Undoubtedly during a race, you have been engulfed and passed by a group of athletes riding together like a tour peloton. It can be incredibly frustrating to witness such blatant disregard for the cycling rules. How do you handle this situation during a race? Do you jump on that train and enjoy the ride? Do you call out the riders as they go zipping past you? Do you simply shrug it off and focus on your race execution while maintaining a legal & safe distance from the group? While there are some scenarios where drafting is difficult to avoid (narrow and technical roads for example), the D3 coaches are aligned in how we advise our athletes to handle drafting packs. As frustrating as it can be in the moment, we encourage you to take the high road – focus on the controllables (namely your attitude, effort & emotions) and YOUR race execution while maintaining a safe and legal distance from the group. Seeing packs of riders gain an advantage while drafting is no fun and admittedly can negatively impact your race, but unfortunately it can be part of racing and you should have a plan in place in how you will respond to it.
Some courses are more notorious than others for having large packs of athletes forming on the bike. This is usually found on flat courses where there are no changes in terrain to get separation between athletes – IMFL, IMTX, 70.3 Oregon, etc. In recent years IMTX had a segment of the bike course on a closed toll road which athletes referred to as the “party on the Hardy”. Beyond the ethical/moral aspect of drafting is a safety consideration. It can be dangerous when athletes form groups buzzing past other athletes. Things can become unpredictable when groups of 5, 10, 15 athletes or more converge and in a split-second wheels can touch causing a domino effect. At the 2018 IMTX event, professional triathlete Caitlin Alexander was knocked out of the race after sustaining a concussion from a crash while being engulfed by a drafting pack.
D3 athlete Kalee Tyson, offers up great advice on her experience in dealing with drafting packs - “The more competitive I get on the bike, the more I have been coming across draft packs in races. I hadn't had major issues with draft packs until 70.3 Oregon this year. I had never seen such blatant groups working together and riding each other’s wheels. It made it challenging for me to stick to my race plan without either taking breaks to make space (over and over again for these large 5-20 people packs) or to surge to try to drop them. One reason I chose not to race Ironman Texas was because of the notoriously huge AG drafting packs on that course. That would have frustrated me all day. The way I handled them in Oregon was to assess how my legs felt - could I surge to not get gobbled up by the group or get around the group or was it not worth the energy and instead would it be a good time to ease up and let the legs take a quick break. Most of the time the packs were traveling faster than me, so I let them go, but sometimes if they were riding my wheel, I would try to surge to drop them. It can be frustrating, and sometimes I will shout something to remind people this isn't a group ride. It's a race and they need to give space, but I just try to focus on myself, my own race strategy and staying safe on the ride! Karma will always come around to those who are cheating on course!!”
At the beginning of this year’s race season IM announced a partnership with RaceRanger, a new technology to help athletes and officials curb drafting. It is currently being used within the professional ranks at select races and perhaps we will see it in place soon for all athletes.
As the athlete, it is your responsibility to know the rules. Ironman and USAT have similar language with drafting:
IM:
Draft zone = 12 meters (6 bike lengths; ~39 feet) 25 seconds to complete a pass
USAT:
Draft zone = 10 meters (5 bike lengths; ~33 feet) 20 seconds to complete a pass
Ultimately it is each athlete’s individual choice to draft or not to draft and at the end of the day the D3 coaches want you to be competitive, race cleanly and feel good about your race day execution.
Race well,
Coach Brad
Coach Brad Seng enjoys working with athletes of all abilities who set a variety of personal goals. He understands difficult training days. Challenging days and subpar workouts are inevitably part of the triathlon landscape, as are the times when you’re feeling great and everything clicks. He believes there are lessons to be learned from experiencing both. Sometimes having to fight for a workout is just what’s needed to achieve an important breakthrough in mental conditioning.
Coach Brad is a USA Triathlon Certified Level II, USA Triathlon Certified Youth & Junior, Training Peaks Level 2 Certified Coach and NESTA Certified Sports Nutritionist (National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association).
