Inside an ITU race
Aussie Pro Courtney Atkinson had a video camera mounted under the handlebars during the ITU Mooloolaba World Cup to share an inside perspective of the bike segment of an ITU race. We'd love to have that kind of ride-along in all kinds of races, but this is actually not just about entertainment.
Fellow Pro Kris Gemmell recently talked about what he sees as the lack of appreciation of ITU Pros in an interview with slowtwitch.
"The general rule of thumb is we draft, so we can't ride, and that is why we run fast. Ask any other pro athlete after they have competed in their first World Championship series race if we can't ride, and I can guarantee what the answer will be. It does sometimes look like we aren't riding hard, but the power output is still high with surges and the design of courses," said Gemmell to slowtwitch. "There are tactics been played out with every meter that goes by and you can't afford to miss a beat. It is very much like a flat stage in any big Cycle tour, the peloton rolls along until a break goes away. Then sometimes they will sit up, or it stays together until the end for the sprinters to shine. Which is not much different to the nerves you need over the last few k heading into T2 these days."
But hearing it or reading about it is one thing, seeing it from this unique perspective is quite a different experience.
Video clip courtesy of Courtney Atkinson:
Below are the twitter accounts for Courtney Atkinson and Kris Gemmell, two interesting Pros to follow.
Courtney Atkinson @courtney_akco
Kris Gemmell @KrisGemmell_
