#126: WTCS, PTO, and Supertri: A quick newsletter
Quick-ish. And then going on leave now...
issue #126: Feb. 12, 2025
OK, I’m now officially on maternity leave! You’ll get three or so newsletters over the next six weeks — some from Tim Heming and one from me — and then I’ll see you all again in April.
I have to say there’s an amount the end of this pregnancy feels very pre-race like: The bike is tuned up and bags packed, I’ve been to the race briefing, and there’s really nothing left other than to do the thing. (I also am not someone who likes pre-racing strategy chats with my coach, because I’m sorta like ‘what is there left to talk about at this point.’ So this feels very like that: No, I don’t have any more questions; we’ll just have to figure it out as it happens.)
So, here’s one last short newsletter. See you all after the race!
- Kelly
Who’s actually racing WTCS this year?
Good question.
The main reason we still did a newsletter this week is because it’s the first WTCS race of the year! In February!
And it’s not like no one is racing, tbc. For the women, we’ve got: Taylor Spivey, Lisa Tertsch, Leonie Periault, Kate Waugh, Gwen Jorgensen. For the men: Hayden Wilde, Matt Hauser, Morgan Pearson. That’s not shabby.
But it is also true that a number of big names are skipping out on WTCS races this year to try other things (70.3s, running, XTERRA) or they’re at least going light on the WTCS races to balance T100 contracts (Morgan, Taylor) and/or Supertri. That’s not uncommon during the post-Olympic year, but it’s combined with the fact that the WTCS seems to be struggling to get locations to sign onto the increasing realities of the costs and economics of hosting an event. And it all just makes it all feel like there’s a little less shine to the championship series this year. Even if the courses are good courses.
Also, World Tri just relaunched their TriathlonLive platform and re-did their website (and are making a bid at more content). And my major takeaway so far is that all my logins no longer work…
Full start lists here.
WATCH: Women go at 2 a.m. PT/5 a.m. ET on Saturday and men at 4 a.m. PT/7 a.m. ET. Sprint distance, relay on Sunday. All on TriathlonLive.tv
Supertri mass participation v. PTO mass participation
This week (today?) Supertri announced their new mass participation brand with five races (including a newly purchased CapTex Tri in Austin) — which is sorta an official announcement of what we already knew: that they are pushing into the short-course age-group space, especially in the U.S., and will connect that to their pro championship series in some events but not all.
So, now that both are pretty official: What’s the difference between the PTO’s T100 move into mass participation and Supertri’s ‘By Supertri’ move into mass participation?
Supertri: Is buying up existing short-course races (largely big city, well-known ones) and building on those existing races and local staff (in many cases). They’re then adding their short-course pro race series to some, but not all, of those events. They also have a slightly different business model that relies more heavily on corporate sponsors, especially around the mass participation races, and VIP experiences. Their expenses are also significantly lower than the PTO’s.
PTO: Is (largely) attempting to create new age-groups events from scratch at a new distance, 100km — with a couple exceptions, like acquiring Challenge London — and then they’re stacking those mass participation races on top of their primary focus, which is the professional 100km series. It’s like the reverse model. Their business model has, to date, also relied more on TV/broadcast rights to the pro races and their expenses are higher.
I’m not saying one will definitely work and the other won’t. Supertri has certainly struck out with their Malibu acquisition and it seems like their New York City Tri buy is gonna end up in the loss column, too. But I think it’s key to understand these are fundamental differences in how the two operations are structured — even if they kinda look the same to the outside.
The -ish
And the things worth knowing about this week around our sports.
Outside Inc (ie. Outside Magazine, Triathlete, Velo, Women’s Running, etc) has laid off about 25 people in editorial — including, it sounds like, a lot of the Outside Mag staff — and purchased a travel booking site (with its ~80 staff) in the same week. So, make of that what you want. (Twitter/Denver Business Journal)
Cassandre Beaugrand ran a 5K French national record (14:53). (Tri247)
More people are deciding to focus on Ironman: Tamara Jewett will be making her 140.6 debut (and she’s moved to the Bay Area, welcome!). (Instagram)
Dr. Matt shared how he gets training and med school-ing in — though I actually thought his ‘what it’s really like to own a drone’ video was funnier. (Instagram)
XTERRA is hosting the European Cross Champs this year, and they kick-off their season in S. Africa at the end of the month with legend Conrad Stultz. (XTERRA)
The Patagonaman lottery is open. (Instagram/Patagonaman)
Challenge is upping its global prize purse. (Challenge)
A number of triathletes raced Black Canyons (100K and 50K) this past weekend, including Eric Lagerstrom getting second in the 50K and Heather Jackson in 12th in the 100K. (iRunFar/Instagram)
Biggest race this week, though, was probably the Millrose Games: There was a 3,000m and mile indoor world record. Though it’s more notable for both races being exciting head-to-head match-ups. (Citius Mag)
Shelby Houlihan didn’t race in New York, but did run a 4:20 mile, which put her #2 on the all-time list. And apparently we’ll see her actually go head-to-head at Indoor National Champs in two weeks. (Instagram)
Apparently, a whole bunch of big names are headed to Lievin next for the indoor track tour — so those world records might not last long — and yes, that’s the same Lievin as the indoor triathlon. (FloTrack)
Nike also unveiled a new pro running group model/style with three track groups in three locations headed by three big name coaches. It’s a little unclear what exactly this means, but it’s a thing a lot of people in running are talking about. (Runner’s World)
And running is officially super trendy. (CNN)
It was suggested to me that when I mentioned some of the biggest bike launches recently I missed one of the most interesting: the new Ventum tri bike. (Triathlete)
Three years after his terrible crash, Egan Bernal is back as national champion of Colombia. (Escape Collective)
Multiple teams pulled out of the Etoile de Bessenges after cars pulled on course and the UCI is investigating. (CyclingNews/Cycling Up To Date)
A local race in the UK, the Lakesman, is apparently the best-reviewed triathlon in the world. (Tri247)
It will also come as no surprise to anyone that I think the NCAA is being very pathetic in preemptively banning all ten trans athletes in their system and I can NOT believe that World Athletics is going to introduce sex testing again, three decades after we got rid of it because IT DIDN’T WORK OUT. (Read Rodge/BBC)
If you want more info: Everyone keeps recommending this podcast series on the history of sex testing in sports. (NPR)
I’m just saying, it’s not not true:
And: “I should never have bought a gravel bike.” (CyclingWeekly)
One last thing
To close us out, just because everyone’s got their thing. Click through for the video:
