ITU changes World Champ Age Group 2016 to Draft Legal

Yes, as crazy at it sounds, word is out that the ITU has decided to run the Age Group Sprint Distance World Champs in 2016 as a draft legal race. This is breaking news just released yesterday and when we contacted TA for further clarification, they responded by stating they are yet to release a formal notice to TA members about the ITU's decision.

This decision could have major effects on how triathlon racing is conducted in Australia.

Draft legal racing means no aero bars and no TT bikes. It also means closed roads to ensure competitor safety as bunch racing is not single file. It also puts additional emphasis on rider skill and tactics and serious crashing is common even amongst proficient riders so this could result in less participation if introduced into all sprint distance racing locally.

Our guess is that TA will select certain races as draft legal to give Australia competitors the opportunity to practise for World Champs in like conditions and to ensure the selection of an Australian team is based on DL scenarios. This may be limited to the just the National championship races, or perhaps all State and National titles. Whether the DL ruling will trickle down to local events is debatable because from a logistics point of view, very few venues are suited to this style of racing and could make local triathlon races too costly to run.

So, interesting times for triathlon ahead. How will TA react to this new decision? Stay tuned. We will update the TriathlonOz Forum as we hear more.