Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells: Race-Day Gallery

images by Jeremiah Mitchell

Dec 11, 2019   27,174

By pure chance, TriRig had four of our current roster of athletes competing at Indian Wells: Ben Deal, Summer Deal, Adam Feigh, and Mikael Staer Nathan. We are proud of all of our athletes, but this race was special for the Deals. Ben had a very impressive 4th-place finish; strong runner as he is, he was closing in on third place, but ran out of course and barely missed the podium by about 30 seconds. Nevertheless, this was a great day for the 26-year-old. His wife Summer raced for the FIRST TIME as a genuine, card-carrying, professional triathlete. And her top-10 finishn is also something to be celebrated. These four athletes are a lovely part of of our pro roster, which also includes Matt Russell, Thomas Gerlach, and some name(s) which will be revealed in the near future. We couldn't be happier with how these athletes kit out their Omni rigs. They are just exquisitely clean from tip to tail. But would you expect any less? We would never let our athletes hit the course with a messy or subpar rigs. Congrats to everyone on Team TriRig, including the age-groupers who ride our products as well! Get them for yourself right in the TriRig Store!

Lionel Sanders proved he still has the legs to win decisively, after a year of mixed results for the Canadian powerhouse. He is aboard the Canyon Speedmax, for the self-stated reason that he wants to copy what Jan Frodeno is doing. That's a bit weird to hear a major competitor state on camera, yet here we are. He keeps the rig super clean, using all of Canyon's integrated solutions and looking pretty dark good doing it. His position has improved quite a bit over the past couple years, but we'd still love to see him improve the bike form, as his knees jut far into the wind. Still, he brings in the results, so at the end of the day, what is my criticism really worth? Well, possibly some time, that's what.

Paula Findlay took the race for the women aboard her very straightforward Trek Speed Concept. She makes great use of a BTA bottle and a single rear bottle, fills up the bento storage behind the stem, rides the SpeedBox behind the seatpost (presumably for a flat kit) and thankfully doesn't put anything inside the main triangle of the frame! She's also running SRAM Red AXS 1x, a groupset we reviewed and absolutely loved. I think her position could be a touch more aggressive, if she wants to compete with some of the stronger competitors out there. And that Oakley lid is a shame - it's just a nightmare to use, and doesn't look particularly aero.