Phil Mosley ponders the Brownlee competition at Abu Dhabi triathlon this weekend
Jonny and Alistair field questions at the Abu Dhabi Press Conference yesterday
Winning comes naturally to Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee but they have their work cut out if they’re to make it a one-two at the Abu Dhabi short course triathlon this year. The Olympic gold and bronze medallists will be racing over the unfamiliar 1.5km/100km./10km non-drafting format and compete against several high calibre Ironman athletes. These include the likes of Bart Aernouts and Ronnie Schildnecht. Aernouts from Belgium is a multiple world duathlon champion and regular Ironman 70.3 champion. His swimming is good but not world class, but when you can run and ride like him it doesn’t matter. Swiss legend Schildnecht is equally strong at all three disciplines, as you might expect from someone who has gone sub 8-hours for an Ironman.
Can they beat the Brownlee’s though? It depends on how fast they ride. Last year Alistair rode the 100k bike route in two hours and 25 minutes, despite taking a wrong turn. He can’t afford any mistakes this year. He and his brother Jonny are more used to the criterium style riding of the ITU World Series. Here the riders are allowed to ride in groups and the intensity constantly yo-yo’s. It’s a different story at the Abu Dhabi triathlon, where drafting is not allowed. It’s a fast route on smooth roads and the athletes will need to apply consistently high power throughout. The Brownlees will be riding their unfamiliar Boardman time-trial bikes, rather than their normal road bikes.
If Alistair and Jonny are within 90-seconds of the leaders after the bike section, you’d expect them to win it on the run. For once, it’s not a sure-thing.
The race takes place at 3:15am on Saturday morning and we’ll keep you abreast of developments.
Words: Phil Mosley