Star-Studded 70.3 Worlds, New SLiCK Factor, & Farewell Ironman St. George | GTN Show Ep. 383

Welcome back to the GTN Show. Welcome. This week is all about the Ironman 70.3 World Champs taking place this weekend in New Zealand. Oh, yes. We're going to be giving you some insight into the race, the course, and of course, the favorites. Yes, we also say goodbye to an iconic race on the triathlon calendar and Alex here has been nominated for a prestigious award in the UK. Yes, and a triathlete running head-to-head with some of the world's best runners in a running race this past weekend. All right, starting this week with some breaking news that was fake news. As it turns out, we heard this week that Christophe Eden and Christian Blumfeldt had split from the long-time coach, Olav Bou. I mean, there is some ground to this because Olav Bou is stepping over to be the coach of Pro Cycling Team. It's a question that we asked both Christian, well, you asked Christian and Christophe out in Kona. They kind of skirted around the subject. Pro Tri News dropped this past week that they would, in fact, be leaving and then they followed up with a story, basically saying fake news on a video call with him. We've actually chatted to Olav himself. Yes, earlier today, in fact, and got the inside scoop on exactly what is happening there. Are Christophe and Christian going to be coached by him? Are they going to be self-coached? Are they going to be coached by someone else? That video dropping later this week and we're going to leave you in suspense until then. Okay, moving on with our next thing. The top running shoes. Well, yes, this is always fun because it gets the end of the year, everyone gets their Spotify wraps and Strava. I don't think I listened to any of those songs that I was listening to. Oh, yes, sure. Strava do the same thing and they obviously take all our data and it's quite interesting. They've basically plucked out the overall top running shoes, things that run and also for racing. Interestingly, the Nike Pegasus was the most run-in shoe overall. The Hoverclifton came in second and the Asics Shell Nimbus in third. Interestingly, for races, it was very much the Nike Vaporfly next percent. Yes, for 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons, Nike Vaporfly next percent takes the win. For marathons, the Nike Alphafly. Pretty cool. How many people actually fill that in after every single session or do you just select a pair of shoes and at the default? From then on, for the rest of the time you ever have Strava for 10 years? I was literally about to say, most of my rides, I think, say Canyon Luxe mountain bike, although I'm actually road cycling into work, not mountain biking. Anyway, I thought this was really cool. I don't know if you spotted this over the weekend, James. Hugo Milner, who's a British elite triathlete, raced over the short course distance, was absolutely in the mix with some of the world's best runners this weekend, European cross-country champs. Pretty impressive. With the likes of Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Literally leading Jakob Ingebrigtsen over those jumps. That is, yes, really impressive. He is the fastest triathlete off the bike ever. I think he's running 28.47 off the bike. Not that surprising, but also fairly surprising in a field of that caliber. It's a 7.8-kilometer course, give or take. He led or was at the front of the field for the first half. He started to fade in the second half and it seems like Jakob was just biding his time and pounced towards the end. Went on to take the win. Hugo, still hung on for a very credible 11th place at European cross-champs. That is phenomenal running and quite exciting to see where he goes. Very impressive. We're now on to the tri news. This bit of news shocked me. I don't know if it shocked you, James, but there is quite an iconic event that will be leaving our calendar as of next year. St. George has hosted 17 Ironman events over the years. In fact, they even stepped in very last minute to host the Ironman World Championships during that COVID era, which feels very long ago now, doesn't it? On May the 10th, they will host their final Ironman event. It's been iconic in the world of triathlon for a good many years now. You felt like it was North American Champs each year for 17.3 and it was an iconic route and it's hosted the World Champs. You just think, this is now part of the triathlon calendar and it's not anymore. The statement said, the demands of the event, including rising costs, increasing populations around race routes and continued pressure on resources, compelled Washington County officials to evaluate all options. With input from the community partners, they concluded that after a long and successful run, Ironman's time in St. George will be celebrated and the 2025 edition will be the final one. Basically, thank you so much. It's been great, but go away now. Yes. As I said, I'm very surprised that I thought that this was an event we'd see continue for years in the future. Yes, but it does show you that to put an Ironman on, you do very much need the blessing and welcome of a local community. It can't just buy your way in or you can't just take the roads for a day. The community has to be part of it and agree to it and want it. As we saw with Hawaii. Yes, and if they change their mind on that, then there's nothing you can do. You can't still host an Ironman there. Hopefully, they can find somewhere else equally great for the North American Champs. Moving on, I had some quite exciting news this week. Alex Yee, who actually was already named SJA Sportsman of the Year, is in the running for arguably even more prestigious award here in the UK, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, the spotty award. Now, the last time we had anyone in the running for this and a very good running for it was Alistair Brownlee. This was back in 2016, I believe, where he came second to none other than Andy Murray. Now, Alex Yee is in the running up against five other very incredible athletes. We've got paracycling legend Sarah Storey, we've got 800-meter Olympic champion Keeley Hodgkinson, dance player Luke Littler, rail and England footballer Drew Bellingham, and also England cricketer Joe Root. This is a very British scene. It is very, to be honest. I mean, you Americans might be watching this and going, what is spotty, Sports Personality of the Year? Essentially, it's the UK deciding nothing best performing sportsman, but maybe the coolest sportsman, the one we all like the best. It's hard to kind of, because it always gets people riled up every year because it's not just on performance, it's on what they have brought to the sport or to the country, their impact on the nation. It's a little vague what the criteria are, I think is probably the problem, but it's basically the UK's coolest, most awesome, and most business. We think you should vote for Alex for this one. They're going to announce who the winner is on Tuesday, the 17th of December. I'm not entirely sure where you go to vote. It'll obviously be on the BBC website, so if you want to get stuck in, and we're talking anyone all around the world, I think, can do this, go do that now. Yes, and there's a two-hour show you can watch where they announce it. I don't know what they do for two hours. I'll have to tune in and find out. Now, it's time for What the Tech, and a new bike has been released, another new bike. This is the Factor Slick. I actually got to see this while I was out in Kona, although they wouldn't let me film it because it wasn't ready for release, but I did get to look at it and have a good, close gander. We teased it a little bit in our tech tour, but we weren't allowed to look at it. Now, it's been revealed. It's the Factor Slick, an all-new triathlon bike with built-in storage and hydration for triathletes. Yes, it's obviously taking a lot of inspiration from their track and their Road TT Hanzo, which are very slick-looking bikes. They've got all sorts of obviously triathlon integration in there, including in-frame hydration with straw coming out. They've got, I guess, similar to a lot of the triathlon bikes now, in-frame storage down towards the bottom bracket. I'd say built-in hydration and storage. It's more like built-on hydration and storage. It's true. It's on top of the top tube. The bottle attaches to the top tube, the straw goes in between. It's not built-in, is it? It's built-on. It's true. Is it true? Integrated. I guess integrated is probably the right word because it's part of the bike, comes with the bike. Integrated, not an added extra, but it does look pretty cool. I have always been a big fan of Factor bikes. They look beautiful. Now, it's obviously available in a range of different sizes, but also different models. You can actually get either their slick or their slick premium setups. They've got a frame set available starting at around $4,199 complete with wheels and group set starting at $7,199. Then if you want to go full whammy, SRAM Red, top-end group set, $10,399. Which is interesting because this is not the Factor Henzo top of the range that Rudi Von Berg rode. This is more a mid-range bike starting at $7,200 fully built going up to $10,399 fully built. Last week, we spoke about the new Van Rassel XCR, and I said it was a mid-range bike. I got absolutely slammed for saying it was a mid-range bike because it was 7,700 euros. I'm sorry, people, but this is a mid-range bike. This is what it costs these days for a mid-range bike. It pains me. It does. It hurts us too. We just reported what it is, but unfortunately, yes, a mid-range triathlon bike is going to set you back over $7,000. Sorry about the bad news. I am rolling on into the race results from the weekend. We had Ironman 17.3 Indian Wells this weekend, a men's race. Morgan Pearson took the win there. Is that his first 17.3 win? Yes, it's the first time he won three. I thought it was. We spoke about it last week because he put out a thing on social media saying, how fast is someone who can run a 61.08 half marathon going to run a half marathon at the end of a 17.3? Most of the guesses were 67 or so. He's let us all down and he's only run a 110.08. Yes, shocking, but he didn't need to do any more than that because he won. Yes, and I think he had the fastest run split by a good two minutes, if not three minutes. Of course, for that run, yes. Yes. Second place was Matt-Michel Roy. Third, Louis Woodgate. I thought I'd mention fourth place finisher, Bart Aernouts, because he's cramming the races in. Yes, fresh off his win in Cozumel a few weeks ago, which surprised a lot of us. I guess he's trying to make hay while the sun shines, I suppose. Why wouldn't you? He's clearly on good form. On the women's side, Clay Michelle took the win ahead of Erika Ekerlund and Anne-Marie Strillo was third. Yes, and also notable mention to Steph Clutterbuck who actually went to the front of the bike and led off the bike, but it turns out she actually crashed very early on in the bike. Very impressive that she led off the bike considering, but clearly the wounds from that were a little bit too sore for her to run on, so she hobbled out of T2 and called it a day there. There was also a Patagon Man this past weekend, if you're not sure where that is. It's an extreme event in Patagonia, a long way from anywhere, but like a cool destination race? Well, it's basically essentially a carbon copy of Norseman. It was part of the X-Tri series until recently. It's now its own event on its own, but it is just that brutal style event. Cool triathlon. It was won by exterior stalwart Josiah Miller from the USA. Very impressive and ringing the bell there on the finish line because that's apparently traditionally what you do when you cross the finish line. On the women's side, it was Caroline Livesey that took the win for the second time, now coined as Queen of Patagon Man. I guess, yes. If you make the trip more than once, you'll probably be in the running for the entire time. All right, though. Big race, though, to discuss coming up this weekend. Ironman 70.3 World Champs. Now, originally, it was due to host the Ironman 70.3 World Champs way back in 2020. I was forced, obviously, to delay due to the pandemic. Well, four years on, they're back and we are in for a store this weekend. Yes, the last big race of the year. It's also where they're going to crown the Ironman Pro Series champions. We've spoken a little bit about who's in the running for that. Now, let's talk a little bit about who's in the running for the actual win of the 70.3 World Championship title. Yes, it is quite the star-studded lineup. We've got 110 pros across both the male and female races, all vying for their share of the $500,000 prize purse, plus alongside another 6,000 age-group athletes. It's quite impressive. Before we get to all the names of all the contenders, let's take a quick look at what the course entails for these athletes. It's Lake Taupo for the swim, which is a lake, but a really, really big lake. I think, potentially, some rough water, potentially, also some fairly cold water, I think. I don't think it's particularly warm. They say about 18 degrees Celsius. I'm hearing from athletes there, it's probably about right, but hey, who knows. As you say, with the lakes, obviously, it sounds lovely and can be nice and crystal clear and flat, but actually, often, what you get on lakes is that ripple with the wind coming over and that can be quite unpleasant. Very unpredictable chop. It's not like a sea chop where it always comes from the same direction. It just hits you from all sides. It can be unpleasant. Now, the route is quite simple. It's point-to-point on the swim. It's 300 meters out, then you basically follow parallel with the shore for around 1,200 meters, then turn back in towards shore. Then onto the bike, it's a single loop and relatively undulating. I'm hearing it's not overly technical, but it has got a few very punchy little climbs in there, including Heartbreak Hill right at the end, and then they descend down into T2. Then the run is pretty flat along the shore of the lake. Not really any hills to talk about, tulips. We're going to see some fireworks, I reckon, because there are a lot of really hot runners who are going to be chasing other people down. Now, we're making it sound like a really basic and boring course, but actually, I'd imagine it's absolutely stunning as well. We are imagining because no one's paid for our ticket to go all the way to New Zealand, unfortunately, so we are limiting that a little bit. Maybe one day we'll get all the way to New Zealand and see it for ourselves, but it does look pretty good on the pictures. Who are the favorites, Mark? Well, yes, let's start with the women because their race is first on Saturday. Obviously, the bookie's favorite is Taylor Knibb. Yes, on the hunt for three in a row. I mean, yes, she is the defending champion. If she gets that third title, she'll be on par with Daniela Ryder's 2017 to 2019 run, which would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? Yes, exactly. She's known for her solo breakaways, which I probably think on a single lap course on the bike, we probably are going to see. The question then on everyone's lips will be, can she be run down because there are some runners in this field. Yes, so notable other names are Julie Deron and Ashley Gentle. As we've seen in races this year, like the final T100 race, they really can give her a bit of a run for her money and, well, within reason, give her enough to sweat about. Julie Deron has had an amazing season with a silver individual Olympic medal and obviously phenomenal performances in the T100 races. Ashley Gentle is arguably the fastest runner in the race. If she comes into T2 within two to three minutes of Taylor Knibb, it will be a very exciting half marathon. All three of those can leave it all out there because they literally have nothing to lose. Last race of the season, just go for it. The next person on the list very much does have something to lose. Now, you don't want to rat her off because she has a potential to win the race. She got second at the last 70.3 World Champs, but she's got a lot to lose. Kat Matthews is the nailed-on favorite to take the Ironman Pro Series, but she does have to get some points at this race to guarantee that. If she DNFs or something goes wrong, that won't happen. She's got to race as aggressively as possible without taking any risks, if that makes sense. If she does win or she does get decent points, and I'm going to say decent points, she only has to finish within, I don't know, probably 10 minutes or more of the winner to get enough points to take that title, and she gets $200,000 for the Ironman Pro Series leader on top of the $75,000 she already got for T100 position. Pretty good year for her. Mark Threlfall I know whose drinks will be on later that evening, Kat and Mark. Other notable names, we've got Imogen Simmons, Paula Findlay. There's so many, but yes, very exciting racing. Now, onto the men's race. Obviously, this is taking place the following day on Sunday. This one is a really tough call in terms of who the favorites are. There's a lot in the mix here, but I think the one that stands out as hard to look past is Hayden Wilder. Again, Olympic silver medalist and Super League champion. He's actually only competed in a handful of non-drafting events and actually raced in Taupo about five years ago where he placed third behind Carl Smith, believe it or not. I believe he was born in Taupo, so it's a homecoming for him too, a lot on the line for him. I think the smart money's on him. I do think he's got the run that no one can really compete with. He's just got to stay in contention on the bike, which I can definitely see him do. He also raced in Phuket recently, TT bike, performed well there, but not against the biggest field. He's getting time in on the bike. Other short course athletes that could shake things up, we've got Helle Geens and Leo Berger. This is giving me a 2018 Ironman 7.3 watch on fire. Helle Geens just won the T100 in Las Vegas. He's clearly got the distance figured out already. It's Leo Berger, undefeated in Ironman 7.3, never been beaten in his Ironman 7.3. It is shaping up for quite an exciting race. Also, Rico Bogan, defending champion, probably shouldn't forget him. He has been in good form lately in the T100 series, so potentially coming into perfect form again, as he did last year. Surprised a few people last year, won't be so surprised this time if he does it again, but I still wouldn't put him down his favor. We've also got other notable names like Mathis Magier, whose bike power is phenomenal, isn't it? Yuri Kulin, Gregory Barnaby. So many other names. As I said, that race in 2018 with Jan, Javier Gomez, Alistair Brownlee, I am getting those vibes. I'm excited to see that road. Mark Threlfall. If you want to watch it in the UK, that happens 6pm on Friday is the women's, and 6pm on Saturday is the men's, which is actually 7am Saturday in New Zealand and 7am Sunday in New Zealand. They are a long way away from here, but a very watchable race, and I think definitely tune in for these ones. They're going to be exciting. Are you happy with me putting you on the spot, going for predictions? I've not given this any thought myself. I've kind of hinted already at who I think, which way it's going to go. I think you can't look past Taylor Knibb and her current form on the women's side. I think it might be a bit closer than the T100. Ashley Gentle might be running up towards her, but I do think Taylor Knibb will have her measure. On the men's side, my heart wants to go with Hayden Wilde. I just think a New Zealand boy at home, world champs, making a step up to 7.3 after the Olympics, it would be such a fairy tale story for him to win. I think he's got the tools to do it too. I'm going to be really boring, actually, and just totally agree with you. Sorry. I'm going for Taylor Knibb and very excited to see Hayden Wilde race over that distance. I think he's a very robust athlete. I just can't look past him. We'll tune in this weekend and find out whether we're both right or we're both wrong. All right, now it's time for Tri-Spy, where we give you the image of a pro cropped really tight, and you can tell us who it is. This time, we challenge you a little bit because the last three weeks have been way too easy. You guys have all got it. This was way too easy, guys. I think you've gone far too easy on this one. I don't think so because quite a few people couldn't get it. We had the guesses of Michael Chilia said Nathalie VanCouverden and Madonna said Georgia Taylor-Brown. Georgia Taylor-Brown again. We've got a Holly Lawrence, which I can see. Yes. Got a couple of Kat Matthews in there. Yes, a couple of Kat Matthews. And also Julie Daron. Yes, a couple of those. EvaP3728 said Ashley Gentle. You were all wrong. The correct answer was Elise Soltos. Matthew Robasco got it right. George Salvino got it right. Jimmy Sendrick said, complete guess, but is it Silly Holtos? Elise Soltos? Silly Holtos? Silly Soltos. That's a nice name. Silly Soltos. Silly Soltos. Silly, silly, silly Holtos. Silly Holtos. Oh, anyway. Well, good job. The photo for this week is this one. Do my best. Say what? Okay. Time to read out a comment or two from videos in the past week. Now, I did a rather silly video over the weekend. Again. I did a marathon in Crocs. I did reference another silly video within that video where I ran a mile downhill. Multiple people actually said, where's your four-minute mile in Crocs video dropping? Put the two together, Mark. Go on. I'll be honest. Give the people what they want. My body is really not very happy with me after the past couple of weeks. I might be tapping out of any running for a while. Okay. We'll give you a couple weeks off and then you can do it. We've still got the Crocs. We have, sure. A little bit scarred, to be honest. How scarred are you? How bad were you? Are you talking about my muscles or my- Psychologically and also your body. The downhill mile was a lot of fun. Actually, incredibly painful. A lot more painful than I expected. The marathon, I had to put it up there with one of the physically and mentally hardest things I've ever done in my life. Partly because I ruined my body before I even started the marathon. Yes. I think you should probably also put another tag on it. Probably one of the stupidest things you've done. Yes. You're going to have to own that. Does it really surprise you? Not at all. Not even a little bit. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. If you haven't watched it already, it's on the channel now. Both of those videos, actually, Mark, going as fast as you can down a hill and then Mark also going as fast as he can in a marathon wearing Crocs. Yes. Because we're here to entertain you guys. Yes. If you want something a little bit more serious, James actually did a fantastic video with the new Van Russel bike, which we mentioned earlier on in the show. Really interesting because, well, the price point disrupts the industry. Potentially. We'll see how many people buy it, but it is a pretty cool bike and it rides really well too. Head out, watch that video right now and see what it's all about. Yes. Video coming up this weekend, I'm quite excited about. We do a video all around training without metrics. Yes. Should you leave your watch at home and run without any technology? It's a worthwhile question asking. Thanks for watching this week. We'll see you again next week. Goodbye.