The guy ran through a lot of Kona qualifiers in StG 2022 after a crappy swim and conservative bike. It's not like he's got no chance. Texas I can see him top 5. Lake Placid I can see him top 3. A few guys who will be going to both of those races already have a slot, so if they finish ahead of him there's a chance it rolls.

I could see him going all in and racing Texas, Cairns, Lake Placid, and Kona. Only 3 of those will count towards his ranking, but unless he has some great results and Kona qualifies early, it helps his score to have the best possible 3 IM events count toward the rank.

Then he just has to win one of the 70.3s, say Chattanooga, and place reasonably well at 70.w worlds and that is a decent shot at accumulating enough points on average to be top 3 in the series.

Unless of course Laidlow gets his mental and physical health consistent enough to dominate. Or Max Neuman the same.

The IM series actually sounds way more interesting than the PTO vaporware at this point. All the decisions and the possible outcomes. I hadn't thought about how it will all play together. The races in 2024 should be the best season ever. PTO could just announce their work is done without holding another race and we should be grateful for what they caused to happen.

Furthermore, cycling rewards high 3min power. Ganna is the fastest TT rider but has almost no chance say winning road races. It's a very different power curve for long distance tris.

Written like only GC contenders are "cycling." There's an entire team of strong cyclists like Ganna behind someone winning stages.

Ganna has a collection of road race wins and podiums from this season alone which would disagree with your statement.

imswimmer328 wrote:

Ganna has a collection of road race wins and podiums from this season alone which would disagree with your statement.

This near miss springs to mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ4-lvLBkPQ
Definitely some speed in those legs.

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Full-time Engineer / Part-time Pro Triathlete
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You should check out Milan San Remo from this year!

Not to mention, speaking of high 3 min power, Ganna literally holds the 4km track Individual Pursuit record as well with like a 3:59

 
Furthermore, cycling rewards high 3min power. Ganna is the fastest TT rider but has almost no chance say winning road races. It's a very different power curve for long distance tris.

lol..are you just trolling us now? Only way I can mathematically reconcile how you can make so many false or inaccurate statements in a single sentence.

Feel free to take a look at procycling stats. Ganna has six road stages wins and multiple podiums. Includes mountain stages behind the likes of Lopez (you wouldn't know who he is). Ganna isn't the fastest TT rider at the moment, Remco is and I can argue that Tarlin and Venga could also beat him.

I only chose Ganna to construct my argument because he has a measured performance that it is ~6 kph faster than Sanders/Bussi's rides. 6 kph is eternity in professional cycling. Hence some of you folks wet dreams of Sanders beating top pro cyclists are just that...dreams.

Google what Milan San Remo is, and check his palmares.

Yeah Ganna's a pretty bad example, probably should have thought about that one for a second.

The point is that Wurf being a world tour cyclist and pro triathlete is a rare thing that seems like it should be more likely, given the high sustained power top tri pros are holding. I submit that a difference in the power curve (3min heavy vs 4h heavy) makes it a less straightforward crossover than it initially appears.

He's really aware of his past mistakes but seems unable to learn from those mistakes and course correct. Still love his content though.

Wurf was a modest domestique pro cyclist before he was a LC triathlete (lots of work at the front, zero wins) Hence why it was likely easy to get a job as he obviously has the bike skills to ride in a fast pack. I would argue that he could have work harder for Ganna to place in the podium of Paris Roubaix instead of saving energy for his brick run.. but that's another topic.

Various of the SC have the skills and the engine to do this work (Bergere, Luis, Wilde, Blu, Iden and the list goes on and on) but it will be impossible with a SC racing calendar.. Many of best LC cyclists also have the engine to work as domestiques but perhaps don't have the bike skills.

Wurf is in a unique situation due to his background as a pro tour cyclist. Quite a versatile super-athlete considering he is also an Olympic rower.

He's just so damn entertaining. The PTO is going to miss him and his promotional platform big time this year.

What he seems to learn from his past mistakes is that he has now discovered a magic bullet of a plan that will solve everything in 3-6mos. Different bullet every year, same misfire.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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Lionel saying that he can do it at 42 because Jan did is like Garoppolo saying he can do it at 42 because Brady did.

THIS WILL BE LIONEL’S YEAR

Lionel is like a gambler who’s constantly chasing his losses

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blog

Did he say that he can do it at 42? Can you timestamp that statement?

It's always interesting when a pro gives his take on said year. I found it interesting he sorta mentioned his repeated stupid decisions to pick a race that included cross country travel the week of, or the back-back-back races that would of course result in disaster. To then summarize he should go with a Frodo approach of a more selective schedule. Now I would look at that and say Frodo could race 5 times because he was going to win 3 and 2 top 5 finishes as the rest all against the best competition, while it seems like LS's *chances* of racing world class fields and even top 5 finshes likely less than ideal.

I think for a guy like LS if he truly wants to compete for top billing among the IM series, he's going to have to race "max" races as he likely won't have the luxury of top placements like others may get and may be able to race less races overall. The middle of pack guys are likely going to have to race more often to sorta offset a score + place hold against other pros, etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I'm sort of back to enjoying the content as something more than Lionel clowning around. I'll give him the benefit of doubt this time. Maybe, just maybe, Lionel has *amateur psychologist mode on* addressed the underlying insecurity that kept him from just consistently training in a sensible way *amateur psychologist mode off*.

In addition to the usual "I need to do this and that to succeed", this time I heard "I don't need to do this or that to succeed". Instead of the usual "to perform against Jan and Kristian", it's "to be at my best".

I'm a pretty naiive person, so that helps LOL
Also, I almost forgot that triathlon includes swimming

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

Same old, same old...........but you gotta love him!

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Yep..The idea that he could train Trevor Foley as a coaching "exercise" had me laugh out loud.

"Hey Trev,feel like being my Guinea Pig for the year?"

Hahaha....Very entertaining stuff.

Indeed!
In general he talks more and more about being a coach, but would any pro/upcomming pro want to be coached by him?

I hope he can turn it around for a few good years. He has a point in that he just trains and races, trains and races, never peaks for specific races and ensures good recovery after. But how are you only learning this now being a pro for 10 years?

Yeah it will be interesting to watch "Coach Lionel" this year and maybe he can demonstrate he has a skill for it. As it stands, you would be crazy to go to him for a training program bur maybe in 2024 he will prove us wrong in that regard.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
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With his platform many will take his coaching just for the extras. Now it’s really really hard to take athletes to world class level and not be “all in” on that as a coach. I have no clue if LS has that motivation/grind once his own career is over.

But I do think he could fill a niche of up and comers type and or be stupid successful with an AG based “LS” brand. It’s almost a given it’ll come to that as the next move. Hire a few coaches to do the actual structure and send a weekly text to AG athlete “good job” while coaching a few specific peole for $750/month….that’s the money making move. It’s also why I don’t know that you can then truly Coach world class talent as it’s just a different requirement imo.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Exactly what i thought too, for AG'ers he could build something very profitable! For Pro's etc. not so much.