May 6, 2023
The PTO European Open is the feature this week. 28 of the fastest pro men and 28 of the fastest pro women will be fighting it out over the 100km distance in Ibiza, Spain on May 6th. The race comprises of a 2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run.
Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf are two of the greatest triathletes to ever grace this planet, but they have some serious competitors waiting for them in the likes of Kristian Blummenfelt, Ashleigh Gentle, Magnus Ditlev, Lucy Charles-Barclay and many other top talents.
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UCAN Fact: Emma Bates's marathon of 2:22:10
Emma Bates (born July 8, 1992) is an American middle- and long-distance runner. She is a 12-time All-American, the 2014 NCAA 10,000 champion competing for Boise State University, and the 2018 U.S. Women's Marathon Champion.
In 2021, Bates moved to Boulder, Colorado to join Team Boss and is coached by Joe Bosshard.
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In Today's Show
Endurance News:
PTO European Open 2023: The keys to victory for a mouthwatering Ibiza weekend
By John Levison
4 May 2023
We are just days away now from the first PTO Tour event of the 2023 season, the 2023 European Open, which will be held on Saturday in Ibiza, Spain. Full details on the timing, how to watch and more in our pre-event explainer.
What I want to do here is take a look ahead, and outline some of the potential factors which could change the direction of the race on Saturday, for both the Pro Men and Pro Women.
Coming so early in the typical racing year, it is very unusual to have such a depth of field in early May. Many of the favourites – Ryf, Charles-Barclay, Blummenfelt, Ditlev, Brownlee, Frodeno as examples – have not yet raced at all. Some – Haug, West, Sodaro, Jewett – arrive with confidence, while others have perhaps not hit the heights they wanted in their limited races this year.
That all suggests strongly that this one is unlikely to go simply to form and rankings. Despite the best experience and preparations, expect at least some of the top names to talk post-race that their race sharpness was missing.
How big will Lucy’s swim lead be?
As is now familiar, Great Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay will almost certainly be the first athlete to complete the 2km swim at Figueretas Beach. In the absence of Taylor Knibb – who managed to stay with the Brit in Dallas last year – she’s probably going to be solo through most of the two laps on Saturday.
Lotte Wilms (70.3 World Champs) and Sara Perez Sala (Challenge Miami) have shown the potential to perhaps come closest in the water, but the gap to some of the big-name favourites (Ashleigh Gentle, Daniela Ryf, Paula Finlay and co) will be the one of the first points of interest.
Of note, is that LCB has spent four weeks training consistently at altitude in Font-Romeu, France to prepare for this race. Her altitude block immediately prior to the 2021 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship helped deliver one of the greatest middle-distance performances ever. If Saturday starts with a gap of significantly more than a minute over those with genuine winning potential, then it’ll be advantage Lucy less than 30 minutes into the racing.
Lucy Charles-Barclay / IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship 2021
Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for IRONMAN
Where’s Kristian and Magnus?
For the men’s swim, the chances of a lone athlete breaking clear are remote zero. You would expect the likes of Aaron Royle, Alistair Brownlee, Jan Frodeno, Daniel Baekkegard, Ben Kanute and Kyle Smith to be among those within 10/15 seconds entering T1. Will the in-form Jason West make that cut here?
Key questions will be: How close will IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, Krsitian Blummenfelt be? And what deficit will Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev have to make up? The Dane won’t be at the front, but is a better swimmer than I think many give him credit for. If he enters T1 within say a minute or so of the leaders, he’s right where he needs to be. Significantly less, and he’ll be smiling as he starts dropping the watt bombs on the bike!
Group dynamics
Once we are onto the bikes – and with memories of 2022 still vivid – how groups on the bike are monitored and policed will, I think, be key to how the race plays out. Nobody wants to see drafting penalties issued – but equally, we want to see racing within the rules too.
That’s as much to do with the athletes, as it is the Technical Officials.
Looking at the bike course, it’s basically a straight line, out-and-back course, which starts with a steady incline of just over 5km. The latter, perhaps, may help thin the field out early, while the nature of the route should help make maintaining a legal distance easy (and easier to spot).
We’ll see how this plays out – and hopefully we won’t even need to reference it post-race.
Breakaway?
Who’ll make – or be able to make – a move on the bike? I don’t think that’s going to come via bike handling skills – this is not Nice, France for example – but if we take the men first, who’ll be able to get away? The lack of Sam Laidlow means one less ‘go from the gun’ athlete with proven bike ability, but it feels unlikely that Brownlee, Kanute, Frodeno and co. will be playing it safe, with the likes of Blummenfelt and Ditlev probably not far behind.
Kristian is confident he can win on the run if needed. That remains to be proven, but nobody is going to be waiting around to make it any easier for him. I think that points to any lead group from the swim being whittled down via sustained pressure, but if I had to make a prediction, I think we’ll see a small and very select group entering T2 separated by 10-15 seconds.
In typical fashion, I expect Lucy Charles-Barclay to lead for at least a significant proportion of this race, solo. If she’s on St George 2021 form, that could be all the way to the finish line. As one of the few top female athletes not to have raced this year, she’s been relatively quiet in media headline terms – but her competition will surely not have forgotten her abilities.
With some of the greatest runners we’ve ever seen in action here – Anne Haug, Chelsea Sodaro, Tamara Jewett and Emma Pallant-Browne – that all points to Daniela Ryf and Paula Findlay in particular leading the charge to join LCB up front. Without Taylor Knibb as a potential partner at the front, if LCB finds Ryf and Findlay riding well and bridging up without those ‘runners’, I think she’ll be more than content with that company.
Who’s got the run legs?
We’ve talked at length in the lead-up to this race about the strength-in-depth of the fields. We know we have some of the best runners in the history of the sport racing, but who can produce it against this level of competition, especially when the swim and bike will surely be raced in aggressive fashion in both the men’s and women’s fields? I don’t foresee anyone starting their 18km feeling fresh – remember what happened to Blummenfelt, Laidlow and Brownlee at the Canadian Open?!
Most peoples’ wildcard for the men’s race is Jason West, for example. A well-earned position, courtesy of his form this year at CLASH Miami and 70.3 Oceanside, each producing headline-grabbing run splits. Will he be in a position at T2 to put that to potentially race-winning use? Frodeno and Brownlee are two of the most decorated athletes of all time, but what have they got left in their running legs?
Similar situation for the women. Tamara Jewett’s run prowess is not new, but Oceanside was the first time that had resulted in a win against some of the biggest names in the sport. This is another step up. Anne Haug has used her run speed to podium in almost every non-drafting race she starts – is Tamara there, just yet?
https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-news/elite/pto-tour-european-open-start-list-bib-numbers-pro-men
https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-news/elite/pto-tour-european-open-start-list-bib-numbers-pro-women
Taylor Knibb on stress fracture rehab
By Jonathan Turner
News Director
20 Apr 2023
American star Taylor Knibb is back firing on all cylinders after an extended injury layoff.
She launched her YouTube channel this week (video embedded below) with a detailed rundown of the healing process – and frighteningly for her rivals she appears to have produced that astonishing performance to win the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship last October in spite of her foot issues.
Talking through the timeline and the details of the injury which has kept her on the sidelines since November’s WTCS finale in Abu Dhabi, she explained how the problem first emerged: “I was prepping for WTCS Leeds [which took place in early June] and I felt something in my foot and was diagnosed with a stress reaction.
“I was told two to six weeks and you’ll be back, it’s really minor. One surgeon even said I wouldn’t have even stopped you from running with that minor an edema.
“But it wasn’t healing and finally at 11 weeks I saw a doctor and he said you can start running now because if it’s not healed, it’s not going to heal.
“So I started racing in the fall – I raced Dallas, Cagliari and then the 70.3 Worlds, Bermuda and Abu Dhabi.
And that quintet of races saw some superb performances – she picked up a second, third and fourth in the WTCS events, led for much of the PTO US Open in Dallas before being overhauled by Ashleigh Gentle and then produced that masterclass in St George where she left the world’s best trailing in her wake.
But taking up the story after that busy spell of racing, Knibb revealed: “Then I took a little break and it turns out that my foot was not healed. So I got an MRI and it was now a stress fracture, with a CT scan showing a fracture line.
“So then my options were I could rest it fully and hope it would heal and that I think would be eight weeks of nothing in a boot – no weight bearing, no training whatsoever.
“Or I could get surgery and I opted for that and got a screw put in my fifth metatarsal on January 3rd.” From that point onwards it’s all been about the recovery process, something that the 25-year-old freely admits has been “very challenging”.
She explained: “Because the incision point is directly to the bone I had to be very careful and wait until it had healed before starting swimming again or doing anything.
“I did get to do strength training with Erin [Carson] which helped my sanity a lot – I wanted to go in the day after surgery, I think she said no to that but it was maybe two days after I was back working with her.
“It was four weeks before I was cleared to do some easy swimming and biking and built it up gradually.
“But I’m back fully swimming and biking and adding the running in now.”
She goes into detail on the video about how even getting back outside has been a big boost and what she might do differently in the future, saying: “It was tough but I think that I have learned a lot from it and I think if I were to do it again I would focus on what you need to do [rather than what you can’t].
“It was very challenging and I’m very grateful for the people around me because I know I was not fun to be around some days. But it’s a period of time that’s hopefully closed now.”
The defence of her 70.3 Worlds title in Finland in late August is the big priority for 2023 and we look forward to seeing her back on the start line soon – and hopefully producing more YouTube videos too!
What's New in the 303:
Bicycle Colorado Event Support
April 28 at 12:30 PM ·
The Lookout Mountain Hill Climb is in danger of cancellation due to low pre-registration numbers. At this point, they cannot cover the costs of the event. Please register here to support this iconic event: https://www.bikereg.com/racer-x-cycling-lookout-mountain....
Thank you all for constructive comments. For new racers, most events have a 'Race Flyer' which holds all relevant information for an event. Race Flyers can be found on the BC website within the event listing: https://www.bicyclecolorado.org/.../lookout-mountain.../.
'Race groups' or 'categories' are a structure to classify athletes. This category structure is in place to an effort to make events safer and more balanced. Beginners start at Category 5 and progress toward Category 1 through participation and earning results in races.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VELODROME
The Boulder Valley Velodrome is a 250-meter wooden cycling track in Erie, Colorado which for 5 years served as a training ground for Olympians, and a place of discovery and excitement for those new to track cycling.
Founded by Frank Banta and Doug Emerson and designed by renowned track architect Peter Junek, Boulder Valley Velodrome is an Olympic-caliber track that boasts the angles and altitude for some of North America’s best riding. The property was acquired in 2008, construction began in 2011, and the track opened in 2013.
In 2013, a week away from opening, 70m of the track was destroyed by a tornado. Then, after a month’s worth of repairs, lightning struck in the same spot. That was the month of the disastrous Boulder flood.
Over its 5 years of operation, the velodrome hosted numerous national and international cycling events and was a popular destination for anyone from Olympians to amateur cyclists and families – really anyone with the need for speed.
The facility was put up for sale in 2019 and has since fallen into disrepair. In 2020, a group of dedicated cycling enthusiasts launched a campaign to resurrect the velodrome and restore it to its former glory. Their efforts have included fundraising through GoFundMe, seeking sponsorships, and recruiting volunteers to help with the restoration work.
The goal of the campaign is to create a world-class cycling destination that will attract riders from all over the world and help to promote the sport of cycling. With the support of the community, the Boulder Valley Velodrome is poised to once again become a vibrant center of cycling culture and competition.
The Boulder Valley Velodrome’s story is, and will always be, a story of passion, perseverance, and community.
Out of the 26 velodromes in the country, the Boulder Valley Velodrome is one of just two tracks that meet Olympic standards.
For press inquiries, please contact info@bouldervalleyvelodrome.org.
Boulder 70.3 - Don’t Delay! Only 200 spots left!
IRONMAN announced they only have 200 spots remaining for general registration for IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder in beautiful Colorado. Boulder caters to the outdoor enthusiast and not only provides epic trails and outdoor activities but also world-class dining, shopping, events and craft beer and spirits. Boulder gives you a taste of everything Colorado.
IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder | June 10, 2023
Video of the Week:
Jan Frodeno, Daniela Ryf: Not Done Yet | Countdown to PTO European Open 🇪🇺