Pack & Drafting - Triathlon Week

10-04-2004, 05:40 AM

I was watching the ITU Honolulu on OLN this weekend. When the men's
bike leg had just begun, one racer pulled ahead of the others by a
pretty good distance - so that it was easy to see that he was riding
alone. The commentators made some comments such as "riding alone, he
will use up too much of his energy" and "pulling away from the pack is
a mistake younger athletes make".

This implies that drafting is OK (which I'm pretty sure it is not)
when you are in a pack of riders. And when you're riding in a close
pack, how can you NOT draft? I've seen racers get disqualified for
drafting when it didn't seem to me that they were anywhere near the
person in front of them, but then there is this pack thing where 10
guys are so close together that drafting must be taking place, but
this is accepted.

I don't understand the disparity.

j

10-04-2004, 05:44 AM

On 10/4/04 7:40 AM, in article, "j" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> I was watching the ITU Honolulu on OLN this weekend. When the men's
> bike leg had just begun, one racer pulled ahead of the others by a
> pretty good distance - so that it was easy to see that he was riding
> alone. The commentators made some comments such as "riding alone, he
> will use up too much of his energy" and "pulling away from the pack is
> a mistake younger athletes make".
>
> This implies that drafting is OK (which I'm pretty sure it is not)
> when you are in a pack of riders. And when you're riding in a close
> pack, how can you NOT draft? I've seen racers get disqualified for
> drafting when it didn't seem to me that they were anywhere near the
> person in front of them, but then there is this pack thing where 10
> guys are so close together that drafting must be taking place, but
> this is accepted.
>
> I don't understand the disparity.
>
> j

Drafting is legal in ITU races.

10-04-2004, 11:12 AM

"ITU-style" racing, reserved for elites, not age-groupers like you and me,
allows drafting. The regular ITU amateur races like worlds do not allow
it.

Ray

"j" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:6ae6f552.0410040340.29f40c6f@posting.google.c om...
> I was watching the ITU Honolulu on OLN this weekend. When the men's
> bike leg had just begun, one racer pulled ahead of the others by a
> pretty good distance - so that it was easy to see that he was riding
> alone. The commentators made some comments such as "riding alone, he
> will use up too much of his energy" and "pulling away from the pack is
> a mistake younger athletes make".
>
> This implies that drafting is OK (which I'm pretty sure it is not)
> when you are in a pack of riders. And when you're riding in a close
> pack, how can you NOT draft? I've seen racers get disqualified for
> drafting when it didn't seem to me that they were anywhere near the
> person in front of them, but then there is this pack thing where 10
> guys are so close together that drafting must be taking place, but
> this is accepted.
>
> I don't understand the disparity.
>
> j

10-04-2004, 12:00 PM

John Hardt <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message news:<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>...
>
> Drafting is legal in ITU races.

That would pretty much explain it for me. Thanks!

j