They’ve pumped out significantly less content this week compared to the Miami lead up. Kind of a bummer, but I imagine they just didn’t have the personnel in Singapore. I have to believe it would have been pretty easy to find some young kids in Singapore who would have been happy to make video content on the cheap. Oh well.

Episode 2 of the rough cut series looked fun with the athletes doing some non-training activities like karting and zip lining.

The head-to-head interviews they came out with in Miami was good they can only do that a number of times. It's been mentioned somewhere that it'll be the PTO's team doing the broadcast for Singapore unlike in Miami where NASCAR handled it which likely explains less videos leading up to the race.

What I've heard from close sources, although not officially confirmed, is that there was a major health problem with one of his parents, either very critical or already... So in this case it's better to pay respect for him and don't judge his opt-out or silence. He was ready and has been training very well as seen latest on his Strava from the past weekend, so only a major setback could prevent him from racing.

That's not good read. He have had some bad luck over the last few years, hope to see him fully fit soon. And if he retires from pro racing, many of us hope he doesn't go to AG ;-)

He’s definitely fit. Sometimes life has to come before triathlon and this is one of those times. When it rains it pours and he’s definitely had some rainy luck recently. I just hope people use this situation as an example of not jumping straight to attacking an athlete without knowing the full story.

At the end of the day, Gomez could retire tomorrow and look back at two 70.3 world wins, IM wins, and Olympic silver, among many other achievements. I also think he is the one that set the new bar in 70.3 racing when he beat Frodo at 2014 worlds. Not certain Ari Klau has a single win as a pro yet?

Feel like they just put too many races on the calendar. They had it right with 4ish bigger races that everyone was going to. IM/Challenge are not going away so athletes are still going to go to those races.

Too bad to hear about Ditlev & Gomez. Opens the door for the Americans, unless Brownlee wants to just not run 3:00/k pace in 80 degrees w./ full humidity.

Ditlev has a broken wrist apparently

Officially Gomez has withdrew for personal reasons.

Mens odds (Skybet)

. West 3/1
. Long 4/1
. Brownlee 9/2
. Keulen 7/1
. Heemeryck 8/1
. Laidlow 8/1
. Baekkegaerd 10/1
. Funk 10/1
. Royle 14/1
. Smith 16/1
. Noodt 16/1
. Kanute 25/1
. RVB 25/1
. Chevalier 28/1

Others ask.

I've backed Brownlee, there are some other good value bests there I think on a EW Heemeryck could be worth a look at I think but the Grand National is on tomorrow so I have to be careful how much I'm gambling.

Magnus is out.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Hey folks, what time in Singapore do men's and women's races go off. I assume Friday night and Saturday night EDT as there is a 13 hrs time shift to Sing.

I have not participated in the thread yet, but question I have is now many of these athletes coming off winter WON'T melt in Sing humidity racing right on the equator coming off northern hemisphere winter?

I just looked at accuweather, and I see 27C BUT 86% humidity RIGHT now at 10 pm in Singapore, and the weekend weather is rain and anywhere from 72 to 76 percent humidity (which of course drops as the day heats up).

Just redid my pics.

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Let food be thy medicine...

1. Brownlee
2. West
3. Heemeryck

1. Gentle
2. LCB
3. Lee

this is an important point. loyalty cuts both ways, and if you want athletes to commit to a complete calendar of racing . . . you have to give them that calendar well in advance, and make the path clear.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

If Magnus doesn't start will this still count as one of his required T100 races for the series, since he travelled there and was injured at the race city? Hopefully they can get another last second wildcard to show up also.

I redid mine. Pulled Baekkegaard into 2nd for Ditlev. Earlier I had Baekkergaard outside the top 5. It's a hunch and I'm the worst result predictor ever.

1. West
2. Baekkegaard
3. Stepniak
4. Brownlee
5. Heemeryck

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

That is the weather forecast 365 days of the year...

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Andrew Inkpen

Here you go Dev:

Great question, and one I guess the PTO wouldn't ever have considered.

Well his contract is with the PTO and between them they'll agree/decide. But it's in both the PTO's and the athlete's best interest that they race healthy and don't compete risking injury aggravation or post-illness complications.
Ditlev is contracted to "compete in" 5 of the 7 plus GF so he can still meet that commitment (missing Las Vegas as well, a few days before Kona). Racing Roth will not affect his ability to race London 3 weeks later, will it?
If an athlete misses more than 2 races due to injury then I guess the PTO can reduce or withhold any/some further moneys.
Given how much work Ditlev has done this week: we have seen it evidenced in all the media stuff - I suspect the PTO will give him a 'tick' for Singers.
Remember it's his best 3 scores (of the regular season 7) that count, and he already has a '35' bagged.

More generally (and echoing @DevPaul), every athlete racing, even if acclimatised, risks heat injury this weekend. Do any other endurance sports allow/select venues/times of day which can be predicted/forecast to have such an extreme heat injury risk?

I’ve heard this discussed on a couple of podcasts, but not heard a definitive answer. I have to imagine athletes aren’t being penalized for legitimate injuries, especially when, in this case, Magnus had every intention of racing.

Laidlow has very clearly said Kona is the goal this year, but credit to him for actually showing up and competing.

I saw that as well and I wondered if someone at PTO reached out to him and asked for him to play a little team ball better. It certainly seems out of the blue to just drop since nice words for the PTO -- even as I fully accept that it's an accurate framing of the issue.

I also agree that Laidlow deserves credit for actually committing to the PTO.

But if I was the PTO I would be a little annoyed that the unfortunate takeaway from Laidlow's prior statements is that the PTO doesn't matter and he's focused on Kona. I think it clearly shows that he values the PTO. And if he does just end up racing in such a way that puts him consistently in the top 10 it shows he's playing ball. Maye not giving them his full effort, but willing to give him his time on the startline.

I was surprised at how slow he ran in Miami. If he was 3-4min faster on the run he's in a fight for the podium. Although it is interesting that all the fast male swimmers in Miami were among the slowest runners. Coincidence or is it possible they just got their core temp up too quickly?

Laidlow has never run an IM70.3. He has completed several Challenge races roughly that length. He's a pretty average runner, comparatively, with his Kona and Nice runs complete standouts: somehow he generated run speed and endurance we only see in the big race (2022 and 2023).
So both Laidlow and the PTO know he will not be up the T100 sharp end come November. But he's getting to race with the other big boys and enjoy himself, and be paid for it.
I really don't think the PTO take all this umbrage stuff about one or other series/race exclusivity which you seem to want.
They are fine with athletes competing in other races, provided they also fulfill their contractual obligations: not just the racing but SM activity, the Tuesday-Sunday timings, media, community engagement and outreach.
Why should PTO be concerned about the Roth start list with shed loads of T100 athletes: Ditlev, Chevalier, RvB, Mignon, Bækkegård, Heemeryck (and WPro Philipp)? There's no T100 between SF (8 Jun) and London (28 Jul).

If the PTO had proposed contracts which seemed to prevent athletes achieving other objectives (eg Nice) several would not have taken up the contracts. In the event last December, only Lange chose not to take the 30 pieces of silver. Though others have suggested a tightening of this, I doubt this principle will change for 2025. The intent is to have 9 regular season events (nearly had 8 this year but one (in May) fell through last minute (late Jan)). For sure the race calendar will be shared much earlier, at least with those offered contracts. So I expect Miami next March to have an even stronger (WPro) field. Singapore 2025 will still be swerved by many: environmentally too risky.

Will athletes be contracted to race 6+GF next year? Probably. Can they fit other stuff in? Certainly, including validation for Nice/Kona and, as we've seen, Roth.

Where would be the best outlet to watch on replay over breakfast on Sat and Sun morning? Sorry if covered on the thread...maybe we need a T100 race day thread set up today, with links to livestream and archive stream at top so it is easy to find.