On Officiating at IM World Championships

One of the more controversial moments of the year in pro triathlon was Sam Laidlow’s disqualification at IRONMAN Vitoria-Gastiez. Laidlow, the defending IRONMAN World Champion, was in town to validate his slot for this year’s race. He received a drafting penalty, then did not head to the next penalty tent as required by rule, and was subsequently disqualified from the race. Laidlow completed the race and filed a protest, which was denied.

But, according to the letter of the rulebook this played out exactly as it should have. Drafting penalties are not protestable, nor are the further penalties if you do not go to the penalty tent.

Why is that? Especially when you have Race Ranger, the drafting enforcement technology that will be on every professional bike this weekend? And who exactly are the officials in charge of this year’s IRONMAN World Championships in Nice? We talked with IRONMAN’s Global Director Rules of Special Projects Jimmy Riccitello to find out.

Bike Fouls: Drafting, Center Lines, and More

All bike position fouls — drafting, center-line violations, blocking, and the like — are considered “judgment calls” by the IRONMAN Rulebook (Section 3.06(b)). It means that the referee’s decision with regard to calling or not calling a foul is final, and are not subject to appeal; this is the example given above with regard to Laidlow.

In speaking with Riccitello, that’s by design. Ultimately the question is this: did, in the referee’s judgment, an athlete gain an advantage over their competitor or endanger themselves or others in their move into someone’s drafting zone?

Let’s take an example that might likely play out this weekend in Nice. With the twisting, high-speed descents, there may be a situation where an athlete will attempt to pass on a downhill section. They enter the leading athlete’s draft zone to trigger the 25 second countdown to complete the move. As they go to complete the move, the road twists to the right, and the leading athlete drifts off of their line and towards the path of the passing athlete. The passing athlete hits their brakes to take evasive action and to avoid crossing the centerline.

By the letter of the law, it’s a position foul for not completing the pass. But, because the athlete did not gain an advantage in this situation, nor did they endanger themselves or others, it is unlikely they would receive a penalty in this instance. Other examples given include the accordion effect at hairpin turns, or when slowing to receive items at an aid station.

So What’s RaceRanger For?

RaceRanger, the anti-drafting technology, is a light system that tells both athletes and officials when they are riding at a legal spacing, and when they are not.

“RaceRanger is a tool that athletes and referees can use to make the 12 meter draft zone objective while also indicating two buffer zones prior to entering the draft zone. The decision to penalize an athlete, however, will continue to be the judgment of the referee. The benefit of RaceRanger is that athletes and referees are now much more informed,” said Riccitello.

Ultimately, RaceRanger alone is not used to determine whether an athlete has committed a positional foul. Rather, it gives a visual cue to both the athlete and official that a violation may be taking place (as the light system will flash red when an athlete has entered the zone). It is accurate to within 10 centimeters.

But, because RaceRanger cannot determine, say, that an athlete is rolling through an aid station, or that they are at a turn where the time gap between two athletes will remain the same but the distance of space between them may close, it is not used on its own to determine penalties.

This Year’s World Championships Officials

The officiating team of this year’s IRONMAN World Championships comes from the French federation, Fédération Française de Triathlon. The collective team is well-versed on the nuances of the Nice course, as they were on-course officials for IRONMAN Nice earlier this summer, as well as last year’s men’s IRONMAN World Championships here.

It should be an exciting day, with hopefully a little clarification on how the rules work if you see a penalty called (or not called).

You can watch this year’s IRONMAN World Championships live at Outside Watch (U.S.) or proseries.ironman.com.

Photo: Nigel Roddis / Getty Images for IRONMAN