie Iemmolo. Marjolaine Pierre was just off of the group in 22:35. Laura Madsen came out of the water in 9th in 23:11. Maja Stage Nielson was 10th in 23:31. Nikki Bartlett was back in 13th in 23:43. Pohle got onto the bike first and led a large group through the early kilometers. By halfway, the group ballooned to 12 riders. Only 3 riders fell off from there to the bike finish. Madsen was first off of the bike, followed closely by Charlene Clavel. Nielsen, Pohle, Pierre, Bartlett, Curran, Kaidi Kivioja, and Emillie Morier, came off of the bike next. With such a large group coming off of the bike together, the first and last rider were separated by 25 seconds. Positioning would be crucial heading out onto the run. Madsen and Clavel got out of T2 first. Four women, Madsen, Bartlett, Clavel, and Curran, eventually joined together by the halfway mark. Clavel would be the first to fall off of the pace. By the 16k mark, Madsen had accelerated forward and put a gap on Bartlett and Curran. That order would hold to the finish line. Madsen won in 4:05:51, running 1:19:31 to become the 70.3 Les Sables Champion. Bartlett actually outran Madsen by 3 seconds but finished 2nd, 40 seconds in arrears. The race was lost in positioning at the bike finish and speed through T2. Transition is often called the 4th discipline and it certainly impacted today’s race. Curran rounded out the podium in 3rd. Clavel, one of the main aggressors throughout the day, hung on for 4th. Pohle was 5th.

Men’s Race:

South Africa’s Nicholas Quenet was first out of the water in 20:02. 13 men were within 24 seconds of the lead, including most of the big names. Johannes Vogel, Rico Bogen, Youri Keulen, Clement Mignon, and Nicolas Mann, were all in the main group. Norway’s Gustav Iden, still working his way back to the top of the sport, came out 1:14 down in 16th place. Quenet breezed through T1 and got onto the bike first. Bogen and Keulan eventually got to the front of the race and began pushing the pace. 8 men remained in contention through the halfway point of the bike. Only 1 rider would fall off before the end of the ride. A group of 7 entered into T2 together. Bogen and Mann immediately went to the front of the run. Bogen, maybe not wanting to get himself into another sprint finish, gapped Mann by 30 seconds at the 8k mark. By 12k, however, Mann would catch back up and the pair was running side by side. Mann broke Bogen over the next few kilometers and would go on to take the win in 3:39:48. Mann put together the fastest run split of the day, clocking a 1:11:12. Keulen and Mignon moved up to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Bogen faded to 4th. Vogel took 5th. Iden was back in 13th, after coming off of the bike in 10th.

The post Close Finishes Highlight 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne–Vendée first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Wahoo has launched the start of a new line of accessories branded as TRACKR. An updated heart rate monitor is first on their list; the TRACKR HEART RATE monitor replaces the TICKR chest strap HR monitor. However, the optical TICKR Fit Armband HR monitor will continue to be offered for the foreseeable future.

What’s new with the TRACKR HEART RATE Monitor? The two main changes are moving away from a coin battery toward a rechargeable unit and claims of increased accuracy. There’s also changes to the way the strap connects. Below I show comparisons between the new TRACKR HEART RATE (top) and the old TICKR HR monitor (bottom). I’ve been using the new TRACKR HEART RATE the last two weeks.

Although the size of the HR monitoring unit has been reduced with the TRACKR HEART RATE compared to the TICKR, the width and material of the strap remains the same.

The smaller TRACKR HEART RATE unit is more comfortable because you notice it slightly less sitting on your chest.

By removing the need for a coin battery door, the TRACKR HEART RATE unit could be reduced in height top to bottom. However, the unit remains essentially the same in the side width.

The TRACKR HEART RATE unit is recharged with a proprietary magnetic cord. Though I appreciate being able to recharge the unit and moving away from coin batteries, I’m not a fan of having yet another special charging cord that I need to keep track of.

Similar use of snaps to connect the unit to the strap, comparing the new TRACKR HEART RATE and the old TICKR.

The detection area on the straps has increased slightly, which may having something to do with Wahoo’s claims of increased accuracy.

The strap adjustment on the TRACKR HEART RATE has been simplified, which is a welcome change. The double adjustment on the old TICKR always took extra effort to lay flat.

The new TRACKR HEART RATE uses a hook clasp instead of connecting with the snaps on the old TICKR. The TICKR is definitely easier to put on, snapping together at the center of your chest. The new TRACKR HEART RATE requires you to reach around to your side to hook the clasp in the loop. Alternatively you can hook it in the front and then spin the strap into place.

Works As It Should

Over the last two weeks testing the new Wahoo TRACKR HEART RATE, my lasting impression is that it does what it should to the point that I don’t have to think about it. This was also true of the old TICKR.

I had no problems connecting the TRACKR HEART RATE to all my different devices. It’s up to speed with both ANT+ and multi-Bluetooth connectivity. In short, there’s no issues connecting to all the Wahoo and Garmin computers that I have around. Also no problem pairing it to apps on my phone and gaming PC.

The rechargeable battery is supposed to last over 100 hours of use. I charged it once and haven’t needed to recharge it since I’ve been using the unit. I’m all about moving away from coin batteries, but lost is the convenience of instantly reviving a dead unit with a battery swap. The initial charge time was reasonable, though. I’m gradually developing better pre-ride recharging rituals as more and more components on my bike require batteries.

Accuracy

Wahoo claims the new TRACKR HEART RATE is more accurate with an improved algorithm. I asked for more details, but the Wahoo representatives were reluctant to share evidence that supports their claim. I’m not too worried about that, but I’m always working on my cardiologist to trust my HR data that I’m capturing. I’ve pretty much won him over and can show him my SVT episodes when they happen, but it would be nice if Wahoo could do that work for me by making their accuracy details available.

Do You Need It?

If you are in the market for a new HR monitor, take a closer look at the Wahoo TRACKR HEART RATE for its increased connectivity (up to 3 Bluetooth devices at once) and rechargeability (moving away from coin batteries). Other than those two main selling points, I don’t see a need to run out and buy the new TRACKR HEART RATE if your current strap is doing everything you want it to do. MSRP is $89.99.

The post Tested: Wahoo TRACKR HEART RATE Monitor first appeared on Slowtwitch News.