Almost by accident I noticed that WTC has already posted points and rules for the 2013 KPR. After a quick scan here are the changes I noticed:
- The number of Kona slots for female PROs has been increased by 5 (28 by July, another 7 by August). The number of male PROs stays the same (40+10 = 50).
- St. George is no longer on the schedule as a full distance race – this has been announced for a while.
- New York has also been cancelled – this is a relatively recent development, it was announced a few days ago (i.e. early September).
Canada is also no longer on the list – the old venue has become a Challenge event, and the new event hasn’t been announced yet. I’m sure WTC has a few slots saved for a Canadian race.- The new Ironman Canada in Whistler has been designated a 2000 points race. (The 2012 race in Penticton was just a 1000 points race.)
- IM Regensburg is also absent.
The race site has not announced a new date yet, and there is lots of speculation in the German triathlon forums if and when the race is going to be held.The race has been officially canceled for 2013. One more thing that is missing for now: A North American Championship race (i.e. a 4.000 points race with a similar status to Melbourne and Frankfurt).- The race in Mont Tremblant has been designated the new North American Championship race (i.e. it is now a 4.000 points race).
- There are also two new races: Los Cabos (March) and Lake Tahoe (September, a qualifier for 2014), both are 2.000 points races.
It would be nice to know which race they will pick for a US championshiip (or Americas championship as it should be called, as the world is split up into regions) so pros can plan their racing season and point chase next year.
I don’t see any reason to replace Ironman Canada or New York or any other ones, there are too many races in America and that makes it a clear advantage for those living in America to get points easier. The amount of good athletes is much less, add in over double the races and that makes it much easier to qualiify on a much lower budget with less travel. Would like to see some of the american based athletes try to get pts at 70.3 St. Polten or Rapperswil… ahhahah.. a damn good race gets you top 10 and 200-300pts.. doesn’t get you very far. I’ve see small regional races in germany with 500€ for the win with stiffer competition than some of the America 70.3’s.
It is good to see more new races in Aus and NZ to give those guys a shot, although most of them are spending summers in the US anyway. We need a lto more races in Europe to even things out.
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