Challenge Family has announced that it will implement a 20m drafting rule on the bike leg at The Championship 2017 as a ‘means to provide the fairest racing for all athletes’. The 20 metre drafting rule will apply for all professional and age group athletes taking on the event, which takes place on 3 June 2017 at the x-bionic sphere sports resort in Slovakia.
Zibi Szlufcik, CEO of Challenge Family, said “The Championship is our pinnacle event and we are committed to providing all athletes, be they professional or age groupers, with a fair race that rewards effort. With a minimum €150,000 prize purse there is a lot on the line for our professional athletes. It is imperative that we offer a level playing field for all. The drafting rule was one of the most critical topics of 2016 among pro athletes; and for a fair race we feel it is imperative that the 20 metre rule is implemented for The Championship 2017.”
The 20m draft zone on the bike course will be a rectangle 3 metres wide and 20 metres long. An athlete will have 40 seconds to complete any overtaking manoeuvre once they enter the draft zone. Challenge Family adds that the 20m will be enhanced through a new event start procedure that will see age group wave starts commencing at least 20 minutes after the last professional wave start and each wave start will have a maximum of 200 athletes.
Key aspects of the 20m drafting rule at The Championship:
- Separate female and male pro start wave
- Age group start minimum 20 minutes behind professional wave starts
- Maximum 200 athletes in any one start wave
- Minimum 10-minute gap between each age group wave start
- ‘Sufficient referees on the bike course’
- Markers placed and repeated at 20m intervals along the bike course to help athletes estimate the 20m distance correctly
An athlete may enter a bike draft zone in the following circumstances:
- If the athlete enters the draft zone, and progresses through it within 40 seconds in an overtaking manoeuvre
- For safety reasons
- 100m before and after an aid station or transition area
- At an acute turn
- If the Technical Delegate excludes a section of the course because of narrow lanes, construction, detours, or for other safety reasons
The Championship 2017 will be held at the x-bionic sphere in Samorin, Slovakia on 3 June 2017. x-bionic sphere covers 1 million square metres and offers facilities for 27 different Olympic sports. Athletes qualify for The Championship at Challenge Family events across the globe. Athletes can still qualify at the upcoming races: Challenge Wanaka (New Zealand), Challenge Melbourne (Australia), Challenge Gran Canaria (Spain), Challenge Taiwan (Taiwan), Challenge Cerrado (Brazil), Challenge Lisboa (Portugal), Challen Gerimini (Italy) and Challenge Salou (Spain).
