By Bill Plock
In a podcast of 303Endurance is releasing Dec 17th we interviewed professional triathlete Rudy VonBerg. We chatted about this announcement and its possible impact on the decisions pro triathletes will make regarding their 2022 season. With by far the biggest prize purse, pro’s are hardly able to say no these races.
Rudy Von Berg at the Colorado Triathlon in Boulder in 2021
In our discussion with Rudy we ponder his season and how he may approach it and in doing his first full IRONMAN in Nice in June. How will he be ready five weeks later to do the Canadian Open–which he could win $100,000 which is a huge pay day? No doubt with this announcement schedules will change and with all of the TV coverage of these events, it adds to the pressure on the pro’s to race them for sponsors.
All of this seems to bode well for the sport of triathlon. IRONMAN recently announced a partnership with Outside TV to up the coverage of its 70.3’s. Will IRONMAN up the purses, which they did some in 2021? The PTO’s overall strategy of making the sport of triathlon a viable sport to support pro’s seems to be working. If the TV viewership comes and more sponsors want more exposure then maybe it will be sustainable.
As we talked about with Rudy, NBC is paid to carry the coverage at Kona, maybe that will flip soon and when it does the sport could change forever.
Here is a link to our podcast page so you can catch this interview, or you can find it on iTunes or other popular services.
Press Release from PTO below
LONDON: The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has today announced the launch of the PTO Tour revealing dates and locations for the first ever PTO US Open, PTO Canadian Open and the 2nd edition of the game-changing team competition – The Collins Cup.
The PTO Tour is a consolidation of PTO events into a ‘Tour’ concept where each event will see the world’s greatest non-drafting professional male and female triathletes competing for a prize purse of $1,000,0000 for each Open and $1,500,000 for The Collins Cup. With a full complement of events the PTO Tour will consist of a US Open, a Canadian Open, Asian Open, European Open and The Collins Cup. Professional Races in 2022 will see a men’s race and women’s race each a 100km distance to determine the ultimate athlete: 2km swim, 80km bike leg and a 18km run.
As well as professional racing, the PTO Tour will, for the first time, introduce age group racing, giving amateurs the opportunity to meet and race alongside the professionals, a hallmark of the sport of Triathlon. In addition to sprint (25 km) and middle distance (100km) age group triathlons, the PTO Tour events will include additional racing opportunities in the component sports of the Triathlon – Swim, Bike, Run, making the PTO Tour events a festival-like celebration of multisport. Age Group registration will open on 25th January.
Just like The Collins Cup, each PTO Tour event will have world class TV production broadcast live to a global audience and high-quality shoulder programming showcasing the stories of the PTO Professionals. In 2022, the PTO Tour will consist of the PTO Canadian Open in Edmonton, Canada on 23rd-24th July, The Collins Cup in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20th-21st August and the PTO US Open in Dallas, Texas on 17th-18th September with The Asian Open and European Open following in 2023.
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