Triathlon and Hamburg Championship

It was nice to watch the last World Series.  It was FAST AND FURIOUS.  The same winners won except for Vincent Luis who got silver.  Gómez rightly said that Luis did not work on the bike; reason why he was second.  Alistair Brownlee made him work on the bike next day, so Alistair won the relays.  It is just very simple!  Luis has not trained enough to be able to be winning at Olympic distance.  It is not a matter of mileage but also technique.  Luis running does not allow him to run a 10k at high speed; he runs with the heels; his hips are behind his center of gravity; his cadence is kept at a very high energy price.  He runs as an 800 meters runner with a poor technique.

2014 ITU World Triathlon Auckland : Apr 06 2014 : Elite Men : Results

1	Javier	Gomez Noya	ESP		01:54:13	00:17:53	00:00:53	01:04:15	00:00:28	00:30:42
2	Jonathan	Brownlee	GBR		01:54:33	00:17:51	00:00:52	01:04:19	00:00:26	00:31:03
3	Aaron	Royle	AUS		01:55:49	00:18:02	00:00:54	01:04:07	00:00:29	00:32:16
4	Dan	Wilson	AUS		01:55:52	00:18:04	00:00:52	01:04:04	00:00:26	00:32:24
5	Ryan	Bailie	AUS		01:55:59	00:18:03	00:00:54	01:04:05	00:00:27	00:32:27
6	Ryan	Sissons	NZL		01:56:23	00:18:46	00:00:54	01:03:24	00:00:29	00:32:48
7	Vincent	Luis	FRA		01:56:30	00:18:02	00:00:53	01:04:08	00:00:29	00:32:55

At the same time, it was also nice to see Alan Webb doing the relay.  It gives a lot of information for whoever wants to look for talent:

Alan Webb (athlete)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alan Webb
Webb at the KBC Night of Athletics in 2007
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	13 January 1983 (age 31) Ann Arbor, Michigan
Residence	Portland, Oregon
Height	5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m)
Weight	145 pounds (66 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track
Event(s)	1500 m, One mile
College team	Michigan
Club	Nike Oregon Track Club
Coached by	Jerry Schumacher
Achievements and titles
World finals	2005 1500 m 2007 1500 m
Personal best(s)	800 meters: 1:43.84[1] 1500 meters: 3:30.54[1] Mile: 3:46.91[1] (NR) 3000 meters: 7:39.28[1] 5000 meters: 13:10.86[1] 10,000 meters: 27:34.72[1]

Alan Webb (born January 13, 1983, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a former American track and field athlete and current triathlete. He holds the American national record in the mile, with a time of 3:46.91 (min:sec). Webb represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's 1500-meter race. He competed professionally for Nike until the end of the 2013. He retired after the 2014 Millrose Games to focus on training for the triathlon.

  

He possesses the USA record for the mile.  He was supposed to be faster than the triathletes for the distance in the relay competition (1,500 meters run).  Something that did not happened:

2	Jonathan	Brownlee	GBR		00:18:34	00:03:47	00:00:29	00:09:33	00:00:20	00:04:27
4	Alistair	Brownlee	GBR		00:18:41	00:03:56	00:00:30	00:09:32	00:00:19	00:04:25
4	Vincent	Luis	FRA		00:18:46	00:03:53	00:00:28	00:09:37	00:00:20	00:04:29
2	Aaron	Royle	AUS		00:18:53	00:03:52	00:00:30	00:09:39	00:00:20	00:04:33
4	Dmitry	Polyanskiy	RUS		00:19:33	00:03:53	00:00:31	00:10:15	00:00:20	00:04:36

4	Akos	Vanek	HUN		00:19:05	00:03:57	00:00:30	00:09:44	00:00:20	00:04:37
2	Crisanto	Grajales	MEX		00:19:17	00:03:51	00:00:30	00:09:59	00:00:24	00:04:35

2	Alexander	Bryukhankov	RUS		00:19:08	00:03:46	00:00:31	00:09:54	00:00:22	00:04:38
4	Alan	Webb	USA		00:19:27	00:04:04	00:00:28	00:09:57	00:00:21	00:04:39

We have not had athletes like Webb to know more about how to proceed to make Webb a talented triathlete.  Webb was a swimmer before turning a full time runner but never was a cyclist.  It is obvious that his bike leg made him pay a toll on his running.   We had had a program in Mexico where they emphasize swimming and running but at the end they cannot run because of the bike; it is sponsored by the Mexican Federation. Crisanto Grajales was unable to draft after Jonathan Brownlee when he left transition zone just a step in front of Jonny.  Learning to ride the bike takes years to improve power, skills, tactics, etc. and it looks like our Mexican triathletes are not going to be able to increase their power to 370 watts average for a 40k bike ride in their life.  This power is needed to be in the first peloton taking turns at the front.

There were first class swimmers going into triathlon as it was the case of Andy Potts who never ran fast enough to compete with today’s speed.  There were cyclists like Steve Larsen who did ironman but was unable to run after the bike.

Steve is the only American to have ridden the Cycling World Championships in 4 different disciplines (road, mountain bike, track, and cyclo-cross).
1998 NORBA National Cross-Country Mountainbike Champion
2000 NORBA National Cross-Country Mountainbike Champion
2001 4th Place Wildflower Triathlon - 1st American (Bike course record)
2001 1st Place Half-Vineman Triathlon (Course Record)
2001 1st Place Ironman USA (Bike course record)
2002 6th Place Quelle Challenge (Ironman Distance)
2003 6th Place IM New Zealand (New bike course record 4:26)

http://daviswiki.org/Steve_Larsen

It will be interesting to see Webb how far he can go to become a talent in triathlon at 31 years of age.

Triathlon: How Bad the Cycling Segment Is?

I read comments on slowtwitch related to ITU racing that I consider valid as well as comments on Barrie Shepley.

Re: Question for Barrie Shepley [trail] [In reply to]	Quote | Reply

here's what i'm talking about. here's a pro women's cycling race, photo by herbert, earlier this year.

 
you have to look close to see, but even with my bad eyesight not one of these girls is negotiating this turn with her hands on her hoods (except the one who's gapped, and maybe one girl who's in the second half of that pack, approaching the turn, on the outside). you cannot race in close quarters safely if your hands are on the hoods. you are not prepared to get out of the saddle and accelerate out of the turn if you're on the hoods. you're not ready to take that turn at speed if you're on the hoods.

and yet, even in the 180s, these girls (and guys) who race ITU, some of these entire packs are universally on their hoods. what is it the ITU racers know that the pro bike racers do not know?... the irony here is that bike racers are the ones sitting more forward on their bikes, the triathletes are anchored on the backs of their saddles, the bike racers are racing with flatter bikes, the triathletes are up, on the hoods, only small bends in their elbows, up into the wind.

 
so, long explanation, sorry, that's 90 seconds of your life you're never going to get back, but, what say you? what am i missing? i'm not eager to criticize these athletes for their cycling, because they've proven repeatedly that they are very strong on the bike. and, i'm not talking about everyone. but i am talking about probably half or more of the men and probably 2/3 or more of the women.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

We have mentioned in the past similar observations and have written several “posts” regarding this matter:

2 sept. 2013

Froome, Brownlee and Triathlon Cycling

After the last competition in Stockholm, we have the watts measured by Laurent Vidal.  Thanks again to Vidal for this opportunity to learn some more about cycling.  Vidal produced 368 watts during the 40k; meaning 5.5watts/kg.  This number places him as a Pro Domestique in a cycling team…Froome was able to go 5 kilometers per hour faster.  It is related to the terrain, but it is also related to the efficiency while cycling.  Efficiency is closely related to technique; meaning effective cornering, cadence while cycling, peaks and accelerations, aerodynamic posturing, etc.  We should learn how to improve efficiency while riding which is done by improving technique.  Armstrong (doped or not) improved his efficiency over the course of seven years that he was tested by Dr. Coyle, 2%.

28 févr. 2013

EFFICIENCY IN TRIATHLON CYCLING

Accelerations is what wears out the competitors.  Points race is very similar to the peloton encounter in ITU triathlon except that triathlon´s peloton has less accelerations during the race; it is not a rocket science to determine that training should be similar TO TRACK TRAINING FOR A POINTS RACE.  Look at how speed goes up by increasing cadence and how the same goes down when cadence decreases, and the need of the cyclist to accelerate when his cadence drops.  If we teach cyclist to keep cadence up, the acceleration would exist, but not to the degree of increasing power to more than 2000 watts.  The question would always exist, is our athlete coachable or does he have the capacity to learn or to be taught?  This is the limit between the good and the exceptional: EDUCATION.

 
18 juil. 2013

FROOME AND TRIATHLON TECHNIQUE II

To accelerate requires fewer watts when using high cadence as well as the effect mentioned above.  We have mentioned the physiological advantages in the previous post.

What Dan Empfield mentions is doable but even the cycling pros are not doing the technical things needed as it was mentioned by Thomas Prehn in his book Racing Tactics for Cyclist.  What Empfield wants from Barrie Shepley is to give a more critical view of what is happening in the triathlon peloton when he is narrating the competition and not just being Mr. Nice Guy narrating; Dan wants him to be more like Prehn:

“Think!

Bicycle racing is a thinking man´s sport.  From tactics to training schedules, you succeed in this sport only with the combination of physical and mental fortitude…The reason most people don’t succeed in extracting this valuable information is because it takes a bit of effort.  Most riders are satisfied with the effort they put into pushing the pedals around.  It’s easy to sit in the pack and not really think about the race” (XViii).

Prehn wants cyclists to be able to think and he even says:

“Tactics are not unlike the psychology of sports.  It´s amazing but true.  It you survive top athletes on the difference between winning the really close one or losing it; most would say something along the lines, ‘it was mental’”(XV).

Triathlon and triathletes are different from cycling and cyclists but we still face triathletes who are not thinking and feeling enough about their race, training, and in general what they do as athletes.  We have a previous post related to this matter and what Prehn mentioned about psychology of cycling=tactics:

6 févr. 2013

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE TRIATHLON WINNER

Working every minute for what we need; an educational training at home and school.

"The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think."

--New York Times, May 18, 1921; Frank 1947, 185; Brian 1966, 129, Illy, 25-32. Frank, P. 1947. Einstein: A Centenary Volume. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press.; Brian, D. 1996. Einstein: A Life. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.; Illy, J., ed. 2005, February. "Einstein Due Today." Manuscript. (Courtesy of the Einstein Papers Project, Pasadena.)

The following quotes say much about what is needed to succeed.

 "Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach." - Albert Einstein

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein

http://www.alberteinsteinsite.com/quotes/einsteinquotes.html#education

I will give useful raw data.  Regardless of the technique and tactical problems of the triathletes riding the bike, the amount of watts produce on a flat surface has been the same for Jan Frodeno as when when he goes uphill, around 370 watts for the 40k.  Laurent Vidal produces the same amount of watts.  370 watts average is what it's needed to ride on the first peloton most of the time; reason why most of riders cannot run after the bike.  Frodeno was Olympic champion and Vidal rides in the first pack most of the time.  On the other hand, we have good triathletes who are on the border of qualifying for the Olympics as it is the case of Leonardo Chacón; his capacity to ride the 40k is 330-340 watts (FTP 345, http://www.leochacon.com/#skill-section). Obviously, he is going to walk if he stays with the first pack drafting because he is all-out riding the bike with that FTP.  Mario Mola has a higher wattage compared to Chacón (FTP), so he is able to run after drafting in one of the packs; same thing for Murray.  Mola is unable to pull the peloton; he uses drafting as his only option to reach the podium.

I give you Frodeno´s  Auckland and San Diego (2013) average watts produced during those races respectively.

Triathlon and Appreciative Sports

We have written a previous post regarding the Brazil’s World Cup (Soccer).  It is very different from triathlon.  Robben who dives to take advantage over the opponent intending to mislead the referee says that he is smart when doing so:

"No tengo miedo a que me sancionen, porque fue en una jugada que no tuvo trascendencia en el resultado. Me parece una vergüenza que se haya tergiversado de esa forma. Fui honesto. Simplemente, me limité a pedir disculpas. Lo volvería a hacer", dijo tras el entrenamiento de Holanda en las instalaciones del Flamengo, en Río de Janeiro.

Leer: La FIFA descarta sancionar a Robben por su piscinazo - MARCA.com

“I would do it again,” Robben said. 

Suárez says that he did not bite Chellini; and Chellini does not say what he said or did to Suárez when the referee wasn’t there.  The president of Uruguay says that what Suárez got as penalty is too harsh, and it is a complot against Suárez for being poor.  WHAT IS THIS SH..T!  When the winner is called by somebody else, it becomes a political matter. The winner in triathlon is who crosses the finish line first.  Politics and bullying exist but is minimal because the winner is who gets first.  Javier Gómez was taken outside of competition by an English triathlete when swimming in a World Cup, and the triathlete bullying/cheating was suspended for six months.

José Mújica, president of Uruguay, made some points but he is short from clarifying them.  He says that the FIFA is a corrupted organism.  Blatter stays on power because he bought the Caribbean and Africa Federations to vote for him, sometimes with simple favors (perhaps at the limit of bribery), reason why the CONCACAF chief was accused of bribery and removed from his post.  The international unions work the same way in order for the chiefs to perpetuate on power; they fund/help Federations around the world, so they can be members of the union and later on vote for them.  The slogan used is to “span the sport around the World.”  We are unable to regulate them and depend on people like Robben and Suárez to regulate them. If we expect that people like them regulate themselves, we are dead.  Robben even said:  “I would do it again…  I play smart.”  This is what we have seen in cycling around doping; “they would do it again if they have the chance.”  It is a cultural problem!  Please, do not allow a culture like this in triathlon!

We had the last World Series this weekend, Chicago.  The bicycle section was a gift. All triathletes needed to pedal in this kind of scenario, so many turns needed multiple accelerations.  Bicycle skills are needed to take full advantage of the course, in addition to bicycle power.  Murray could not survive the bike ride because he pulled for certain section the second pack.  Riederer just gave his share on the bike.  The ones that could not produce the 340 watts average required to draft in the peloton could not run.  Please see our previous post.

7 juin 2014

Triathlon World Cup versus Continental Cup