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Should drafting be banned on bike leg of triathlons?

FT data journalists analyse races that allow - or ban - drafting to assess impact on results

Should drafting be banned in the bike leg of a triathlon? That’s the question raised by an article published in, of all places, the FT Magazine.

Last week the paper used data from the International Triathlon Union’s World Series to try and assess the impact of an athlete’s ability in the three disciplines – swimming, cycling and running – on the overall result.

They found that in cycling, competitors tended to be closer to the fastest time in that segment, grouped in clusters, than they were in running, where they were more strung out along a line.

They concluded that doing well in running was crucial to winning medals – but now say that was an incorrect conclusion.

It was pointed out to the FT that the data was taken from an event in which drafting of other competitors is permitted in the bike leg – effectively “resetting the clock” for competitors who arrived at transition ahead of the run in a single group.

So this weekend, for comparison, data journalists John Burn-Murdoch and Gavin Jackson had a look at the data for the bike leg of a triathlon in which drafting on the bike is prohibited – last year’s USA Triathlon (USAT) National Championships for the 24-29 age group.

What they found was that in both cycling and running, the results played out “more organically,” as the scatter charts here (registration required) demonstrate.

They say that “without the splintering of the field during the cycling phase, athletes enter the running leg in a steady stream, making for a more balanced overall race.

“Whereas when drafting is permitted, gaps develop and widen so quickly that most athletes who miss out on the main group in the cycling will never get back during the third stage, however well they run.”

According to USAT’s rules,

Drafting – keep at least three bike lengths of clear space between you and the cyclist in front. If you move into the zone, you must pass within 15 seconds.

Position – keep to the right hand side of the lane of travel unless passing.

Blocking – riding on the left side of the lane without passing anyone and interfering with other cyclists attempting to pass.

Overtaken – once passed, you must immediately exit the draft zone from the rear, before attempting to pass again.

A variable time penalty applies for any infringement.

Slovakia's Richard Varga tails Team GB's Stuart Hayes at London 2012

Here’s the views of Mat Brett, road.cc’s resident expert on the multi-disciplinary sport and former editor of 220 Triathlon.

“What John Burn-Murdoch and Gavin Jackson say is pretty obvious to anyone who has been involved in triathlon for any period of time.

“Drafting is illegal in Ironman events and in the vast majority of age-group races but it is permitted in top-level ITU (International Triathlon Union) racing.

“The reason that drafting is legal for ITU pros is to make for a more spectator-friendly sport. It becomes more of a race and less of a time trial. That’s deemed to be better for TV coverage, and the governing body obviously wants that to promote the sport.

“If you want to do well as a pro in ITU races you need to be a good swimmer in order to get out of the water among the leaders and into the first pack on the bike.

"You can afford to be relatively weak on the bike, sitting in and not doing any of the work at the front. Even a strong biker is unlikely to be able to chase down that pack if they’re late out of the water. It’s virtually impossible if they’re working alone or in a pair.

“The chances are that the first bike leg finishers will be in a large group so everything is decided between those athletes on the run. A strong runner will sometimes come through after finishing the bike leg in the second group, but they’ve obviously given the first group athletes a head start so it’s a difficult task.

“Of course, it does help if, like the Brownlee brothers, you’re strong in all three disciplines.

“In age-group racing and Ironman events there’s no drafting. If you’re going to be strong in any single discipline make it cycling because that takes up the biggest proportion of the race time (up to about 50%, depending on race distance).”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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16 comments

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pedalpowerDC | 8 years ago
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The only thing that would make ITU events worthwhile is if they switched the run and bike so the finish was on the bike. Everyone knows the finish of a bike race is more interesting than the watching tired people running.

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fenix | 8 years ago
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The problem is that the swim isn't long enough to create any sizeable gaps as they exit the water.

Swimmers draft (gasp!) too and you often find a few large packs coming into transition too.

Ideally you'd ban drafting so that cyclists have to race on their own merits - but there just isn't enough space. It's different on an Ironman event where the swim is over twice as long to string things out a bit better.

Elite triathlon is what it is. You still have to be an excellent swimmer and an excellent runner to win. You just have to be a good cyclist - not excellent.

At an amateur level - then abilities are far more varied and by the time I'm out of the water - there's nobody left to draft on the bike anyway.

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CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
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If its an event which each individual has to beat others by their own capabilities. Stagger the start of the swim leg by 30 seconds for each competitor. You can have no drafting or following in the wake for swimming either.

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stefv | 8 years ago
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Don't know much about triathlon, but drafting is part of bike racing. Is a triathlon supposed to be a race or a time trial? If the former, then it makes sense to allow it to me.

Looking forward to the article on Kers and adjustable spoilers in F1 next  16

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johndonnelly replied to stefv | 8 years ago
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mckechan wrote:

Don't know much about triathlon, but drafting is part of bike racing. Is a triathlon supposed to be a race or a time trial? If the former, then it makes sense to allow it to me.

Looking forward to the article on Kers and adjustable spoilers in F1 next  16

Sure, with the extra note that if its a time trial, why is drafting allowed on the swim?

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Yellow Peril | 8 years ago
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The need to get rid of drafting in triathlon is so obvious I can't believe it's actually newsworthy.

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Some Fella | 8 years ago
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Dear road.cc
Please do not feature anything to do with triathlon again.
Ever.
I shall let this one go but we shall never speak of it again.
All the best
J.S. Fella

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PzychotropicMac replied to Some Fella | 8 years ago
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Feeling threatened by those who are better than you?

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TheFatAndTheFurious | 8 years ago
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There was a World Series triathlon event up the Kitzbuhel mountain (2013, I think) and it was just fantastic watching Alistair Brownlee dance off the front going up the hill on the bike - the gradient completely outweighed the benefits of drafting.

I think he pulled out about 50s in just over 35 mins of riding. Whilst it wasn't an exciting race, it was still spectacular in its own way, and for me, a return to the 'pure' form of the sport.

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I love my bike | 8 years ago
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I never knew that “Drafting is illegal in Ironman events . . . ."

If caught, do they go to prison, break rocks, or just get a time penalty, disqualification etc, as in other races?

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vonhelmet replied to I love my bike | 8 years ago
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I love my bike wrote:

I never knew that “Drafting is illegal in Ironman events . . . ."

If caught, do they go to prison, break rocks, or just get a time penalty, disqualification etc, as in other races?

Illegal is a perfectly valid word to use. It can mean in violation of any given set of rules, not just statutory law.

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miffed | 8 years ago
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A study that tells us exactly what anyone with a passing interest in triathlon would be able to tell you anyway. The ITU want drafting to make good tv, though it doesnt select the best over all three events.

It would be nice to see them throwing a non-drafting event into the new expanded and varying world cup program (with mixture of sprints and olympic distance events), maybe also make it over a middle distance to really find the best overall triathlete outside long course.

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Welsh boy | 8 years ago
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Let them draft, it is part of cycling, you might as well put them on rollers or turbo trainers otherwise. It is also fun to see the crashes caused due to the relatively poor bike handling skills of the average triathelete, especially when they get close to another cyclist.

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Bigfoz | 8 years ago
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As an old school triathlete, who previously was a road racer, and having watched a lot of ITU draft fests on the gogglebox. No, triathlete should not be allowed to draft. For two reasons:
1) It's a sport of who is best over 3 disciplines, not two.
2) You can never expand draft legal races to the "non-elite" because the bike handling skills are simply not there, and never will be if you're hitting a peloton after swimming 20-25minutes in cold water, followed by a fight to the death with your wetsuit, leading to diminished balance and reactive skills. (That's without factoring in 1,500 person fields in age group racing on unclosed public roads...)

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PzychotropicMac replied to Bigfoz | 8 years ago
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Strongly disagree with the statement that elite triathletes are better bike handlers tban age groupers. Elite ironman triathletes maybe but itu no chance.

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keith roberts | 8 years ago
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not one of the triathlons I've raced has drafting been allowed..but competitors do draft if they can get away with it, and not many races have "draft busters" or referees on motorbikes...so its easier for many to get away with it! having said that, if you're clearly moving faster than the person in front of you, whats the point of slowing down and hanging behind them? counterproductive to say the least...you can still get a good "tow" (if they are faster than you ) from someone 3 bike lengths (7m in the rules) in front, and at the very least they give you something to aim at...faster or not! so why bother drafting unless you're on tv?  45

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