In what the organization itself marks as a groundbreaking move for the sport of triathlon, Challenge Roth will become the first major race to publicly release RaceRanger data following the event. This means that, for the first time, fans, coaches, and athletes will have direct insight into which competitors were maintaining legal distances – and who may have been caught drafting.
RaceRanger, a drafting detection system, uses small devices mounted on athletes’ bikes to monitor and signal when athletes are too close to the competitor ahead. These devices not only provide real-time visual cues to the athletes but also collect data for the race officials. Until now, this data was used only during the race to help referees issue penalties, and it was never made publicly available.
While Challenge Roth’s referees will continue to make decisions in real-time and will not retrospectively issue penalties based on the data, the full RaceRanger logs will be openly accessible after the race, allowing complete transparency. Anyone – fans, media, or fellow athletes – will be able to review how closely competitors adhered to the no-drafting rules.
The initiative was inspired by French star Sam Laidlow, who openly questioned during Friday’s night’s pro athletes briefing why the data wouldn’t be made public. After a brief silence, the room of pro athletes broke into applause. That momentum quickly turned into action, and race organizers committed to publishing the data post-race.
It’s not yet clear exactly where or how the data will be published. Here you’ll find an extensive preview on the race.
