3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Watch Challenge Roth

The starting lineup is too good

Unless you’re a fan of your blood pressure rising, I wouldn’t recommend tuning in for this one. When you get the likes of Magnus Ditlev, Patrick Lange, Anne Haug, and Laura Philipp on a start line… things tend to get a little overly dramatic. It’s almost like they’re out there seeking attention.

Pieter Heemeryck, Rudy Von Berg, Daniel Baekkegard, Jan Stratmann, Clement Mignon, and Leon Chevalier will only make matters worse on the men’s side as they are all ranked in the top 20 of the World...it just seems highly unnecessary to have this competitive of a race.

Els Visser, Anne Reischmann, Danielle Lewis, Svenja Thoes, and Laura Zimmermann will do the same on the women’s side and annoyingly all have insane potential - especially on the bike and run. The problem with this is that it usually means the racing will be incredibly close, making it impossible to predict the podium or top 5 - and with The Daily Tri fantasy - that’s really all that matters.

There are too many storylines to follow

87 Pro athletes competing in a race that is insanely historic and iconic for a 115,000 Euro Prize purse with all these things to remember is going to be tedious:

Magnus Ditlev had the world’s best full-distance time here last year in 7 hours and 24 minutes and knowing him, he could probably go even faster. Patrick Lange was so close to breaking 2:30 for the first time in a triathlon marathon also last year, so obviously he's going to be going for that ridiculous feat. Then, Laura Philipp and Anne Haug have raced each other four times before and have always finished in one position of each other, and statistically speaking, we're almost guaranteed to have yet another close battle here.

On top of that, you’ll have to keep an eye out on whether Rudy Von Berg will (bee) able to overcome a serious crash after he “got bit twice by a wasp or bee” while riding in the aero position at 50km/h. You’ll also have to see whether former Olympic swimmer, Lucasz Wojt, who is something to behold in the water, will most likely will break the swim course record.

Furthermore, on the bike you’ll have to look out for the blinking lights thanks to the new addition of Race Ranger this year affects the dynamic of the race alongside the planned extra referees, and how the extra points on offer at this race change up the Challenge World Bonus standings.

There are too many fans and the broadcast is too well done

200-300 thousand spectators is a bit much if we’re being honest. I mean, at some point, they’re going to have to limit things here. It always gets far too crowded and noisy with all these die-hard fans and it makes the broadcast look a little chaotic with cheering on every inch of the course.

Speaking of the broadcast, they always overdo it here in Roth (starting to see a theme?). They have far too many cameras and drones capturing the cinematic landscape, crowds, and tough course that it sadly makes other broadcasts look bad. Pair that with a live commentary booth at the finish line that constantly brings on new guests while showing behind-the-scenes interviews and it becomes hard not to watch the entire thing.

The commentary itself only makes it worse as Belinda Granger always has you constantly up-to-date and entertained (making it impossibly hard to grab a cup of tea), and to add insult to injury, this year, they’re bringing in charismatic world champion Sebastian Kienle who is apparently an expert in this race...

So, with all of that said, if I haven’t made it abundantly clear…whatever you do… do not tune in to watch all of this on Sunday, July 7th at 6:15 am CEST for the international stream of the race for free on YouTube.

Trust me. You'll regret it.