Hidden bottles now illegal
My cunning plans to avert age appear to have backfired.
Ironman has now banned the practice of stuffing a water bottle down your shirt. Failure to obey the rule will lead to a DQ.
As I outlined a few weeks ago, this hack can save a very significant amount of drag and effectively boost your watts by, say, 10w…something in that region. It looks like this practice will now have to be demoted to Strava PB attempts and beating your mates on misty Sunday mornings when they can’t quite see what you are up to.
Rule Change: Article V, Section 5.01(m) states that “additional equipment that has the effect of reducing wind resistance is prohibited during the bike segment of the race”.
That said, British Triathlon and the ITU might be a bit more lenient.
via: tri247
Last Updated on 28 January 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
