Sunday, October 17 2004 –
German uberbikers have their day in Kona.
I am not a fan of changing tradition but the World Triathlon Corporation likes to make changes to the course, the rules and lately to start times. The changes do add an element of surprise and this year was no exception. This year there were surprises in the swim, surprises on the bike and surprises at the finish line.
The swim start this year was actually two starts and although the Ironman swim course has to be the easiest to navigate, the professional men found a way to get lost. The Kona swim course is basically a rectangle. How the lead swimmers headed for the wrong buoys and how the dozens of paddlers and canoes allowed this to happen is really incredible. In addition the lack of a well defined start line allowed the professional athletes to start about 100 yards further down the course. They had to swim at least an extra 100 yards once they found the right buoys so it probably evened out in the end. The lack of age groupers among the professionals caused the athletes to break into many small groups thus opening gaps among them. The professional women were also affected by the lack of age groupers to draft from. Race favorite Natasha Badman finished the swim entirely by herself. Natasha in years past she had plenty of age groupers to draft from.
The bike course this year was very windy and forced further gaps among the riders. Even groups of riders that one could call a group were more spread than usual. The staggered drafting rule from last year was scrapped and it looked like the traditional ‘stay to the right until you have to pass’ bike rule. Norman Stadler from Germany emerged from Kailua bay with a few minutes on all contenders but he methodologically picked rider after rider until there was none to pick. At that point Norman proceeded to ride away with ease and at one point cracked a joke to the camera men in the NBC van I was in. Norman made it look easy. In the woman’s race Nina Kraft passed early leader Monica Caplan and just like Norman she rocketed to a huge lead by the bike turnaround in Hawi. Nina was so fast she was passing professional men with ease.
Once on the run course the big question was whether anyone can catch up to our bike leaders. One thing was apparent. The bike leaders may have to walk for anyone to catch up. The early miles splits came and both leaders looked strong. Walking was never a part of the equation and Germany crowned both men and woman’s champions, Norman Stadler and Nina Kraft.
Norman was very happy at the finish line and was quick to tell everyone that people always said “bikers can not win in Hawaii” however “I did”. Norman is correct as general wisdom was to be patient and perform on the run. Norman this year ran a 2:57 marathon split which has to be one of the slowest winner marathon splits in years. The key for Norman was his ability to stay within himself and ride so fast. When I saw Norman on the Queen K he was very calm and there was no expression of pain or any sort of discomfort. Power output tests he took in the US a few weeks ago showed that he was as strong on the bike as most top professional cyclist.
Nina Kraft not only dominated the bike course but her 3:06 marathon split left no doubt who the champion was this year. Nina had the third fastest swim, the second fastest bike and the third fastest marathon which was a PR for her.
In yesterdays report I mentioned that a fast rider could win if he could share the race lead with someone and save energy. Well I got it half right. A fast rider won but he did not share the lead with anyone. Norman had the guts to go at it alone and he is now the World Champion.
I hope that you have enjoyed our reports this week. Keep us in mind for your training and coaching needs. You never know next year you may be coming to Kona with us.
Rest Regards,
Luis Vargas
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