There are now three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Ashleigh Gentle winning the Noosa Triathlon.

Gentle unleashed another trademark performance to claim her eleventh Noosa Tri title, and her tenth in a row. Coming out of the water in tenth, Gentle started progressing her way through the field once on the bike. Midway through the ride, Gentle put her nose in front and would never relinquish the lead again, with a minute margin of victory over second placed Richelle Hill. Natalie Van Coevorden earned third place.

Post-race, Gentle was elated, saying, “This year there was a particularly strong swim field, I know I don’t have the speed to come out with some of those women, the short course specialists and super swimmers but I still had a reasonable swim actually, the group of girls that I came out with and then I just tried to hammer the bike really hard at the start, just to try and get to the front of the race as quickly as possible, I surprised myself a little bit with how strong I was riding and how quickly I did catch the field but then from then on I led the whole way on the bike and once I got off I just tried to stay composed as best as I could.”

GARMIN NOOSA TRIATHLON – WOMEN’S RESULTS

1. Ashleigh Gentle – 1:55:56
2. Richelle Hill – 1:56:58
3. Natalie Van Coevorden – 1:58:49
4. Sophie Malowiecki – 1:59:01
5. Tara Sosinski – 1:59:20
6. Nicole Van Der Kaay – 2:01:39
7. Chloe Hartnett – 2:02:26
8. Lotte Wilms – 2:04:05
9. Charlotte McShane – 2:04:15
10. Mikayla Messer – 2:04:33

The men’s race was a long-time duel between Brayden Mercer and Jamie Riddle. Mercer had the fastest swim of the day, emerging just ahead of Riddle and Tayler Reid. With typical pack jockeying, Mercer and Riddle traded positions on the front until shortly before T2, where Riddle pushed onward to build a gap on the chasers.

However, it would not stick, with Mercer never letting Riddle out of sight. At 2.5 kilometers, Mercer re-took the lead and continued pushing onward to take the win. Mercer would fade slightly, passed by Reid and Luke Willian. The top four men all finished within 1:07 of one another.

“I knew that the swim is my strength so I thought if I could push it from the start, get a little group together on the bike and then if I rode to what I knew I could do on the bike, which I did, and then come off the plan was to push myself to the finish line on the run and that’s what I did and I got the win, I’m honestly over the moon,” said Mercer.

Over 8,000 athletes took part in the 41st edition of the Olympic distance event.

GARMIN NOOSA TRIATHLON – MEN’S RESULTS

1. Brayden Mercer – 1:43:20
2. Tayler Reid – 1:43:58
3. Luke Willian – 1:44:15
4. Jamie Riddle – 1:44:27
5. Jake Birtwhistle – 1:45:30
6. Kurt McDonald – 1:46:08
7. Caleb Noble – 1:47:53
8. Jack Sosinski – 1:48:43
9. Jack Crome – 1:49:02
10. Joe Begbie – 1:49:22

Photos: Alex Polizzi

The post Ashleigh Gentle Goes to Eleven at Noosa first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The IRONMAN Pro Series is reaching the conclusion of its inaugural season. As expected, the 2024 IRONMAN World Championships have shaken up the standings, with five new faces moving into the critical top 10 positions with just two races remaining on the calendar.

2024 IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange sits atop the standings, jumping for fourth to first and with a 770 point lead over second place Matt Hanson, who improved his series points total with his 10th place finish in Kona. Bradley Weiss moved into third, with Matthew Marquardt‘s 15th place Kona leapfrogged him up from ninth to fourth in the Series. But the big mover was Gregory Barnaby, who turned sixth in Kona into fifth in the series, up 10 spots.

The remainder of the top 10:

• Kristian Hogenhaug (+8 spots)
• Jonas Hoffman (+5)
• Robert Kallin (no change)
• Paul Schuster (+2)
• Stenn Goetstouwers (+3)

But with only 70.3 Western Australia and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships remaining on the calendar, there are precious few points available. Winning both races, and assuming you had two open results available, would net you 5,500 points; 2,500 for the win in Western Australia, and 3,000 for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Title. For example, Hanson has scored in five events already, with his worst result a second place at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder. If he were to win either Western Australia or place well at 70.3 World Championships, his score could only improve by a range of 191 to 691 points — not enough to overtake Lange.

But the top 10 positions are critical, with a combined prize pool to be paid out amongst those top 10 finishers $650,000 USD. As a reminder, the Series prize pool breaks down as follows:

1. $200,000
2. $130,000
3. $85,000
4. $70,000
5. $50,000
6. $40,000
7. $30,000
8. $20,000
9. $15,000
10. $10,000
11. to 50. $5,000 each

With that and the scores in mind, here’s who has a shot at the top prize.

The current leader Lange has the inside track to victory. Although he has five points scoring finishes to his name, he has two benefits: first, he has a combined 11,000 points from two IRONMAN victories this year; second, his results at 70.3 events are terrible, with two 17th place finishes gaining him just over 3,300 points total. If Lange races either of the two December events, he’s looking at improving his Series score with mediocre results, let alone if he pulls off the World title double. The last male athlete to do it, depending on how you look at it, would be Kristian Blummenfelt in 2022 (winning the “2021” title at St. George in 2022 and 70.3 Worlds that fall) or Jan Frodeno in 2015.

Weiss is another athlete that is high in the standings, but with the strong possibility of improving on his prior 70.3 results. Weiss has a 7th and 16th in his points total; with two victories, Weiss could push his season points total up by 1,593 points, bringing him over 19,000 points for the year.

Marquardt, Barnaby, and Hogenhaug have the advantage of not having five full scores in their combined points totals. A quality result at 70.3 Worlds would be enough to see them push into the top 3 without having to push a score out. Their respective disadvantage is that their one 70.3 scores are both quite good, with Marquardt earning 2,359 points for 3rd at Mont Tremblant, Barnaby 2,477 for his 3rd in Mallorca, and Hogenhaug’s 5th at Mallorca getting 2,324. One factor against Marquardt is that he has not raced outside of North America this year, and as a medical student, he might not have the availability to race in December.

The men have just over a month off until the Pro Series calendar resumes, with 70.3 Western Australia taking place on December 1st, followed by the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand two weeks later.

Lead Photo: Donald Miralle for IRONMAN
Barnaby: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for IRONMAN

The post Men’s IRONMAN Pro Series Outlook Post-Kona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Patrick Lange has taken his third IRONMAN World Championship in spectacular fashion, shattering Gustav Iden’s 7:40:24 course record from 2022 with a 7:35:53 performance.

Lange was in front-running contention nearly all day, beginning with a front pack swim that included all the major contenders on the day. Lange rode with the front chase group, which lost significant time to the front-running defending champion Sam Laidlow. But his run prowess could not be denied, erasing a more than seven minute deficit to Laidlow in just over eleven miles.

Laidlow, who rode by himself off the front for the entirety of the ride and demolished the bike course record in 3:57:22, appeared comfortable through the opening miles of the run, despite losing time to Lange. However, once the run turned up Palani, Laidlow suddenly looked to be running in cement. It was a classic, spectacular Kona meltdown. He was far from the only one; Kristian Blummenfelt was seen vomiting throughout the bike before also suffering on the run. Matthew Marquardt ran in the top 10 through 14 miles of the run before he, too, would explode.

The only athlete who was able to come back from one of these blow-ups was Magnus Ditlev. Suffering late on the bike, and taking significant time in transition, Ditlev was able to rebound through the marathon. From 10th place early in the marathon, Ditlev kept relentless forward progress, and passed athletes consistently until emerging from the Natural Energy Lab in second, holding it across the line in 7:43:39.

Rudy Von Berg, who was also in the front for most of the day, was able to capitalize with a consistent marathon performance, moving through the field as other contenders faltered to claim the final spot on the podium.

Post race, Lange dedicated his victory to his mother. “I always said that I thought my best days were yet to come, and nobody believed in me. This was a perfect day. Mahalo. This is for my mom. I cannot believe it.”

“I just feel grateful. This race was…I’m just so grateful to be here.”

Ditlev and Von Berg, meanwhile, spoke about how difficult the race was. Ditlev said, “It’s probably the toughest race I’ve ever done. I really struggled on the bike, I wasn’t sure I would finish. The mental fight today was beyond anything I’ve ever done before.”

“It was really really tough. It’s the hardest day of my life by far. I struggled the entire run, so happy I was able to keep my head in the game and keep one foot in front of another.”

Von Berg added: ““I’m obviously extremely happy but that was the toughest race I’ve ever done. Kona hits different. I thought I was really in control of the marathon, at least as in control as you can in the marathon in an IRONMAN, but that last 10, 12K was absolute hell.” 

As the Race Unfolded

Most contenders lined up over on the left side of the swim course, furthest from the sight buoys. As the cannon fired, it was a clean start, but there were three very different packs developing — far left, center, and far right.

Ben Kanute and Sam Laidlow were in front of the group to the left, driving out the pace, splitting the field out and forcing the other two groups to come together to chase. Rudy Von Berg and Magnus Ditlev swam together, about ten positions back in the chase pack. Jackson Laundry was the man holding the whole 50 man pack together, but was just starting to lose the feet of the men in front of him.

After 700 meters, the pack had whittled down to about 40 men, but there was no clean breakaway of superswimmers. Kanute and Laidlow were leading the effort to breakaway, but they had yet to make a clean getaway. Ditlev had appeared to lose his swim cap, with a paddle boarder holding a purple cap, as well as Sam Appleton.

Approaching the first turn buoy and the packs had split, with three distinct groups. The leading pack had approximately 30 men, including Kanute, Laidlow, Ditlev, and Patrick Lange, with the two chase groups evenly split with the remaining field. The first chase included Leon Chevalier and Gustav Iden, as well as Matt Hanson. The second chase had Jackson Laundry, Cam Wurf, and Trevor Foley in it.

Getting close to the turnaround and Laidlow started to push the pace, as the front group only hit the first turn at 23 minutes. Laidlow’s pace started stetching out the pack, turning it into a single-file line as they turned around the second boat in 24:33. In that span, Laidlow spaced this group out over 100 meters, and had opened up a 5 meter gap over everyone. Kristian Blummenfelt was in danger of being dropped, who would leave Sam Appleton and Rudy Von Berg behind him.

As the swim progressed back towards shore and Laidlow, taking some backstroke strokes, had let his gap close back up. Menno Koolhaas took the lead. Bradley Weiss and Robert Kallin had gotten dropped, with Ditlev hanging on for dear life to stay in the front group.

With roughly 400 meters left to swim, the front of the group seemingly had backed off a bit, as the group began to accordion back together and becoming a near 20 man pack again. Seven or eight of those men had “lost” their swim caps by this point. 

Koolhaas took swim prime honors in 47:02, followed by Laidlow, Antonio Benito Lopez, Lange, Greg Barnaby, Kieran Lindars, Ben Kanute, Finn Grosse-Freese, Sam Appleton, and Paul Schuster. It was a 22 man pack, which also had Matthew Marquardt, Von Berg, Blummenfelt, Braden Currie, Clement Mignon, and David McNamee. The first chasers were 1:15 back, led by Igor Amorelli and including Ditlev, Kallin, Bradley Weiss, and Kristian Hogenhaug. Second chase pack came out 3:30 down, led by Arnaud Guilloux and had Iden, Hanson, Leon Chevalier, Laundry, and Pieter Heemeryck. The third chase group came out 5:15 behind with Chris Leiferman, Lionel Sanders, Cameron Wurf included. Trevor Foley came out of the water another three minutes behind.

For the out and back section of the bike through town and Laidlow had gone to the front, drilling the bike, and opening a 13 second lead early, chased by Marquardt. RaceRanger lights were blinking furiously as the pack started to jockey for initial positions. By the first turnaround Laidlow had extended his gap to 52 seconds, as the main pack began forming, Marquardt leading the 17 man deep pack as the rain began falling.

Climbing up Palani, and Laidlow continued accelerating away, making it a 1:15 lead as he hit the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway. In the main chase, Blummenfelt had a strong move to push further up in the group. The remaining chasers had lost even more time through town, with the likes of Sanders and Wurf sitting nearly seven minutes down already.

Laidlow kept on the gas pedal; by 12 miles, he’d grown the gap another 15 seconds. Lange now led the chase pack, which had swelled to more than 20 athletes, spread out over 32 seconds on the road. Names there included Marquardt, Lopez, Kanute, Blummenfelt, Steven McKenna, Von Berg, Barnaby, Appleton, Baekkegard, Currie, Ditlev, Hogenhaug, and McNamee the caboose. Iden was over 5 minutes behind, riding with Chevalier and Laundry, Hanson another 20 seconds off. Sanders was also losing more time, approaching closer to 8 minutes down and losing touch with Wurf.

In the chase pack, Ditlev began riding through the front of the chase group, not being able to slot in. Blummenfelt, who was in the front third, opted to chase Rudy Von Berg’s wheel as Von Berg chased Ditlev. It created a bit of danger as Blummenfelt was also being passed, creating the kind of three-man passing situation that can result in position foul penalties. 

Laidlow rode the opening 25 miles in 47:07, earning himself a 2:08 lead over Ditlev. Blummenfelt was the first athlete of the big chase, but he was 5 seconds behind Ditlev and that gap appeared to be growing. Ditlev’s effort had removed a few men from the group: Clement Mignon and McNamee now found themselves in no man’s land between groups.

It appeared that the effort from Laidlow early was starting to hurt, as at the next checkpoint six miles up the road he was starting to lose time. He lost 14 seconds of his lead, with Ditlev and Blummenfelt breaking away from the group. Marquardt had also split away from the group, 23 seconds from Blummenfelt and followed by Stepniak. The group now was led by swim leader Koolhaas, and had Kanute, Von Berg, Lange, Lopez, Barnaby, McKenna, Hogenhaug, Baekkegard, Appleton, and Lindars for company. McNamee was now in a second group, about four minutes down, with Kallin, Petersen, and Bradley Weiss with him. Still, 48 athletes remained within 10 minutes of the lead at this point of the bike.

Ditlev at roughly mile 33 decided to pull away from Blummenfelt, whereas Marquardt had decided to go back and lead the chase group versus trying to go it alone. By mile 42, Ditlev had narrowed the gap to 99 seconds to Laidlow.  Blummenfelt had dropped from Ditlev, 48 seconds further back, and throwing up more than six times on camera. Von Berg had taken the initiative of the main chase group. The effort through here had dropped Appleton and Lindars. Penalties were indeed abound through the group as well, with an announced penalty to Iden (unintentional littering) and Baekkegard (position foul). Blummenfelt was swallowed up by the Von Berg group in the final miles leading to the climb to Hawi. Von Berg climbed hard past Blummenfelt, and looked to open a gap to chase down Laidlow and Ditlev.

Fifty miles down and Laidlow had bumped his lead slightly back up over Ditlev to 1:51. The Marquardt / Von Berg / Lange group had slowed as well, now 3:44 down at the head, and had let the likes of Appleton, Lindars, and Weiss close back up. Blummenfelt slid back through this group on the climb to Hawi, looking like his race may be over following the vomiting episode. Athletes also heading the wrong direction included Braden Currie (down six spots) and Robert Wilkowiecki (10 spots down). 33 athletes were still within 10 minutes of Laidlow’s lead, with last of them Chris Leiferman. 

At the turnaround in Hawi, Laidlow was averaging over 28 miles per hour, and had a gap of 2:33 over Ditlev. Both of those athletes had driven the pace significantly over the chasers, Laidlow’s lead now 4:55 on the group led by Koolhaas. Kanute, Marquardt, Stepniak, Kallin, Barnaby, Hogenhaug, and McKenna rounded out your top 10 athletes. Blummenfelt had managed to glue himself back together and tied back into the group. But these efforts had whittled the number of athletes within that magical 10 minute window to 23. 

Descending from Hawi, Laidlow was riding two minutes faster than his bike course record set in 2022. That said, Ditlev was holding serve, 2:35 behind with just over 40 miles left to ride. The pack jockeying began again in earnest, with two lines of athletes forming in that chase: those passing, and those being passed. That in-fighting had seen the group lose another 10 seconds to the lead. Further down the field, Trevor Foley had made up 26 places on the bike thus far, now riding just behind Laundry and Wurf at just over 11 minutes from the lead.

Hitting the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway again and both Laidlow and Ditlev were both on bike record pace. Their combined effort continued to distance the chase pack; 5:34 behind Laidlow, just under three minutes from Ditlev. The group was down to fifteen, with Kallin, Marquardt, Stepniak, Kanute, Koolhaas, Barnaby, Blummenfelt, Von Berg, Hogenhaug, Lange, Lopez, Nick Thompson, Weiss, Lindars, and McKenna, in order. Chevalier (+8:17), Appleton, and Grosse-Freese rounded out the top 20 athletes. Foley remained a man on the mission, passing Wurf and Laundry and just over five minutes from the back of the main chase pack with 35 miles left to ride.

With 25 miles left to ride and with a herd of goats jumping through the lava fields behind him, Laidlow was well on pace to shatter the four hour bike barrier in Kona and pushing his lead over Ditlev ever closer to three minutes. Kallin had broken away from the chase group and had actually gained time on the leaders, now under five minutes from the front. Marquardt led that group now, but they had lost almost a full minute over the last 10 miles. Blummenfelt was clearly feeling better, as he was right behind Marquardt in the group. The pack dynamics had also seen McKenna drop off, now sitting behind Chevalier.

Coming over Scenic Point Hill and Laidlow’s lead had blown out to almost four minutes on Ditlev. Kallin was under 90 seconds from joining Ditlev, and it had extended the chase group gap to 7:40. Chevalier had dug deep, riding faster than any of the other top 20 athletes, and had managed to latch onto the back of that chase pack to make it a 14 man group as they neared the end of the ride. Foley also was progressing towards that chase pack, with he and Wurf less than four minutes from the last man of the group (Chevalier).

Passing the airport, meaning there were fewer than 10 miles left to ride, and Laidlow’s lead had extended out to 5:38. Kallin had Ditlev in his sights, just 17 seconds further back at the time check; within the next few miles Kallin made the pass. Hogenhaug had also made a break away from the splintering chase group, riding by himself 7:26 behind Laidlow. Marquardt was another minute back, with Chevalier and Koolhaas with him. Blummenfelt came next, leading the remains of the real group, which still had Von Berg, Lopez, Lange, and Weiss with him, all around 9 minutes. Kanute was off the back of that, but was keeping the gap to the front under 10 minutes.

Laidlow racked his bike having smashed his own bike ride to pieces, riding 3:57:22. And perhaps most shockingly, his run form looked loose and calm hopping off the bike. The lead was 5:53 over Kallin, who rode 4:01:44, three minutes under the prior bike record. Ditlev was 1:04 behind Kallin after a 4:02:52 ride, followed by Hogenhaug 24 seconds later. Marquardt came next, 7:47 down. Chevalier also had an old bike record ride in 4:01:38, now in sixth and 7:57 from Laidlow. Koolhaas, Thompson, Blummenfelt, Barnaby, Stepniak, Von Berg, Lange, and Lopez were the last athletes under 10 minutes, all within a minute of one another. Foley, however, had crashed in the closing miles of the bike, coming in over 14 minutes down and hobbling through transition.

Through transition and the first mile, and it was a tale of two men moving in opposite directions. Leon Chevalier sped through transition, gaining two places and moving into fourth on the road. Ditlev, meanwhile, was labored coming off the bike. He also was loading himself up with lots of ice to stay cool. Combined it meant he lost almost three minutes to Laidlow, and moved down to fourth place.

Laidlow set a solid, if unspectacular, starting pace, running 6:20 mile pace early. That meant he was building a gap on Kallin and Hogenhaug, but men moving faster were Chevalier (about to catch Hogenhaug), Marquardt, and Koolhaas. Blummenfelt had pushed up to 8th. But the fastest man on the road was Patrick Lange — 32 seconds a mile faster than Laidlow, and about to move back into the top 10.

There was lots of movement through the opening miles. Laidlow set the pace, followed by Kallin who was slowing significantly. Chevalier moved into the podium positions, with Koolhaas and Hogenhaug running with him, 7:35 from Laidlow. Marquardt was by himself in sixth, another 15 seconds back, but was about to be joined by the fast moving Lange, now 7th on the road. Blummenfelt sat 8th, running second fastest. In the eight to ten minute down window were Barnaby, Ditlev, Von Berg, Lopez, and Stepniak. In the back end of the top 15, Lindars was closing fast on Thompson. 

Lange was blitzing through the field. By the next split he’d ripped past everyone not named Laidlow — second place, 7:07 down, running 35 seconds per mile faster than Laidlow. Koolhaas moved up into third, running slightly faster than Laidlow, 7:23 back. Kallin had slid to second and was soon to be passed by Chevalier, Hogenhaug, and Blummenfelt. Also going the wrong way were Ditlev, who was about to lose his position in the top 10 to Lopez, and Von Berg, who was in 12th but ceding time.

Kallin was the first run course meltdown; in under two miles, he’d lost seven positions on the road. But by the time the race was getting to Palani Hill and Lange had a relentless charge to the front. By far the fastest man on the road, and he’d whittled Laidlow’s lead to just 5:54. If the pace continued at this rate, Lange would catch Laidlow in the final three miles of the run. Koolhaas (+7:14) held steady, with Chevalier in 4th another 20 seconds back. Marquardt and Blummenfelt were trading 5th and 6th back and forth with one another. Ditlev had rebounded from his issues earlier in the run, up to 7th place and about to enter the Marquardt and Blummenfelt battle and bringing Hogenhaug with him. Further down Von Berg had also found his stride, moving up to 10th place, whereas Lopez appeared to be hitting the Kona novice wall, sliding backwards. Blummenfelt was the next major name to slowdown, losing five spots in the next mile. 

Onto the Queen Ka’ahumanu HIghway again and Laidlow had run the first 9 miles in 55:08. Normally this would be amazing. But you also didn’t have Lange chasing him in run record pace, as Lange hit that mat in 50:38, now bringing the deficit down to 4:36 with 17 miles to run. And that deficit would only shrink over the next stretch, as Laidlow was reduced to walking through the next aid station. Chevalier had once again moved into third, gapping Koolhaas by almost 30 seconds and under 7 minutes from the suffering Laidlow. Ditlev continued his resurrection, pushing into fifth place and running faster than anyone not named Lange or Chevalier. Von Berg was also moving up, now in 8th place. Blummenfelt was moving again, but not at a fast pace, sitting back in 13th.

Laidlow came completely unglued in the next mile. Reduced to a shuffle, clearly suffering from the heat and the record-breaking ride, he’d lost all but a minute of his lead. It was merely a matter of when the pass would get made now, with it coming just before the mile 11 marker. Lange tapped Laidlow on the way by, with a brief exchange, before Lange strode off into the distance. For what it’s worth, Lange was clearly paying for the effort to close this quickly, taking an entire gallon of water at the next aid station and dumping it over himself in an attempt to cool down. Laidlow took a 2 liter of Coke, trying to get calories, before heading to a port-o-john, defeated. 

Chevalier passed Laidlow, pushing with 15 miles left to run. He was 3:10 behind Lange, but running slower than the leader. The question of who would take third was really open. Ditlev had turned his race around, now in fourth, 90 seconds from the fast fading Laidlow. Koolhaas was with him. Another 30 seconds behind was Von Berg. Hogenhaug held 7th. The next athlete to suffer from conditions and potentially effort was Marquardt, in 8th, but sliing backwards and with Lopez, Lindars, and Barnaby all within a minute if he did not get himself back together.  In the battle for paychecks, Cam Wurf held 12th, with a minute hap to Kallin in 13th. Weiss was in 14th, running with Stepniak who held the finally paying position and a comfortable gap over Blummenfelt in 16th.

The temperatures and incredible efforts were taking its toll on all the athletes. Multiple athletes, including Ditlev, were seen grabbing huge chunks of ice from the buckets holding water or Coke, and using them in any way possible to cool themselves off. Entering the Natural Energy Lab, Lange held a 3:40 lead over Chevalier. Ditlev followed in third, another 1:15 back. Von Berg was also running well, 36 seconds behind Ditlev and 20 seconds in front of fifth place Koolhaas. Lopez was also on the move, pushing into sixth place but with Hogenhaug and Barnaby chasing hard. Long-time leader Laidlow had fallen all the way to 11th place, and was soon to slide out of the paying positions. Further back and Matt Hanson was showing his run prowess, under three minutes from 15th place and running faster than everyone but Lange.

With ten miles left to race, it was Lange’s race to lose. Although slowing from a potential 2:30 marathon, Lange’s lead had stretched to 4:34. The podium was far from settled, though, with Chevalier, Ditlev, and Von Berg all within 1:24 of one another, with Chevalier looking like he was suffering the most from the heat, sticking his head into one of the large ice buckets. Koolhaas had a 90 second gap for fifth place over Barnaby. Lopez, Lindars, Hogenhaug, and Wurf filled out the top 10 positions — all still within 10 minutes of the lead.

Preparing to exit the Energy Lab, and both Ditlev and Von Berg had made the pass on Chevalier; the latter of which at an aid station for third — shortly after a helicopter got a touch too close to the ground and blew multiple pop-up tents into the road. Volunteers quickly cleared them before they impacted any athletes. Von Berg had 90 seconds to make up on Ditlev. Chevalier still had work to do, though — there were only 20 seconds between him and Koolhaas in fifth. Further down, Lopez was moving backwards and appeared to be suffering in the heat. The beneficiary? Wurf, now in 8th and with the potential to chase his way up to 6th. Also making in-roads were Hanson, now on track to move into the top 10, and Stepniak.

With four miles left to run, it seemed like the podium was set and locked with positions; Lange in front, Ditlev 6:15 behind, but now 1:45 in front of Von Berg. Chevalier’s aid station tactic had appeared to work, rebounding and holding off Koolhaas. Wurf, meanwhile, was about to pass Lindars for 7th and not far off from closing to Barnaby for 6th. Hogenhaug sat 9th, another minute behind. Weiss was 10th, Matt Hanson 11th, and Lopez, Stepniak, Petersen, and Marquardt the final paying slots.

Lange strode comfortably on All’i Drive, starting to celebrate with roughly 400 meters left to run. He ran 2:37:34 to win, taking four minutes off the course record in 7:35:53. Ditlev held on for second in 7:43:39. Von Berg took third in 7:46:00, with Chevalier hot on his heels for fourth.

2024 IRONMAN World Championship Top 15

Photos: Jason Strohbehn; Eric Wynn

The post Patrick Lange Takes Third IRONMAN World Title first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

What began as a brisk 43-degree morning in Bentonville transformed into a sun-soaked 78-degree day, providing the perfect backdrop for the overall champions of the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel Classic: Sofia Gomez Villafane and Alexey Vermeulen. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the evening erupted into celebration, drawing in elites, casual riders, and enthusiastic spectators alike to honor a successful gravel season.

The race itself presented formidable challenges, with dusty and rocky conditions testing all competitors. The rugged terrain of the Ozarks claimed several tires, impacting both the men’s and women’s fields significantly.

In the women’s race, a lead group of 13 riders quickly formed, featuring notable names such as Sofia Gomez Villafane, former champion Paige Onweller, and Olympic medalist Flavia Oliveira Parks. Unfortunately, Oliveira Parks, as many others, encountered a tire issue that sidelined her from contention. Just two minutes behind, a group of six—including Rad champion Lauren De Crescenzo, Whitney Allison, and Crystal Anthony—collaborated in an effort to close the gap. However, the initial lead group eventually splintered, leading to a new alliance consisting of Gomez Villafane, De Crescenzo, Leadville 100 champion Melisa Rollins, Alexis Skarda, Michaela Thompson, Cecily Decker, and Onweller, as they chased Erin Huck, who had established a 30-second lead by mile 80. In a dramatic finish, Gomez Villafane clinched the win, narrowly edging out Rollins, while Decker rounded out the podium. Onweller took fourth, and Lauren De Crescenzo finished fifth after the grueling 105-mile race.

The men’s race exploded much earlier in the day. Garmin Gravel World’s champion Simen Nordahl Svendsen and Alexis Carter broke away before reaching aid station one at mile 37, with Colby Simmons and Sebastian Schonberger trailing just a minute behind. Simmons then bridged the gap to the front, where he and Alexey Vermeulen eventually dropped Svendsen. At mile 80, Alexey made his intentions clear: “Just so you know, I’m racing for the win.” From mile 85 onward, he fought to shake Simmons. In a thrilling finale, Alexey surged ahead, crossing the finish line just nine seconds before Simmons, securing his title as the 2024 Lifetime Big Sugar Classic Champion. Nordahl Svendsen, Keegan Swenson, and Brendan Johnson sprinted for third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The day’s outcomes also reshuffled the leaderboard of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix series. With her win, Sofia Gomez Villafane not only secured victory for the day but also clinched the series title. Paige Onweller finished third in the series, with Melisa Rollins taking second. Alexis Skarda and Haley Smith completed the top five standings.

While Keegan Swenson had already secured his series title prior to the race, the results of the day reshaped the rest of the podium. Matthew Beers and Payson McElveen swapped positions, finishing second and third overall, respectively, after a thrilling sprint where Beers edged out McElveen by a mere second. Brendan Johnson climbed from seventh to fourth, while Cole Paton slipped from fourth to fifth in the final standings.

The event concluded on a celebratory note, with Life Time Grand Prix fourth place finisher Alexis Skarda spinning tunes for a crowd of 2,400 gravel enthusiasts. Stories of the day and the season were shared, solidifying the Big Sugar Gravel Classic’s reputation as the event to cap off the season. As many athletes now look forward to much-deserved rest, excitement is already building for 2025. Will Sofia and Keegan maintain their reign as the “power couple” (yes, they’re engaged), or will the offseason bring new challengers to the forefront? 

We’ll find out in 2025.

The post Gomez Villafane, Vermeulen Win Big Sugar first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Alex Yee came into the World Triathlon Championship Series Grand Final in Torremolinos needing a sixth place finish to finally earn his first world championship. That title has proven elusive, with three straight tries for Yee coming up short.

Today, that streak ended — although it took another outstanding run from Yee in order to make it happen, using the second fastest run of the day to move into the podium places and secure the world title. He joins women’s champion Cassandre Beaugrand in pulling off the Olympic Gold – WTCS World title double in the same season.

Yee, post-race, said, “This has evaded me for the last three years and makes it even sweeter. It is probably something that has haunted me day in day out and I wanted to put on a show and a smile on peoples’ faces and I’m World Champion. There’s always going to be pressure in these races… but pressure makes diamonds.”

Fellow series contenders Hayden Wilde and Leo Bergere gave it their best, blowing the race apart to take gold and silver on the day, and bronze and silver, respectively, for the year.

Wilde and Bergere were close enough out of the water to help create a five man leading effort, joined by Vincent Luis, Tayler Reid, and Simon Westermann. Yee was in the first chase group, led by swim pacer Matt Hauser, but when Hauser crashed out of the race, the chase pack slowly lost time on each lap to the leaders.

By the time the leaders had racked their bikes and swapped into run shoes, the deficit to the chasers was 1:40. The race win was almost certainly up the road, with Yee needing to put in an effort to nab the top-six finishing position required to claim the world championship. After one lap, Yee had closed almost 40 seconds on positions three through five on the road, and made the comfortable pass into a podium position just over the halfway mark. Wilde cleared Bergere, eventually opening a full minute margin of victory in one of his finest performances.

Wilde enjoyed his victory, saying “I had the same sort of plan as the Olympic Games really, two laps hard, one lap easy then go and had a really nice gap. It’s a bit disappointing not to win the World Championships but to win the Grand Final is something special.”

Race Results

Photo: World Triathlon

The post Wilde Wins Race, Yee Claims World Championship in Torremolinos first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Cassandre Beaugrand has claimed her first world championship, capping off an undefeated individual season of World Triathlon Championship Series racing with a win at the Grand Final in Torremolinis-Andalucia.

Although Beaugrand entered the race with a comfortable lead in the Series and the inside track for the world title, the race win was not an easy one to come by. Beaugrand took a position on the swim start pontoon on the far right and veered further and further right once the gun went off. She was forced to swim hard to the first buoy just to latch back onto the back of the field, but then would work her way further through the field over the course of the next 1000 meters to emerge with championship contender Beth Potter in 10th place.

There were 12 women in the lead pack of the bike, including Beaugrand and Potter, as well as swim leaders Bianca Seregini and Lena Meissner. Emma Lombardi was also there, setting up for a potential battle amongst the three leading title contenders (Beaugrand, Potter, and Lombardi). The group rode mostly together into transition, where Beaugrand, Potter, Lombardi, and Jeanne Lehair broke away during the course of lap one.

But it would be Beaugrand who would drive the pace on lap two, surging to drop her fellow title contenders and eventually open a 38 second margin of victory over Potter, who clinched second in the Series. Lombardi took bronze, which also moved her into third for the Series.

Beaugrand post race was delighted, saying, “I just wanted this world title so badly and have dreamed about it for so many years. Last year I was very disappointed finishing second. Nobody can take this away from me now. I was training hard and fighting all year for this one.”

Race Results

Photo: World Triathlon

The post Cassandre Beaugrand’s Perfect Season Ends with World Title first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

For the first time since 2013, the IRONMAN World Championship Women’s Race did not include either Daniela Ryf or Anne Haug on the podium. Ryf retired from the sport earlier this season. Haug, who had been on every World Championship podium since 2018, had a mechanical shortly after coming out of T1 today. That, unfortunately, ended her day early. Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay was forced to pull out of the race on Saturday with a grade 1c muscle strain. With some big names taken out of the race, opportunity came knocking for the other top contenders. Germany’s Laura Philipp and Great Britain’s Kat Matthews took control of the race on the bike. They created a gap on the rest of the field and took turns at the front. They changed positions multiple times in the last few kilometers and came into T2 together. Matthews set a furious pace through transition, with Philipp closely following. Matthews got onto the run course first and gapped Philipp by about 100m. Both women set off at a furious pace, that was not going to be sustainable but would eventually separate the two.

Philipp pulled even with Matthews and the two would run stride for stride until the 7 mile mark. At that point, Philipp moved in front and would stay there until the finish line. Philipp is one of the best triathletes on the planet but wins at the biggest races in our sport have eluded her until today. Her best previous finish at the IRONMAN World Championship was 3rd last year. She has been 2nd at Challenge Roth and has made the podium at a T100 race. This is a big breakthrough for her. Matthews had had better run splits than her in their previous three head to head match-ups. Today, it was Philipp who ran 2:44:59 to Matthews’ 2:53:06. Philipp won by just over 8 minutes. She broke down her incredible day, “It was really one of those days. It was super tough. I have no idea about my swim time but I think it wasn’t too bad. I saw that I came out with Anne (Haug) so I thought okay this is not too bad. She was my clear favorite for this race course. So I thought okay from now, let’s just push the bike as hard as possible. And I definitely overdid it a little bit but I really wanted to catch the girls in the front and once I caught up with Kat and Marjolaine in the front I couldn’t get rid of them and then it was a bit of cat and mouse with Kat. So something I already got used to over some races in the past. And then yeah coming off the bike with her, yeah, I felt like okay this is going to be tough but, yeah, I just tried to believe that I could actually do it.” 

How the Race Unfolded:

Without Lucy Charles-Barclay to push the swim and with wetsuit legal water temperatures, ten women swam within 30 seconds of the lead. Fenella Langridge came out of the water first in 49:13. Marta Sanchez, Rebecca Clarke, Lauren Brandon, Lotte Wilms, Hannah Berry, and Rachel Zilinskas followed closely. Kat Matthews was just 30 seconds behind, grouped with Marjolaine Pierre and Chelsea Sodaro. India Lee came out 3:04 down. Maja Stage-Nielsen, Anne Haug, Julie Derron, and Laura Philipp came out next about 4 minutes from the lead. Jackie Hering and Alice Alberts were 6 minutes back. Ruth Astle and Penny Slater were more than 7 minutes back. Els Visser was almost 10 minutes down and Danielle Lewis 12.

With a large lead group heading onto the bike together, the neutral support car went with that group. Anne Haug heard a big bang about 200m out of T1 and needed help to fix a puncture. The support car was 5k down the road and Haug waited more than 25 minutes for help to come. By that point, she knew her day was over so she called it. This was a tough way to watch her World Championship podium streak come to an end. She did seem to be in good spirits, having no control over today’s outcome. Pierre was the first to make a big move on the bike. The Frenchwoman lives close to the bike course and built a nearly 3 minute lead. Matthews led the chase group. Zilinkas crashed out of the race and broke her collarbone. Matthews put in a big effort up Col de l’Ecre. Around that point, Philipp had biked through most of the field and was closing in on Matthews. Philipp made the catch and the two began to work together. They reeled in Pierre and continued to put time into the rest of the field. Around 89 miles, Philipp looked like she was going to drop Matthews on the descent. Matthews hung strong and the two would trade leads multiple times in the closing stages of the bike leg. 

Matthews and Philipp came into T2 together, with Philipp clocking the fastest bike split of the two in 5:02:25. Matthews set off at a fast tempo through transition, with Philipp right with her. Matthews would get onto the run first, with Philipp 100m back. Pierre came off of the bike next and then Sodaro after her. By 5k, Philipp had erased the gap and they were back to running together. Commentators had said that they were running 3:30 per kilometer pace. At an aid station near the 10k mark, Matthews took two cups from a volunteer and Philipp was left without another volunteer to help her. It was not an intentional move from Matthews. Aid stations are not always ready when the first elite athletes roll through. It seemed to get under Philipp’s skin a bit and she soon after put in a little bit of a surge. That move proved to be enough to decide the race. On paper, Matthews has been the stronger runner but today was going to be Laura Philipp’s day. Philipp broke 2:45 for the marathon on a day where temperatures settled in the seventies (Farenheit) with a 60 degree dew point. She would put 8 minutes on Matthews and comfortably take the win. This is the first major victory for Laura Philipp, having previously been on the podium at several high profile races but never on top step. Matthews had to walk aid stations in the back half of the marathon but hung on for second. Sodaro ran into 3rd but could not make up any more ground from there, showing how much this bike course can take away from strong runners. Pierre earned a strong 4th place finish and Nikki Bartlett was 5th.

2024 IRONMAN World Championships – Women’s Top-15

1. Laura Philipp 8:45:15

2. Kat Matthews 8:53:20 (+8:04)

3. Chelsea Sodaro 9:04:38 (+19:23)

4. Marjolaine Pierre 9:09:34 (+24:19)

5. Nikki Bartlett 9:15:47 (+30:31)

6. Marta Sanchez 9:19:08 (+33:53)

7. Penny Slater 9:21:47 (+36:31)

8. Lotte Wilms 9:23:28 (+38:12)

9. Jackie Hering 9:25:09 (+39:53)

10. Hannah Berry 9:32:13 (+46:57)

11. Danielle Lewis 9:33:50 (+48:35)

12. Jeanne Collonge 9:34:42 (+49:26)

13. Maja Stage Nielsen 9:36:34 (+51:19)

14. Merle Brunnee 9:38:58 (+53:43)

15. Gurutze Frades Larralde 9:41:01 (+55:45)

Quick Take #1: It feels like women’s triathlon is having a changing of the guard moment, similar to what has happened in men’s tennis over the last few years with some of the bigger players on the tour reaching the end of their careers. It has been more than a decade since a World Championship podium did not feature Anne Haug or Daniela Ryf. Laura Philipp has officially arrived and rising stars will continue to emerge over the next few years.

Quick Take #2: Laura Philipp 100% earned this win. People will say that Lucy Charles-Barclay did not start, that Anne Haug did not finish, and that Taylor Knibb was not at this race. They will be right but the reality is that we do not know how any of them would have finished in today’s race. We do know that Philipp put together a career defining performance. She rode 5:02 to Lucy’s (admittedly unchallenged) 5:16 on this course in June. She broke 2:45 for the marathon on a warm and humid day. That put 8 minutes between her and 2nd place. Kat Matthews typically gets the better of her on the run and that did not happen today. Further, 2022 World Champion Chelsea Sodaro was not able to gain on her on the run.

Quick Take #3: I am a big fan of the IRONMAN Pro Series and the T100. I am not, however, in love with IRONMAN making top finishers validate. I do not know how popular this opinion will be but these events are brutal. It is very possible that Charles-Barclay would have been on the start line if she did not have to do 140.6 Nice in June. On the flip side, it is also very possible that she would have been healthy if she was not trying to balance T100 events and focused on the biggest race of the year. IRONMAN benefits from getting athletes to race their biggest races. There is no real incentive for them to change their policy but I would think they would have wanted a healthy Charles-Barclay on this start line. After the Sam Laidlow validation controversy, we will see in future years if anybody tries to utilize the wildcard policy IRONMAN has at its disposal. I wonder how they would have reacted if Charles-Barclay did not race Nice but said she wanted to race at the World Championships.

Quick Take #4: The first women’s World Championship in Nice looked like a success from the outside. The allure of Kona is probably something that IRONMAN wants to live without but I liken that to the way people think about the Boston Marathon. It would be hard to just stick that marathon in a different city. The issue, however, is that Kona cannot accommodate full field sizes and that that actually should matter to a lot of Kona purists. Many amateurs strive for a World Championship qualifier. Many would not like it if qualifying was cut significantly to keep the World Championships in one location. Kona would not accommodate a two day format, or even two single day races spaced weeks apart. There is going to be plenty of discussion on what should happen moving forward. Today’s race was great, even if you would have liked it to take place elsewhere.

Photos: Slowtwitch

The post Laura Philipp wins IM World Championship first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The stage is set for fireworks come Saturday, as the women’s IRONMAN World Championships heads to Nice, France. It is a star-studded field, led by defending world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay. The needs of the Nice course are different than those of Kona, which could mix up the podium order. Some of our editorial team has come together and determined what it might take to win on Sunday, as well as our respective picks for the podium.

Jordan Rapp (2011 ITU Long Distance World Champion, Slowtwitch CTO) – On What it Will Take to Win

Unlike in Kona, Nice doesn’t quite offer the same sort of guarantees around weather. Yes, Kona varies. But you know that it will be hot and humid. The strengths of the wind are really the big variable. The current weather forecast in Nice is about as close to perfect as imaginable, with a low of 61F (16C) and a high of 73 (23C). But there is rain in the forecast for Monday, which would meaningfully change the race if it shows up a day early, as the Nice bike course is fairly technical – Gustav Iden had his breakout 70.3 WC win there on a road bike. Rain would definitely shift the race in favor of the better bike handlers.

The cooler temperatures also makes the race much more wide open. The ability to tolerate Kona’s weather has always been a prerequisite to winning there, which was always one of the stronger arguments for moving the race around. The forecasted temperatures in Nice should make for a very fast, very competitive race, though it can also come back to bite athletes who get lulled into a false sense of security around fueling and hydrating. No matter the conditions, 8+ hours of racing is a long time and mistakes in the early going often don’t show up until late in the marathon. Especially if the rain shows up early and athletes are less confident about fueling whenever they want to because they are focused on bike handling, you should still expect to see some of the classic explosions that accompany any race where athletes are pushing their limits for such a long time. If the rain holds off, don’t expect the weather to be a factor. If the rain shows up early, expect some drama on that bike course.

The cooler temperatures also mean a wetsuit swim is a possibility, which along with the cooler temperatures could keep the race that much tighter early on. Nice’s bike course will serve to break up the field in ways that the Kona course simply cannot. Bike handling matters in Nice in ways that it simply doesn’t in Kona, except when the winds are truly howling. Relative power – w/kg – will matter more here than it does in Kona. While the Kona bike course is hillier than some might expect with approximately 1500m/4800ft of climbing, virtually all of it comes during the long, straight grind up to Hawi. The Nice course is substantially hillier – with about 2500m/8000ft of climbing – but the delta between the two actually understates just how different they are. VeloViewer offers the best interface for viewing bike courses, and I think it’s worth taking a look at their interactive map to get a real sense of how tricky this bike course can be, especially if it’s wet. The Nice course is also very new – the one-loop course was first introduced in 2023 – so nobody has much experience on this course, especially in a race-day setting. Athletes who raced here at IM France this summer, like Charles-Barclay, should have a major advantage in terms of knowing the course and how it feels to actually race on it.

I’d also expect some of the wind-tunnel-optimized positions may incur a bit of regret against positions slightly more optimized for comfort, especially when descending. I think athletes would do well to opt for wider tires, where the added grip of a larger contact patch will mean that much more confidence. Likewise bikes with long front-center geometry that keeps weight distribution manageable when descending might also give a subtle advantage. The bike course tends to be more decisive in the women’s race than in the men’s, and I’d expect that to be especially true in Nice.

I expect we’ll see a well-under-2:50 marathon here. Maybe several. That type of speed can erase some pretty massive deficits. The run course is essentially the inverse of the bike course, flat as a pancake. You can always count on explosions in an Ironman marathon, but I think that it’s way more likely to see a “let it rip” gamble on the run actually pay off here. I think the weather makes it more likely that a record-setting run might take the win here from someone who is able to simply stay “close enough” on the bike, especially with a wetsuit swim making the first leg that much less of a factor, especially in terms of overall fatigue.

I predict that the fastest run of the day will take the win. The bike will determine the overall podium. But the run will be what sets the specific order.

David Pinsonnealt (Slowtwitch IM Pro Series Lead Writer)

It would have been reasonable to pencil in Charles-Barclay to repeat as IRONMAN World Champion, prior to her DNF at T100 London. She cruised to victory at IRONMAN Nice in June but had the third fastest bike split in a non-Pro Series field. If I knew Lucy was fully healthy, I would put her in my top-3. I do not, however, think you can be anything less than 100% to prevail this year. For that reason, I am going to go with Anne Haug, Kat Matthews, and Laura Philipp, in that order.

Haug was on another level at Challenge Roth, beating Philipp by more than 10 minutes. Matthews has been a model of consistency this season and has a pair of head to head decisions over Philipp at T100 races. It was good to see Chelsea Sodaro finish 8th at T100 London. She beat Els Visser by 17 minutes at IRONMAN New Zealand in March and has gone through some struggles since then. India Lee was the surprise winner in the heat at T100 Miami and then won the Challenge Championship. She has since been 8th and 9th in T100 races. Sodaro or Lee on the podium would not shock me. I just do not feel confident picking either of them over Haug-Matthews-Philipp.

Kristin Jenny (Slowtwitch Interviews and Features)

1. Laura Philipp
2. Lucy Charles-Barclay
3. Kat Matthews
A close fourth and fifth: Anne Haug and Els Visser.

I picked Laura Philipp as the overall winner for the 2024 IMWC Nice because she is clearly so hungry for and dedicated to going all in for this win. After her penalty in Kona in 2022 and then coming in third in Kona in 2023, I can sense that Philipp is ready to see herself on the top step. She’s spent most of her year training in the mountains and testing her bike setup just for the conditions of the Nice bike course and she appears healthy and mentally sharp heading into race day. I think Lucy Charles-Barclay is another strong contender here – she stormed away with the win at IM Nice earlier this year, beating second by 17 minutes. I think Philipp’s mountain-specific training may give her an edge over Charles-Barclay, although I imagine the two will end up riding fairly close together depending on how much of a gap Charles-Barclay has coming out of the swim. Fellow Brit Kat Matthews is my third place choice – I envision her staying near the top 5-7 women on the bike but never leading it, and then picking off women one by one on this flat, speedy marathon course. 

Lastly, I think you can’t count out Anne Haug and Els Visser. Haug’s had an up-and-down year with health challenges, but has still found tremendous success in races like IM Lanzarote, which she won handily. I’m just not sure if she’s been able to put in the kind of volume and intensity that the other ladies have – but she’s fairly private, so who knows, maybe she has after all. Els is my dark horse top five choice. She’s a solid enough swimmer to not concede too much time to the uber-swimmers, and she’s a monster on the bike when she finds her momentum. She’s been training in mountains for most of the year, too, and has been doing lots of bike volume on mountain passes in St. Moritz. She can also put together a great run on the right day, but would need a super-charged bike to fend off the likes of super-speedy runners such as Matthews.

Ryan Heisler, Slowtwitch Editor-in-Chief

This is, in my opinion, a much more difficult podium to predict, as the challenges of the Nice course are simply so different than what you find in Kona. First, as Jordan mentioned, is the weather: there’s not much wind to speak of, with clouds expected to roll in during the afternoon and mild temperatures. It’s going to be conducive to a very fast day of racing which will not punish athletes in the same way that, say, the Natural Energy Lab does every year.

But the bike will be a difference maker. That means any of your top-riders — Lucy Charles-Barclay, Laura Philipp, Kat Matthews, India Lee — I would expect to see an extremely large gap out of these leaders back to the running elite, led by Anne Haug. Charles-Barclay’s Achilles will remain a question mark going on the run, as it’s been feast or famine for her this year. But I think she’s up to the challenge.

Ultimately I see Charles-Barclay defending her crown, barely holding off Philipp for the win. Haug will put together a blistering run that will see her mow down everyone except the leading two to claim that last podium slot, extending her seven year run of podium finishes at IRONMAN World Championship races.

Photos: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images for IRONMAN

The post Slowtwitch Predicts the Women’s IM World Championship Podium first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The last Pro Series race before the women’s and men’s IRONMAN World Championships took place this morning in Austria. Athletes got to sleep in a little, with an 11:00am local start time for 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun. Conditions, however, were not favorable. Temperatures hovered in the mid-seventies Fahrenheit, with a fair amount of humidity. The two race winners put together master class performances. Caroline Pohle dominated a Pro Series races for the second straight weekend. After dismantling the field at the European Championships in Tallinn, Pohle lined up for a second consecutive weekend. She had company on the swim today but was able to build a cushion on the bike. Nobody would be able to catch her on the run. Pohle described her race, “I don’t know what happened today. I am super proud of myself because it was my first back to back racing so we have no experience about how my body reacted but I fared very, very, good today. Very strong, very confident about last week, and, yeah, I don’t know how it happened. My parents are here and they surprised me. I’m super happy.”

Germany’s Mika Noodt won the men’s race by more than four minutes. A large group came out of the water and got onto the bike together. Noodt used the first big climb on the bike to drop everyone except for Belgium’s Jelle Geens. Geens, however, could not stick with Noodt on the descent. Noodt built out an insurmountable lead from there that nobody could chip away at on the run. On his margin of victory, Noodt said, “I actually wasn’t thinking about it but yeah I just kept my own rhythm to the finish line and yeah that’s it super happy.” On his overall race, he adds, “Yeah the swim started okay-ish so I had a medium start but then we had a nice long way to the first buoy…out on the bike the first few k’s were a bit messy with all the guys…I relaxed for a bit and then I went towards the front and at the bottom of the climb I set my own rhythm…With 2ks to go (on the run) I was quite sure that I’m going to make it and could enjoy this finish line.” Noodt said that this might be the best bike course he has ever ridden. He has been training in the Alps, riding steep hills, and liked the rolling nature of the course. He is from Germany but said Austria feels like a second home. Noodt’s post-race interview was one of the better ones from this entire season. He gave thoughtful answers about his race performance and was very complimentary of all of the volunteers.

Men’s Race:

IRONMAN describes this swim course as “One of the most spectacular in all of European IRONMAN 70.3 racing. Swim to the backdrop of the glacier-covered Alps in a drinking water quality lake.” Austria’s Martin Demuth led out the swim in 24:07 on home soil. Demuth has made 117 short course starts (3 podiums) and is new to IRONMAN racing. He was followed closely by Magnus Manner, Jan Stratmann, and Florian Angert. Another 19 athletes swam between 24:40 and 24:59. That group included Jelle Geens, Mika Noodt, Nicolas Mann, Bradley Weiss, and Clement Mignon, among others. Arnaud Guilloux and Robert Kallin were a little further back. The long run into T1 allowed the group to come back together but put a lot of riders in close proximity to each other in the early stages on the bike on tight roads. This led to a few penalties being handed out. We have covered this issue at different times throughout the season. It is good to hand out the penalties but the reality is that more should have been handed out so a handful of athletes had their days ended, while others got off. I would still like to see more frequent penalties handed out with shorter durations. This race, however, was more fair within the current construct of the rules.

Fifteen men were within one minute of the lead at 15k. Eleven of those fifteen were German athletes! By the halfway point of the bike, Noodt had gapped everyone except for Geens. Nobody else could match his power on the climb. Noodt dropped Geens on the descent and used a 2:02:11 bike split to take a massive 4:45 lead into T2. In warm conditions, Noodt was able to maintain strong form on the run and coast to victory in 3:46:04. Geens held on for second. Gregor Payet finished 3rd, after starting the run in 9th.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN

1 Noodt, Mike 3:46:04 24:43 2:02:11 1:14:09

2 Geens, Jelle 3:51:09 24:41 2:06:46 1:14:26

3 Payet, Gregor 3:51:59 24:57 2:08:48 1:13:12

4 Hug, Tom 3:52:18 25:25 2:09:28 1:12:07

5 Stratmann, Jan 3:53:34 24:21 2:08:12 1:15:42

Women’s Race:

Caroline Pohle had company on the swim today. Lauren Brandon, Lena Meibner, and Rebecca Clarke, pulled away with her from the main group. Ellie Salthouse swam in the chase pack a minute behind the leaders. Marjolaine Pierre, Grace Thek, Laura Madsen, Lisa Norden, and Els Visser, swam together more than 2 minutes back. Daniela Bleymehl was well back on the swim and later had to drop out due to cramping, hurting her Pro Series prospects. Pohle had company from Meibner early in the bike but that did not last long as she was soon dropped. Salthouse, Madsen, Thek, Visser, and Norden, all moved up in the race. By the halfway point, Pohle was in front by 2 minutes, and it would stay that way until the end of the bike. Pohle split 2:21:47 to lead by 1:54 over Madsen. Madsen pulled Visser and Meibner with her. Norden, Salthouse, Perterer, and Thek, grouped together 4 minutes behind Pohle.

Pohle, similar to last weekend, did what she needed to do on the run. She extended her gap over Madsen. It would be Thek, however, who would make a meaningful charge. Thek ran herself into 2nd place by the finish. She just ran out of room to catch Pohle who had done enough to win comfortably by 1:34. Madsen ran well to hold onto 3rd. Salthouse was 4th and Visser was 5th.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN

1 Pohle, Caroline 4:17:24 25:23 2:21:47 1:24:45

2 Thek, Grace 4:18:58 27:39 2:23:27 1:21:43

3 Madsen, Laura 4:19:23 27:41 2:21:20 1:24:42 

4 Salthouse, Ellie 4:20:57 26:17 2:24:51 1:23:53

5 Visser, Els 4:21:29 27:49 2:21:19 1:26:25

Quick Take #1: Pohle made winning two Pro Series races in back to back weekends look relatively easy. She took down strong fields, utilizing the same playbook. She swam at the front of both races and then built comfortable leads on the bike. With her improved running, she has not been caught in two consecutive races. Pohle is not giving the uber bikers a chance to get on her wheel. It will be interesting to see what races she lines up for in the back half of the season and if she can replicate these performances.

Quick Take #2: Mika Noodt is quietly putting together an excellent eason. Noodt finished 6th and 5th at T100 Singapore and T100 San Francisco, respectively. He did not get a wild card for T100 London and had not raced again until today. He has not been dealing with any injuries. He said he took a season break even though he felt like he was in great shape and that nothing was bothering him. Noodt is focused on the remaining T100 races and the 70.3 World Championships. He was very good today against a strong field. It will be interesting to see if his less aggressive racing strategy pays off as we get closer to championship season.

Quick Take #3: We have now completed 16 out of the 20 Pro Series races. We are down to the three championship races plus 70.3 Western Australia. The Nice World Championships are just three weeks away! 

Photos: Getty Images for IRONMAN

The post Pohle Goes Back to Back, Noodt Dominates at 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

It was not until the 29 kilometer mark of the run that Antonio Benito Lopez hit the front of the race for the first time. Robert Kallin came off of the bike with a nearly 6 minute lead over Kristian Hogenhaug. Lopez trailed by 13 minutes in 5th place. That did not seem to affect the Spaniard, who set off on a mission on the run in front of his home crowd. He moved up into 3rd by 10k, still more than 8 minutes back. By the halfway point, however, his gap was down to 3:00. Lopez soon overtook Hogenhaug, who had passed Kallin, and did not look back. He expanded his lead over the last 10k, would win by nearly 5 minutes, and take the course record.

Through an IRONMAN translator, Lopez said that his main goal was to get his Kona slot. He felt good during the race and it became clear that it was going to be his day. Lopez took time at the end of his interview to shoutout Spanish tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz, who is playing at Wimbledon today, and the Spanish National Team, who is playing England in the European Championship Final tonight. It is certainly a strong day for Spanish athletics.

The United Kingdom’s Stephanie Clutterbuck used her unmatched swim speed to come out of the water more than 4 minutes over all other competitors. That set up a long and lonely day for Clutterbuck, who would not see another racer until after the 100 kilometer point of the bike. Kat Matthews swam in the chase pack and would be among the group of women to catch Clutterbuck on the bike. Matthews worked with Ruth Astle to break away from the others to reach T2 and get onto the run first. From there, Matthews would not be challenged. She increased her lead all the way to the finish line and went on to win by 8 minutes.

On being told that she smashed the course record, Matthews said, “Oh, cool, course record, yeah, didn’t know, wasn’t aware, great.” On her race, she added, “Honestly, I had a bad swim. I felt really disconnected. I felt like I was having fun on the bike…I thought it was just so fair, so honest, such a great course, and then the run it was a bit of a just get through it day.” Matthews sought redemption after being disqualified at IRONMAN Hamburg in early June and certainly got it. She earned full points for the second time at the 140.6 distance, bolstering her position in the Pro Series standings.

Men’s Race Recap

Former ITU star and Slovakian Olympian Richard Varga led out the swim (45:23), putting 1 minute on the rest of the field. A chase pack of more than a dozen athletes formed behind him. Sam Laidlow, David McNamee, Antonio Benito Lopez, James Teagle, Robert Kallin, and Bradley Weiss, were all in that group. Kristian Hogenhaug was another minute back. Robert Wilkowiecki, Cam Wurf, and Arthur Horseau were gapped even further. Kallin quickly went to the front of the bike and began putting significant time into the rest of the field.

Right before the 70k mark, reigning IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow was handed a drafting penalty. He failed to serve the penalty at the next penalty tent and was subsequently disqualified* (*more thoughts on this in our Quick Takes at the end of the article). Kallin led by almost 6 minutes over Hogenhaug at T2. Kallin did well to protect his lead over Hogenhaug early into the run. At the 10k mark, Hogenhaug was only able to chip into his lead by a minute, but others were charging up to both athletes. By the halfway point of the run, Kallin’s lead was down to a minute over Hogenhaug. McNamee and Lopez were sitting just 3 minutes back. Hogenhaug soon passed Kallin but his time in the lead was short lived. Lopez made the catch at 29k, and extended his lead from there.

He broke the tape in 7:36:38 to set a new course record and put together a 2:37:57 marathon on a day where temperatures reached more than 80 degrees fahrenheit (26 celsius). McNamee was a clear 2nd, finishing almost 5 minutes later. The battle for the remaining places was on after that. Hogenhaug was clinging onto 3rd and the last Kona slot late into the race. Weiss and Wurf passed him after 7:30:00 of racing. Wurf was able to separate from Weiss in the closing stages of the race to round out the podium.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Lopez, Antonio Benito 7:36:38 46:30 4:07:53 2:37:57
2 McNamee, David 7:41:20 46:29 4:08:40 2:42:03
3 Wurf, Cam 7:43:16 50:29 4:03:15 2:44:41
4 Weiss, Bradley 7:43:51 46:37 4:07:55 2:45:11
5 Hogenhaug, Kristian 7:44:36 47:36 3:59:49 2:53:23

Women's Race Recap

Stephanie Clutterbuck exited the water (50:40) with a more than 4 minute lead. Kat Matthews (55:07) led a chase pack of 7 women including Els Visser, Simone Mitchell, Elisabett Curridori, Ruth Astle, Daniela Bleymehl, and Katharina Wolff, out next. Gurutze Frades was back in 11th in 58:27. Clutterbuck rode off the front of the race for more than 100 kilometers, before being caught by Visser, Matthews, Bleymehl, and Astle. Visser was impressively coming off of a 3rd place performance at Challenge Roth just last weekend.

Matthews began attacking around the 110k mark. She was able to break away with Astle heading into T2. Bleymehl and Visser were around one minute back. Clutterbuck faded by another couple of minutes. Nobody else was within 14 minutes of the lead. Matthews immediately went to the front of the run and Astle held onto 2nd place early. Visser was able to catch Astle shortly after 10k and the pair would run together for several kilometers, until Visser was able to pull away. Matthews was never seriously challenged on the run and would win in 8:24:23. Visser claimed 2nd. Astle hung on for 3rd, after having to walk several aid stations in the last 10k. It was encouraging to see Astle finish, after injuries prevented her from beginning her 2024 season until now.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Matthews, Kat 8:24:23 55:07 4:30:07 2:54:40
2 Visser, Els 8:32:29 55:08 4:31:04 3:01:41
3 Astle, Ruth 8:38:07 55:11 4:29:54 3:08:24
4 Bleymehl, Daniela 8:41:12 4:30:41 3:10:30
5 Mitchell, Simone 8:41:39 55:09 4:44:21 2:56:35

Quick Takes

(Not so) Quick Take #1: Let’s talk about drafting!
This isn’t a new issue. We’ve seen stars, like Lionel Sanders, get disqualified at the biggest races in our sport. We saw a blue card (5 minute penalty) get handed out at IRONMAN Cairns. Today, we saw IRONMAN Champion Sam Laidlow receive a drafting penalty. Once the penalty is issued, the athlete has no direct recourse. Laidlow failed to stop at the next penalty tent and that meant he was disqualified. He should know the rules so this is 100% on him. He was, however, reportedly not notified until T2 of his disqualification and he continued onto the run, planning to protest it after the race. The issue here is that he did not serve the penalty during the race. He stayed in the pack he was in, received the disqualification, and the panel that heard his protest after the race affirmed his disqualification.

My main concerns are that 1) penalties are not handed out regularly, 2) the length for drafting penalties effectively end your chances at a podium/pay day, 3) you cannot serve penalties in transition – it has to be at the next penalty tent (although I do hear the argument that if you did the thing you’re accused of doing then you shouldn’t get to stay in your group but then I’d go back to point 2 as you have no chance of ever catching back up once you come to a stop), and 4) communication- Laidlow should have been told of the DQ (maybe he knew the rules?) before T2 so that he could have chosen to save his legs for another race. My understanding is that the length of time to serve a blue card penalty is meant to deter people from drafting. If you were to just receive a 30 second or 1 minute penalty then it would encourage people to draft the entire time. The reward would be greater than the risk.

That logic follows until you add in Race Ranger. For now, referees still have to see the drafting violations – Race Ranger cannot penalize an athlete on its own. Riding into a draft zone does not initiate a penalty on its own but theoretically Race Ranger is collecting that data and there must be a way to see that in real time. If there was a way to find some balance here I think that could be best for everyone. Maybe Race Ranger (or just referees on their own) could trigger smaller penalties that could be taken in transition or at a penalty tent of the athlete’s choosing. That way, if someone is pushing draft zones throughout the ride they would pick up penalty after penalty. Maybe have a certain number of those violations trigger a disqualification. If someone enters into a draft zone one time but is known as a clean racer and does not do it again, maybe they don’t deserve a 5 minute-end your day-kind of penalty. What do you think? I am certainly against drafting but it seems like penalties like this are harsh in a sport that does not allow a lot of athletes to piece together a comfortable living. Laidlow has a PTO contract and still has to validate for Kona. Will he get to race on the big island? Is that what IRONMAN wants?

Quick Take #2: Okay, back to the fun stuff. Is Lopez a serious Kona contender? It feels like IRONMAN racing has turned into an event to see who can hang on the best on the run after a monster bike split. Lopez is a part of an almost dying culture in the sport, where you’re an athlete where your run is your strength and you can use it to secure a late race victory. Kona is the great equalizer (bike/run balance) race where the conditions do allow runners to excel. While it wasn’t humid in Spain today, it did get warm on the run and Lopez was comfortably under 2:40. In his last 10 races, between this year and last year, Lopez has had the fastest run split on 7 occasions, even beating out Belgian superstar Martin Van Riel’s run split in one of those races. In his 3 other races, Lopez had the 2nd fast run split twice and the 3rd fastest run split once. Over his career, he has not always chosen races with the strongest competition. This was probably the strongest field he has faced and we caught a glimpse of what he is capable of. I’d pencil him in as a Kona contender.

Quick Take #3: I’m not even going to ask if Kat Matthews is a Kona contender. My question is if she is the Pro Series favorite. Matthews has now taken full points at 2 full distance races. She is going to need to put together a pair of strong 70.3 performances to stay ahead of someone like Jackie Hering. If Hering wins Lake Placid next weekend she would also have full points at 2 full distance races. She also has 2 strong 70.3 performances banked. Matthews has a PTO contract to honor but plans on racing 70.3 Tallinn. She has an auto qualifier for the 70.3 World Championships at the end of December too. It would be exciting for Year 1 of the Pro Series if the women’s champion is crowned based on who has the better result in the last race of the season. It looks like that’s where we could be heading.

Quick Take #4: I just wanted to give some quick appreciation to Els Visser’s race schedule. She was 3rd at Challenge Roth last weekend and was 2nd today. This was her 10th race of the season. She has 3 wins, 8 podium finishes, and the furthest back she’s been is 5th.

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