My Thoughts On Draft Legal Triathlon Bike Strategies / Events

My experience of draft-legal events has only been over the last 2 years. It is much less than my experience with non-drafting racing going back over almost two decades, so I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of any of you with more extensive experience.

What is Draft-Legal Racing?

Draft-legal racing is the format on mainstream TV, and most of us have seen standard/Olympic distance triathlons such as those in the Olympics, where cyclists can ride closely behind one another to reduce aerodynamic drag. In amateur events, draft-legal races are more common over shorter distances. In contrast, nearly all longer, traditional (non-drafting) triathlons, like Ironman events, require that the bike leg be completed without benefiting from the drafting effect.

Here’s where you find draft-legal events:

• Sprint Duathlons and Triathlons: Predominantly draft-legal at national and international grade events – ETU, ITU.

• Race Lengths: Rarely applied in longer events and standard-distance amateur-level events.

Recent Changes

When draft-legal age group racing was introduced, I remember it was illegal to draft anyone not in your age group. A sensible rule confounded by being wholly unenforceable. It was abandoned. Other regulations that forbid drafting someone not on your lap were introduced to compensate but also seemingly unenforced at a national level – that said, you would get found out by your lap timings if a race official cared to look. To mitigate the effects of drafting younger athletes, I have seen staggered starts for different ages, but groups of all abilities inevitably get mixed on courses with very short laps (actual lap lengths typically vary from 2 to 5 km)

In sprint duathlon and triathlons for National, ETU, and ITU finals, you will likely race the final in a draft-legal event, even though you can sometimes qualify from sprint races that might be road-based and hence non-drafting.

How Drafting Changes the Race Dynamics

Draft-legal racing introduces a host of tactical, safety and equipment considerations that significantly differ from non-drafting formats:

Safety

The chance of an accident is much higher in draft legal racing. That’s one reason why TT-bikes are not allowed – imagine someone’s aero bars puncturing your rib cage in a crash – yikes. Also, when riding close to someone else, your reaction time moving your hands from the aerobars to the brakes would increase; hence, the danger further increases.

Interacting with car drivers on the road in these races would be highly dangerous, so I’m only aware of draft-legal races on closed roads, typically motor racing circuits and smaller aerodromes, where there is much more road space to use.

You’ll need a different race-day bike than your TT bike! Regular road bikes only – no disk wheels and no clip-on aerobars. You can probably use a decent weekend bike with good wheels/tyres without scuppering your chances of doing well.

Changing Tactics

Efficient drafting is a well-known tactic for any regular riders—making your cycle leg significantly faster. In a draft-legal triathlon, everyone recognizes this fact and initially assumes that letting others shoulder the workload is the best strategy. However, WHEN many racers adopt this approach, the overall pace slows considerably, and it becomes clear that the winners are somewhere else following alternative plans.

Consider the extremes: securing a 100% draft throughout the bike leg could save you several minutes and leave you much fresher for the final run. On the other hand, opting to avoid drafting entirely will cause you to expend more energy and leave you at a significant disadvantage, making it essential to incorporate some level of drafting into your race strategy.

This reliance on drafting to some degree means that race tactics often involve executing shorter, more intense bursts of effort over Z5 rather than maintaining a steady, time-trial-like pace. As a result, the physical demands of race day may favour different kinds of training. Your preparation might need to include short sprints to catch up with faster groups or to allow coordinated efforts as part of an organized 3-person team group, where you might take equal turns leading for a minute or so at VO2 levels of exertion.

Another factor influencing strategy in draft-legal races is body markings indicating the racer’s age group. These markings help you quickly identify which competitors to follow, drop, avoid, or work with, allowing for more nuanced tactical decisions during the race.

Ultimately, the evolving tactics in a draft-legal race demand a flexible training regimen and a keen awareness of how the race might unfold. You might get lucky and just so happen to be with three other people from different age groups committed to working together efficiently, but the chances are that won’t happen. Then what?

My thoughts

Here are some general thoughts about draft-legal racing and some specific ponderings on tactics

Some tactical Thoughts

• You are on the bike leg in a group of 5. One of the others is in your age group and probably a better runner. Is it possible to lose them, or do you accept defeat?
• How do you drop someone on a crowded course? It’s hard. Do you accept the inevitable?
• Should you disguise your age or lie about it during the race?
• You hit gold and get stuck with two younger, much better cyclists. What should you do? Take a turn and help, or sit back and risk them sprinting off, leaving you alone? (A: Probably talk to them!)
• You are an excellent swimmer and decent runner. Can you expect to draft the leading bike group and not care if they get angry at your lack of effort? (A: Probably)
• How important do you think relative positions are when cornering? (A: very)

I would say: “Fortune favours the brave.”

Overall

Draft-legal racing is more exciting, challenging and dangerous to execute. It might even make for good spectating, which I thought I’d never say about age-group triathlons! The triathlon governing bodies probably introduced it with this in mind and have succeeded if that was the case.

Drafting partly reduces the skill of optimally pacing yourself over 2 or 3 disciplines, adding a new skill of tactics adapting to other cyclists’ strengths on the day. It adds uncertainty.

Non-drafting races allow athletes weaker in one of the disciplines to compensate by adapting for their skill in the other two, adding a chance to win. However, draft-legal triathlons favour swimmers who are also good runners, and draft-legal duathlons favour runners. You need those skills to do well and canny bike skills to win. Of course, if you can get to the end of the bike leg and still be in sight of the leader, a good runner has the best chance. Which is another way to say that all three disciplines are important 😉

What strategies do you think work for certain types of (amateur) athlete?

Enjoy your 2025 season.