Breaking News : Drafting Now Allowed In All Local Triathlon and Duathlon Races | Aerobars Will Be Banned

“Let’s face it, we cannot stop drafting anyway, so just allow it”. Effective today, drafting will be allowed in all triathlon and duathlon races. In a closed door meeting, tri organizers agreed that it is best for the sport to make all races draft legal.

The organizers also agreed to release statements, but in the condition they remain anonymous.

UPDATE! Drafting illegal again!  Click here to view the post!

“This will up the level of play” said a race organizer who names his races by the numbers. “If they want to win, they must make sure they can hold on to the lead pack on the swim so they will not be left behind on the bike”. Indeed, the rules of the game will now change as athletes who are strong in the swim will no longer have an advantage over the fast bikers and runners, but slower swimmers.

In a draft legal race, the riders are allowed to ride in a pack, which gives riders the aerodynamic advantage of riding in the slipstream of the rider to their front, which is also referred to as “drafting” behind another bike.

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Will tri bikes still be allowed?

One of the hotly discussed topics during the meeting was the setup of the bikes. Other organizers agreed to still allow triathlon frames, but if they want to use aerobars, they must use the “shorty” UCI type aero clip-ons.

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“This is also for the safety of the participants. Aerobars  in a draft legal race are dangerous. Just imagine if there are 10 or more athletes drafting and someone in front crashes, there is a high risk that the pointy edge of the bars might stab someone!” an organizer who held a triathlon in Manila *ahem* said.

To those who bought tri bikes with integrated basebar and aerobars, we’re sorry to say that those will no longer be allowed. Unless you agree to change the cockpit and install a clip on aerobar.

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The advantage now shifts to aero-road bikes such as the S5, Foil, Venge, and the likes.

One organizer, who also runs a professional hoops team who likes milk, said “if you don’t like swimming and you’re a triathlete, now is the best time to learn.” The swim sets up the entire race.  The quote “You cannot win an Ironman in the swim, but you can lose it”, no longer applies.

We’ll post full details of the meeting once we get the minutes of the secretariat.

Update : DOWNLOAD the closed door meeting minutes.


Image source : breakthroughmultisport.com/draft-legal-triathlon

Comments

comments

SBR.ph Team

A triathlete making a comeback and a true blue Scorpio. That sums it up quite nicely :)

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