Before I begin, here is my normal disclaimer:

• These are static images taken at a single moment during the race.
• Camera angles can distort positions.
• I’ve also started viewing multiple sources other than the images below to make my recommendations.

I’m also assuming that athletes have arrived at these positions through a deliberate process, supported by trial and error, bike fit professionals, and some form of aerodynamic testing.

Photos by Kevin Mackinnon

1. Hayden Wilde – 1:58:51

The Olympic Silver Medalist seems to have adapted nicely to the time trial position. In my experience, most World Triathlon-focused athletes can either go full-blown TT position or something in between, as you’ll see further down the list. Hayden rides a pretty standard position that is a bit more reminiscent of the positions used just before we started seeing the trend of taller and longer setups. He rides taller in the front, but doesn’t ride as long. What I like about his position is that his bar drop is in just the right spot, allowing him to relax onto the front end and keep his head low.

2. Rico Bogen – 1:59:02

Rico rides the most aggressive position of the top 10 bike splits. He looks like what a ProTour rider would look like if they didn’t have to abide by the UCI rules. He is very low and long, with the front end so low that he forces his head into a very nice position. I’m not sure how comfortable he is, but if he hasn’t already, I’d experiment with coming up in the front to see what that would do to his CDA.

3. Justus Nieschlag – 1:59:07

It’s hard to get a great look at Justus’s position in these photos, but he has a solid setup. His front end isn’t that low, but he does a really nice job of hiding behind his hands in a very relaxed position. He rides what I’d call a moderate reach—not tight, but not overly stretched out, either.

4. Jelle Geens – 1:59:08

I struggle to write this because I’m biased by his result. He won the race! This doesn’t mean that he can’t improve. I’ve worked with world champions that didn’t want to change a thing until it stopped working. I’d always say that “failure forces change.”

If Jelle hadn’t performed so well during the back half of the year, I’d rip his position apart! Jelle doesn’t ride as steep as some of the other top riders, and this is exacerbated by not having great anterior pelvic tilt. Some of this pelvic position can be attributed to his front end being overly tall and the reach being short.

If I were working with Jelle, I don’t think I’d do anything drastic in 2025, as you don’t want to make big changes to a formula that seems to be working. The changes I’d make would focus on getting him more familiar with the mechanics and posture of a good TT position. I would extend his reach and work on his pelvic position, which could result in moving the saddle forward, or by him adjusting to a more forward position on the saddle. I’d keep the bar height where it is if adding length achieved the desired result.

5. Kyle Smith – 1:59:09

Kyle is another athlete who rides a very aggressive position—steep, low, and long. A few things I’d do here: 1. Lower his saddle, 2. Raise the front end, and 3. Add more angulation to the bars using the Canyon fairing to shield the head and body, similar to what you see Sam Laidlow and Patrick Lange doing.

6. Leo Bergere – 1:59:29

Leo is another ITU athlete who, like Wilde, looks really great on a TT bike. I don’t think I’d change anything with his position at this time. He rides forward with good pelvic tilt, a great front-end position that elongates his torso while keeping his head nice and low.

7. Henri Schoeman – 2:00:07

I went to Henri’s Instagram account to see if I could find more images/videos of him on his TT bike. It seems like he looks a bit different in all of them. This suggests he either does a lot of experimenting or his position is primarily driven by his posture at the time. Henri is somewhat limited by the geometry of his bike. He rides more rearward of the bottom bracket with a relatively tall front end. When you don’t ride as far forward, in order to maintain an open hip angle, you will typically need to raise the front end. Henri does a great job of working around this by manipulating his posture on the bike, sinking low onto the bike and keeping his head low.

8. Ruben Zepuntke – 2:01:17

Ruben rides one of the longest positions in the top 10. To classify this position, I’d go with steep, long, tall and narrow. I have seen images of Ruben racing where it looks like he could do a better job of keeping his head down, but that is just from observing a few pics from his Instagram account.

9. Harry Palmer – 2:01:29

It looks like Harry visited the Silverstone wind tunnel in November of 2024 with his bike sponsor Argon 18. Having participated in many of these sessions, I’d be curious to know how much time the athletes actually had in the tunnel and if they were also working with a bike fit professional. I will write more about this in my “Pillars of Speed” series, but I’m always happy to see an athlete exit the tunnel without having their chins on the front wheel, having thrown all bike fit principles out the window as they chase the lowest unsustainable CDA.

Harry does a great job with his front end, keeping his head low and hiding behind his hands. I think when you’ve had the chance to do some aero testing, you’ll see how big of a difference this makes, and it will incentivize you to focus on it throughout the race.

Harry doesn’t ride very far forward on the bike, which could limit how much he can lower his front end without impacting his biomechanics via a closed hip angle. With how well he postures on the front end, I’m not as bothered by his saddle position.

10. Gregory Barnaby – 2:01:45

Greg has a nice position. As I mentioned in the Kona bike article, he rides steep, long, low and keeps his head in a nice position. I do think, if he has any stability issues or feels like he is falling off the front of the bike, he could experiment with more bar tilt for extra support.

-Mat

The post Taupō Rides: The Positions of the Men’s Top 10 Bike Splits from 70.3 Worlds first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

After not being worn at all in the women’s top 10, Nike makes appearances again in the shoe count with both sponsored and unsponsored athletes, also with four. On took the other two spots in the top 10, including by your 70.3 World Champion, Jelle Geens.

Here’s what the speedy runners wore, with photos courtesy of our own Kevin Mackinnon.

1.) Jelle Geens – 70.3 World Champion – 1:07:34

Shoe: On Cloudboom Strike

Geens, who chased down Wilde, used On’s carbon racer to do so. The various mixes of foam and carbon plating have proven to grow more popular with professionals, especially as they appear to be increasing their sponsorship opportunities.

2.) Hayden Wilde – 1:09:05

Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3

Wilde came tantalizingly close to another top step on the global stage. Nike’s third generation AlphaFly has seen the shoe grow in platform stability, and amongst triathletes, has almost completely eliminated the VaporFly from the equation.

3.) Jason West – 1:09:52

Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Edge Paris

West used the latest generation MetaSpeed Edge, the Paris edition, on his way to the third fastest run split, and the only other man to run under 70 minutes. The Edge is meant for athletes who gain speed from increased cadence versus longer stride length.

4.) Matt Hanson – 1:10:17

Shoe: On Cloudboom Strike

Hanson appears on the fast run list for yet another race, as it’s long been his bread and butter. Hanson, one of the original On sponsored athletes, also wore the Cloudboom Strike.

5.) Léo Bergère – 1:10:28

Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Edge Paris

Bergère swapped into the Edge Paris somewhat recently. It (and the Brad Williams inspired bucket hat look) served him well. Perhaps somewhat surprising is the prevalence of the Edge to the longer-stride intended Sky models amongst the men.

6.) Ari Klau – 1:10:39

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ari Klau (@archmdz)

Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3

Klau finished well down the order on the day, but he showed off that his collegiate and professional running background still might make him dangerous down the line. Perhaps in a throwback to his Virginia days, he wore Nike’s AlphaFly (UVA is a Nike school for track and field.)

7.) Harry Palmer – 1:11:25

Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

Palmer had a phenomenal 70.3 Worlds, finishing in eighth place. He was the only of ASICS shoe wearers to not have one of the Paris models on his feet, opting for the MetaSpeed Sky+. It’s ever so slightly heavier than the Paris counterpart, but otherwise, it is much the same shoe.

8.) Colin Szuch – 1:11:31

Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3

Szuch finished outside of the money in 19th place, although if he had a little more real estate he might have gotten into the top 15, with less than 40 seconds separating him from a pay day. He, like all the other Nike wearers, was in the latest generation AlphaFly.

9.) Gregory Barnaby – IM Pro Series Champion – 1:12:05

Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Sky Paris

Barnaby did what he had to, beating Matthew Marquardt on the day to claim the $200,000 prize and title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion. Barnaby was in ASICS long-stride race shoe, the Sky Paris.

10.) Marc Dubrick – 1:12:05

Shoe: Nike AlphaFly 3

Closing out the top 10 splits is Marc Dubrick. A tenth place run split matched his finishing position. Dubrick wore the AlphaFly 3 — the only one in the yellow color way, as opposed to the white and red all the other athletes had.

The post The Shoes of the Fastest MPRO Runners at 70.3 Worlds 2024 first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

The way Matthews bounced back from that challenge, though, pretty much personifies her season – she got on a plane and flew to San Francisco, where she took second to Taylor Knibb at the T100 event the following weekend. She followed that up with yet another IRONMAN win at Vitoria-Gasteiz, then bounced back two weeks later to take third at T100 London.

Racing well week in and week out is one thing, but Matthews also proved to be at her very best when it counted, taking second at both the IRONMAN world championship events. So, while she is thrilled to have taken the Pro Series title (along with fourth in the T100 Triathlon World Tour), she was rightfully proud of her ability to race well when it really counted.

“This is the first year that the (Pro) series has been running,” she said. “I think in future years it will just grow and grow and grow and it will really draw people into this sort of multirace series. “I think to get second here (in Taupo) and second at the full IRONMAN (Nice), I think that’s what I’m really proud of.”

“I think consistency isn’t always super sexy, but … I’ve really peaked for the big races,” she continued, referring to her runner-up finish to Laura Philipp in Nice and then her second-place finish behind Taylor Knibb in Taupo. “So this race I really trained for and to come 1:15 behind Taylor, that’s a sort of PB for me, so it’s not just the consistency. I’ve been able to see those significant, key races as my pinnacle, key races.”

Comeback

It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago we were all wondering if Matthews would ever return to the highest levels of the sport. Just 10 days before the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Matthews was hit by a car.

“She fractured her skull, two vertebrae in her neck, her sternum, a rib and she recently also discovered she’d fractured her hip socket,” the Daily Mirror reported as she prepared to return to racing in April, 2023. “By her own admission she could have died in that crash.”

While we might all be amazed at her impressive return to the highest levels of the sport, she has very much moved on.

“You know, the first six months of recovery was more about getting back to professional racing,” she said. “Now I’m better than I ever have been. That was a PB run, you know, this year I’ve put down PB bike power, PB swim, so it’s not about getting back.  It’s more about genuine gratitude for being able to race and to have this as my job, and to be around so many people who love the sport – this is literally my dream.

Second Career

Matthews has surged to the top of the triathlon world after having served in the British Armed Forces for many years. It remains a key part of what drives her in triathlon.

“That community, and the support from the British army, it is fundamental and it makes me really believe I’m not just fighting for myself as an individual, I’m fighting for for everybody to get behind that ethos of trying to be your best,” she said. “It really motivates me. And we even have people here who are posted from the British army overseas in New Zealand coming to support the race. So it really fills my heart.” 

2025 Racing

At the post-race press conference, Matthews made reference to trying to figure out what changes needed to be made in order to beat Knibb. I couldn’t help but ask if she thought that a reduced race schedule might help.

“To be honest, I actually feel like I’ve got fitter after every race,” Matthews said. “For this race, I don’t think I was disadvantaged by a busy racing schedule. Perhaps you could say for the full IRONMAN I need to commit to slightly different training or, you know, change something up in terms of my preparation, especially for Kona, so that’s definitely something I’m going to take into 2025, but for this specific race, no, I don’t feel like my schedule impacted it.”

All of which means we’re likely to see Matthews at a lot of races again next year. Consistency might not be sexy, but it sure can make for an impressive, and it sure doesn’t hurt the bank account.

The post Kat Matthews: Consistency Might Not Be “Super Sexy,” but it Pays Off in the End first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

• Blueseventy – 2
• Orca – 2
• Sailfish – 2
• Huub – 2
• Deboer – 1
• Mako Nordic – 1

Here’s a look at the first 10 men to exit Lake Taupō and make their way to the bike:

1. Greg Harper – 21:48

Wetsuit: Blueseventy Helix

2. Josh Amberger – 22:00

Wetsuit: Orca Apex Flex

3. Léo Bergère – 22:02

Wetsuit: Mako Ultimate Torrent

4. Marc Dubrick – 22:02

Wetsuit: Blueseventy Helix

5. Wilhelm Hirsch – 22:16

Wetsuit: Sailfish G-Range 8

6. Rico Bogen – 22:18

Wetsuit: Deboer Fjord 3.0

7. Henri Schoeman – 22:19

Wetsuit: Huub Agilis II

8. Hayden Wilde – 22:20

9. Kyle Smith – 22:22

10. Jelle Geens – 22:23

Wetsuit: Huub Agilis II

Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

The post Taupō Neoprene Test: The Wetsuit Brands Worn by the 10 Fastest Swimmers at the IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

It’s somewhat surprising that there wasn’t a single Nike wearer in the mix, given how ubiquitous the AlphaFly and VaporFly have been at races for the past half decade. It’s the first time we’re not seeing someone wear Nike in the top run splits since 2019 at any of the world championship events. That said, every brand seems to be following a similar formula: carbon fiber plates with branded Pebax foam, all wrapped in a relatively lightweight package.

Here are the top 10 pro women’s run splits and the shoes they wore during it.

1.) Daniela Kleiser 1:14:15
Shoe: Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3 Ekiden

Kleiser outran everyone by almost 80 seconds. That shouldn’t come as much surprise, as she’s routinely one of the fastest runners in the sport. However, her spectacular run was not enough to overcome a sizable deficit coming out of the water, and she would finish in 19th position.

Kleiser is a Puma sponsored athlete, and wore Puma’s Deviate Nitro Elite 3 in a limited release color way from Japan. It’s a carbon-plated racer that, similarly to Nike’s line, features a slightly higher heel-toe offset. It’s also on the light side for a carbon plated racer, coming in at 6.3 ounces for a women’s size 8.

2.) Kat Matthews – 1:15:34
Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Edge Paris

Matthews continued her streak of second place finishes in world championship events, narrowly missing out on chasing down Taylor Knibb. Still, her performance was enough to claim the 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series title, and a bonus check of $200,000 for her effort.

Matthews moved to ASICS MetaSpeed Edge Paris after Nice this year. The Edge Paris shaves a 15 grams from her prior pair of shoes, while a re-designed forefoot curvature gives a slightly longer stride length than the prior model. Still, it’s meant for athletes looking for faster turnover, versus the MetaSpeed Sky that is meant to increase pace by increasing stride length further.

3.) Tamara Jewett – 1:16:12
Shoe: ASICS MetaSpeed Edge+

Jewett is no stranger to running through fields, dicing her way to the front once she puts her bike away. Taupō was no different as she used her run prowess to charge into the top 10.

Jewett is another athlete wearing ASICS MetaSpeed shoes. The Edge+ is slightly cushier than the standard Edge, with 16% more cushioning underfoot. There’s a carbon fiber plate, married to ASICS proprietary foam blend, called FF Blast Turbo. It’s slightly heavier than the Paris version that Matthews wore.

4.) Ashleigh Gentle – 1:16:26
Shoe: On Cloudboom Strike

The top-rated runner in the field (per the PTO’s ranking system), Gentle’s run prowess was again on full display at 70.3 Worlds. She pushed into the podium slots midway through the run and was able to stay there, adding to a season where she only finished off the podium twice.

Gentle wore On’s carbon racer, the Cloudboom Strike. It is slightly heavier than some of the other shoes mentioned so far, but at 6.8 ounces, it’s not a particularly bulky shoe. On claims that their spoon-shaped Speedboard (their take on a carbon fiber plate) provides increased running efficiency by transferring impact energy through toe-off.

5.) Grace Thek – 1:19:14
Shoe: HOKA Rocket X 2

Thek led the “best of the rest” run class — nearly a full three minutes behind the pace set by Gentle and crew above. But that run was still enough to move up to 10th place on the day — Thek’s first top 10 and first paycheck from 70.3 Worlds.

Thek wore the tried and true HOKA Rocket X 2. First making its debut at Kona 2022 as an unofficial prototype, the Rocket X 2 brought the brand’s trademark rocker profile, light weight (for the amount of cushioning offered), and carbon fiber plate together in a cohesive package for the first time. (The original Rocket lacked cushioning.) It’s getting a bit long in the tooth, at almost two full calendar years on the market, but like Nike’s VaporFly and AlphaFly, it’s still on the feet of plenty of athletes.

6.) Ellie Salthouse – 1:19:15
Shoe: HOKA Rocket X 2

Salthouse, another HOKA sponsored athlete, utilized her sixth fastest run split to wind up seventh.

7.) Taylor Knibb – 1:19:20
Shoe: HOKA Rocket X 2

If you remove Knibb’s port-o-john stop, she had the fifth fastest run on the day. But we don’t remove stops, as the clock does not stop, so she slots in here. Regardless, the now three-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion did enough to hold off Matthews’ charge on the run.

Interestingly, all three women opted to eschew HOKA’s more recent carbon-fiber racer, the Cielo X1, for the tried and true Rocket X 2.

8.) Julie Derron – 1:19:38
Shoe: On Cloudboom Echo 3

The Olympic silver medalist, Derron tried valiantly to repeat her performance from Paris. But she wound up losing out to Gentle and Imogen Simmonds to wind up sliding to a fifth place finish.

Compared to the Strike that Gentle wore, the Cloudboom Echo is the lightest racer in On’s line. It, too, features the Speedboard (although in a unique shape) and a blend of On’s Pebax and “standard” foams for cushioning.

9.) Paula Findlay – 1:20:31
Shoe: On Cloudboom Strike LS

Findlay closed out her 2024 campaign with another strong showing at IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds, finishing sixth. It’s her third straight top 10 finish at 70.3 Worlds.

Findlay ran in a shoe yet to be released to the general public, the Cloudboom Strike LS. Take the Cloudboom Strike and put a laceless upper, called LightSpray, and you get the Strike LS. The upper weighs a total of 30 grams and is made from a single, 1,500 meter long thread. There’s environmental benefits, too, since the design eliminates the need for adhesives, and reduces the carbon footprint by 75%. It comes at a cost, though: the shoe carries an eye-watering MSRP of $330 USD.

10.) Solveig Lovseth – 1:20:36
Shoe: Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

Loevseth’s tenth best run was the key to her top 15 finish and a paycheck, nipping Hannah Berry to the line for 13th place.

The Adizero Adios Pro (say that three times fast) is — you guessed it — another carbon-fiber plated race shoe. Lightstrike Pro is Adidas’ take on Pebax foam, with two separate layers sandwiching the plate, dubbed Energyrods 2.0. Coming in closer to the 7 ounce mark in a women’s size 8, it’s a little closer to the AlphaFly formula than others.

The post The Shoes of the Top 10 Pro Women Run Splits From Taupō first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Here’s a look at the wetsuits the top swimmers wore for the 1.2-mile (1.9-km) swim in Lake Taupo last Saturday – in case you’re wondering which brand led the way, it was a tie between Orca and Sailfish. Here’s the breakdown:

• Sailfish: 3
• Orca: 3
• 2XU: 1
• Zone 3: 1
• ARK Sports: 1
• Synergy: 1

1. Sara Perez Sala – 24:20

Brand: Orca

2. Lotte Wilms – 24:21

Brand: Sailfish

3. Rebecca Clark – 24:22

Brand: Sailfish

4. Marta Sanchez – 24:29

Brand: Zone 3

5. Taylor Knibb – 24:30

Brand: 2XU

6. Imogen Simmonds – 24:32

Brand: ARK Sports

7. Caroline Pohl – 24:36

Brand: Sailfish

8. Julie Derron – 24:39

Brand: Orca

9. Hanne De Vet

Brand: Orca

10. Jodie Stimpson – 24:44

Brand: Synergy

The post Taupo Swim Gear: The Top-10 Women’s Wetsuits From the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Former professional IRONMAN World Champion Michellie Jones headlines the list of 28 men and women who can call themselves IRONMAN 70.3 age group world champions.

Jones, the 2006 IRONMAN World Champion, won the women’s 55-59 age group in a time of 4:52:28. Her title was one of 8 won by Australian athletes this weekend, which is the highest total of age group champions from any one country this weekend. The United States placed second with 7 champions. France and New Zealand were the only other countries with multiple winners, with 5 and 3 age group champions respectively.

More than 6,000 athletes from 119 different countries, territories, and regions, ranging in age from 18 to 85, competed in the 70.3 World Championships this weekend in Taupō, New Zealand. It was the 17th edition of the race, as the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 edition of the race.

Your 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 age group world champions:

Women’s Champions

Men’s Champions

These athletes will have the opportunity to defend their title at the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, held in Marbella, Spain in November next year.

Photos: IRONMAN, Fiona Goodall / Getty Images for IRONMAN

The post The 2024 Age-Group IRONMAN 70.3 World Champions first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

By David Gutnick

On Friday night, Olena Moroz went through her final preparation list:

*Yellow and Blue tri suit: check.

*Wetsuit and goggles: check.

*Cervelo R5 tuned up and racked: check.

*Saucony running shoes: check. 

*Maurten gel nutrition ready for the bike and run: check.

She chatted with her 20-year-old daughter Dariya, who is in Taupō to help mom deal with her pre-race jitters nerves and cheer her on. 

This was Olena’s first time qualifying for a 70.3 World Championship and, having carted her gear halfway around the world to race in Taupō, she promised herself that she was going to do everything possible to do her very best, to follow her coach’s advice, to soak up the peace and natural beauty of New Zealand, and bring whatever she learned back home. 

She started getting ready for bed, she needed to be rested for her race

Then her phone binged: a message from her 15-year-old son Sergio.

Big trouble back home.

Russian missiles had blown up six electrical power generating plants in their city of Lviv and more across Ukraine. Olena scanned the news on her phone. She found out Russia had launched 93 more missiles targeting Ukraine’s power supply.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, hundreds of Russian missiles have targeted homes, schools, hospitals, medical clinics, railway lines and an army base in Lviv. More than 75 children and adults have been killed, and many more have been injured. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are dead, along with Ukrainian civilians, and Russia’s war rages on with no end in sight.

“When the war started, I didn’t know if I should keep training for triathlons,” says Olena. “So, I asked some of my friends who were soldiers, ‘Should I stop?’”

Olena runs an infertility clinic in Lviv, and there was no way she was going to close the clinic despite the ever-present danger. 

“We just do our best to keep going,” she says, “to keep being as normal as possible.”

That’s exactly what her soldier friends told her about her triathlon training. 

“They all told me the same thing,” says Olena. “Keep your life as normal as possible. Don’t let Putin control us: do everything you can to keep the life you have.”

And so that is what Olena did. She pedalled her Cervelo past buildings blown to smithereens, swam lengths in swimming pools while air raid sirens wailed in the distance, and ran through parks scarred by explosions.

Photo: World Triathlon

Olena got training plans from her coach, Alexey Syutkin, a former World Triathlon professional and member of Ukraine’s Olympic triathlon team. Every time Syutkin’s athletes open his webpage http://syutkin.com.ua/en#training, they see a picture of him racing and another of him in soldier’s camouflage, holding a rifle. 

Syutkin was at a triathlon training camp in Spain when Russia invaded. He returned to Ukraine and joined the army.

“You should mix work with pleasure, do sports and support the legend of the Ukrainian triathlon,” he writes. “In that way you also contribute to the army of Ukraine.”

So that is exactly what Olena did.

Over the past year, she competed in four different races in four different countries. 

She qualified for this World Championship at  IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg. 

Olena also flew to Africa to race Ironman 70.3 Rwanda, where she came third in her age group. She loved the entire experience. She says the Rubavu district community members welcomed the athletes with open arms and wants to go back.

Here in New Zealand, Māori in traditional clothing sang and performed a Haka before leading a parade of more than 6,000 athletes from 119 countries along the Taupo waterfront.

As Olena and her five Ukrainian teammates waved their flag, fellow triathletes and spectators kept coming up to them and wishing them luck, both in the race and in their daily struggles back home. 

“People understand what we are going through,” Olena says. “They want to help any way they can.”

For instance, volunteers from Britain regularly drive truckloads of donated medical supplies into Ukraine, knowing that they are taking huge risks. It must be done because helping Ukrainians was “just the right thing to do,” Olena says. 

Olena is a member of Rotary International, a service organization that she says has been instrumental in helping Ukrainians better survive the war. Whenever she’s not working at her fertility clinic or training, she’s coordinating their relief efforts and doing social media for her home club called Ukrainian Unity. 

Officials from DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power supplier, said more than 3.5 million households had been left without heat. It was -1 C (30.2 Fahrenheit) in Lviv, and temperatures would be dropping in the weeks to come. 

Olena headed to T1 to check her bike, slipped into her wetsuit and made her way to the shore of Lake Taupō, her cap with her bib number 2578 pulled on tight. 

She was surrounded by 285 other women in her 45 to 49 age group. 

Seventeen thousand kilometres away, Russian President Vladimir Putin was doing his best to break the spirit of Ukrainians, vowing to smash and plunder and kill as many as it takes until they give in to his demands.

No way was Olena going to let that happen. 

At 8:43:14 Olena waded into the water and started to swim. 

Ed. Note: Olena would finish the race in 7:34:13. 

David Gutnick is an award winner journalist who has retired from CBC Radio in Canada. 

The post From Lviv to Taupo: a Ukrainian Athlete’s Journey to Her First 70.3 World Championship first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Photos by Kevin Mackinnon

OK, things were buzzing for “ladies day” here in Taupo yesterday. It is hard to describe how much more intense, crowded and, well, buzzing Taupo was today as a roughly 3,200 men started their race in Lake Taupo. (Even the helicopter seemed to be getting in on the action, determined not to miss a second of the men’s race action.)

You can read a blow-by-blow account of today’s racing in Ryan Heisler’s race recap.

Here’s my take on the day’s action based on my view from behind the camera.

Today the waka delivered men from Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the haka ceremony once again set the stage perfectly, adding more to the unique experience and sense of community that this world championship has engendered all week.

Once we’d all been “welcomed” to the lake, it was time for the racing.

When it was time to get the racing started, once again the top seeds all lined themselves up to the left of the swim start, with defending champ Rico Bogen lining up furthest to the left.

Greg Harper, the son of former pro triathlete Dean Harper, led the men out of the water. He was about 12 seconds up on Aussie Josh Amberger and France’s Olympic bronze medalist Leo Bergere, but the pack with many of the pre-race favorites, including Hayden Wilde, Rico Bogen, Kyle Smith, Jelle Geens and Justus Nieschlag were all about 30 seconds apart.

It wasn’t long before a lead pack of eight had formed. What was surprising about the lead cyclists was that it was a bunch of short course specialists who were pushing the pace, including local hero Hayden Wilde …

… The man Wilde beat to the silver medal in Paris, Leo Bergere …

… and yet another Olympian, Jelle Geens.

Defending champion Rico Bogen was in the mix, but wasn’t making it look easy to stay with the leaders.

Surprisingly Taupo’s very own Kyle Smith wasn’t his usual aggressive self at the front of the bike. Turns out he’d had COVID last week, so was still recovering from that as he hit the race course today.

Another surprise was the impressive riding by 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Henri Schoeman, who stayed with the leaders the hard way. While the rest of the group remained pretty much bang on the legal distance (as gauged by the Race Ranger tech being used), according to IRONMAN’s Matt Lieto, who was with the lead group a lot more than I was, Schoeman was almost always about 20 m behind the wheel in front, dangling close to being dropped.

As often seems to be the case in tight races, Mathis Margirier, who was pushing the pace in the lead group for much of the ride, was the one who got a drafting penalty, effectively putting him out of contention because …

… By the 80 km point of the ride it was clear the winner was going to come from the lead group.

Wilhelm Hirsch was one of the athletes in the first chase group that was led, for most of the way, by Kristian Hogenhaug (who spent so much time at the front he would eventually get dropped by the group). Even if you weren’t with the leaders, you weren’t taking in any of the spectacular scenery along the route.

Once out on the run, Wilde surged clear. After the race Wilde admitted that the incredible crowd support made it really hard to slow down.

Jelle Geens said after the race that along the way someone in the crowd told him to “believe the Paris scenario” (Wilde cracked in the last 1,100 m of the run at the Olympics and was passed by Alex Yee.) Not long after he heard that, Wilde started to struggle ahead of him.

Meanwhile, Bergere quickly decided who couldn’t go with Wilde or Geens.

“I decided to run my own race and to try to have to the the best tempo,” the Frenchman said after the race.

Meanwhile, the race to see who would be the top German was being played out as Justus Nieschlag started to pull ahead of the defending champ …

… Rico Bogen. (In the end, Nieschlag would take fifth, with Bogen seventh.

Think this guy is happy?

“I’ve been in this sport for very long time and I actually never made the podium (at a world championship),” Geens said after the race. “I came fourth twice in short course, and now, in my first try and a middle distance and I got it.”

It might not be the last, either.

“Paris was my last short course race,” he said. “To be honest, the last year and a half was quite tough for me, mentally … So, I really want to move to middle distance and see what I can do there.”

I can let him know now – a lot.

That blazing intitial pace ended up being too much – in the end the “Paris scenario” repeated for Hayden Wilde, who truly gave it all to get across the line.

“It was brilliant,” he said of the day when being interviewed for one of New Zealand’s television networks. “I loved every moment … I gave it everything, but yeah, it’s been a long season and, you know, I put it out there. I wasn’t going to shy away from it and had a crack at it. I was not bad for my third time at this distance.”

“It seemed like every inch of the run course was covered with people supporting me,” Wilde continued. “It was hard to slow down. To have a world championship in Taupo is awesome. It’s so great for the country – everyone knows our sport right now. It was so cool to give it a crack in front of the home town.”

Another bronze medal to go along with the Paris Olympic one from earlier this year for Leo Bergere. This one came without quite as much pressure.

“In Paris I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, but I was also feeling that the whole country was expecting a medal from one of the members of the French Team,” he said after the race.

Bergere thanked the crowd for all the support after he crossed the line.

“New Zealand is such a beautiful country and people are so welcoming,” he said.

Kyle Smith thrilled the crowd with his fourth.

Ninth was more than enough to assure Gregory Barnaby of the top slot in the IRONMAN Pro Series. You can read our profile on the Italian below:

It was Olympic day on the podium at today’s 70.3 worlds. A sign of things to come?

The post The Intensity Dials Up in Taupo as the Men Take to the Course at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

All Photos: Kevin Mackinnon / Slowtwitch

Jelle Geens passed long-time leader Hayden Wilde with three kilometers left to run to claim his first IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Geens made his move in the final quarter of the race, as he closed a 45 second deficit to Wilde in two kilometers, then making the decisive move in kilometer 18 of the run.

Geens was toward the front of the race from the gun, swimming with the likes of Wilde, Kyle Smith, and defending champion Rico Bogen. Those men formed the bulk of a lead eight man bike pack that traded blows throughout the bike portion. Wilde would attempt to rocket away during the run, building a nearly minute lead over Geens at one point, but would pay dearly for that effort during the second half of the run. Geens 1:07:34 half marathon was enough to propel him to victory.

Wilde took yet another silver medal on a world stage, this time on home soil. And, much like the Paris Olympic Games, Léo Bergère took bronze, unable to catch Wilde again.

Post-race, Geens was ecstatic. “It’ll take some time to realize. It’s something you only dream about. A crazy day. I’ve been in this sport for a long time, and I’ve been doing ITU for a long time. It’s had its ups and downs…and for my first time to come to this race and become world champion…unbelievable.”

Speaking on the dynamics of the race, he said, “I wanted to not tire my legs too much at the end of the bike, I’ve really struggled in the second part of the run. It was easy to try to run too fast, so after a couple K I said I had to settle, find my rhythm. I didn’t really believe it anymore, but I kept putting pressure.”

Wilde, on the race, said: “I put a big ambition out there, obviously I went out there a bit naive. I felt like I rode appropriately. I know these roads like the back of my hand. I got the gap and felt really confident. I think all the short course guys can say this too, but it’s really hard to slow yourself down in the first 10K. I was too excited.”

Bergère said, “The whole bike I found very hard, a really tough experience riding in the group like this. I was spending a lot of energy falling too far back. By the end of the bike everyone was going crazy again and I decided to save my legs for the run. I was expecting a good race, I was targeting the title, but Jelle was just so strong today; even on the bike he surprised me, and he deserved the win. A special mention to Hayden as well, he was attacking and kept the race exciting.”

In the Pro Series battle, Gregory Barnaby was able to claim the crown with his 9th place finish here. Matthew Marquardt suffered from cramps very early on in the race and finished outside the top 30.

As the Race Unfolded

Race day dawned with mild temperatures and light winds. Like the women’s race yesterday, the water did have some chop to it, which would negate some of the benefit that the wetsuit-legal temperatures would provide. Unfortunately, Casper Stornes was a race morning withdrawal, still recovering from a run-in with a vehicle earlier in the week while riding.

Almost all of the pre-race favorites lined up on the far left side of the beach, closest to the first turn buoy, with defending champion Rico Bogen lining up the furthest to the left. As the airhorn sounded and athletes dove into Lake Taupō, it looked like the athletes on the left were making ahead, with Marc Dubrick leading the pack. The frantic pace saw athletes starting to be dropped before that first turn buoy, just 300 meters into the swim.

Making their way into the sun, Dubrick led an attempted breakaway, with Léo Bergère, Greg Harper, and Josh Amberger alongside him. In the chase group of roughly 20 swimmers were athletes like Kyle Smith, Hayden Wilde, Gregory Barnaby, and Matthew Marquardt. But as other athletes in the lead group took their turn on the front, the chase group was able to re-attach itself around the 600 meter mark, giving a large single pack again.

The group started to stretch out again around the 1000 meter mark, with a single-file line of about 15 swimmers before getting back to a slightly larger pack. Harper had gone to the front, and his effort was so strong that he was beginning to drop the rest of the leaders. At the final turn buoy, he’d successfully broken away from the Bergère group.

Harper earned swim prime honors in 21:48, with a 12 second margin over Amberger, Bergère, and Dubrick. The main chase came another 15 seconds later, with Bogen, Henri Schoeman, Hayden Wilde, Kyle Smith, Jelle Geens, and Kacper Stepniak there. Gregory Barnaby led the second chase group another 30 seconds down, with Braden Currie, Matthew Marquardt, and Jason West also in the mix.

Bergère used his World Triathlon Championship Series experience to blitz through transition and lead everyone out onto the bike. Wilde and Geens also jumped through the field via fast transitions. Bogen, Amberger, Smith, and Stepniak all were right up front starting the bike segment, as a pack of 9 men formed. Crucially for the Pro Series standings, Marquardt was well off the pace and suffering from cramps.

The leading 9 men – Bergère, Wilde, Geens, Bogen, Dubrick, Schoeman, Amberger, Justus Nieschlag, and Smith – had opened up a roughly 30 second lead over Mathis Margirier. A bit further down came Barnaby, who was riding with Stepniak. They were 10 seconds in front of a sizable pack, led by Ben Hamilton and including names like Harper, Mike Phillips, Currie, and West. Looking to chase onto that group was Høgenhaug.

Rolling through the hills towards the 20 kilometer mark and the leading pack got shaken up, as Dubrick (who dropped a chain) and Amberger slid back to Kurt McDonald and Wilhelm Hirsch. Margirier, meanwhile, rode his way up into the front pack to make it an 8 man deep lead group. Those 8 men kept their 20 second gap to Dubrick’s group. Next on the road was Høgenhaug’s group, 1:19 down from the lead, and that group had Barnaby, Stepniak, and Ben Hamilton in it.

During the next 10 kilometers, there was a lot of shuffling around in the front pack; first Margirier leapfrogged to the front, then followed by Bergère coming to the front. The hard pace saw the 8 leading men become 7, as Nieschlag started to drop backwards. But the hard pace had opened the lead up to 1:13 over Dubrick’s group. They were about to be swallowed from behind, as Ruben Zepuntke and Høgenhaug brought their group to within 10 seconds of the Dubrick chase. Further back, Currie was in danger of losing the back of the group at 2 minutes from the lead. And West was riding solo, almost 2:50 behind.

Approaching the halfway mark of the bike and the lead group started to see some relentless attacks against one another. The attacks had let Nieschlag back onto the group. Bogen was the athlete most in danger of being dropped now. Those attacks, though, had kept Høgenhaug’s group from making inroads, leaving them hovering around 90 seconds behind. Høgenhaug had 8 fellow riders with him: Zepuntke, McDonald, Dubrick, Hirsch, Barnaby, Stepniak, Thomas Bishop, Harry Palmer, and Amberger.

As the race started to turn back towards Taupō, the lead pack of 8 remained. The elastic at times appeared to be in danger of stretching or snapping for Smith, Schoeman, or Bogen, but each time they managed to claw their way back on. Høgenhaug’s group remained 1:27 down, but their hot pace had spit Amberger out the back. Amberger was 20 seconds ahead of Phillips and Hamilton.

With a third of the ride left, Bogen came to the front of the leading group, sharing the workload with Wilde, Margirier, and Bergère. The front group was just starting to pull away from Høgenhaug, extending their lead out to over 90 seconds for the first time. That second group was also seeing some elasticity in it, as Stepniak and McDonald were running the risk of being dropped from that chase. Amberger had indeed dropped to the Phillips group, which also had Currie in it.

On the approach to Heartbreak Hill, the front pack dynamics appeared to be taking a toll on Schoeman and Nieschlag, as they were seeing gaps open that would need to be closed with sizable efforts. The effort list had seen the gap grow to the chase pack, led by Høgenhaug, now standing at 2:04. That second pack still held the likes of Dubrick, Barnaby, Zepuntke, and Palmer.

Going over the top of Heartbreak Hill and there were multiple attacks amongst the front group, but none of them quite stuck. Bogen also received a talking to by an official; no card was shown on screen, but it appeared to be a warning of some type. That ongoing effort was paying dividends on the chasers, though; Høgenhaug and his group was now over 2.5 minutes back. It looked like the podium would emerge from the front pack, and Barnaby would seal his victory in the IM Pro Series.

On the descent into town and Margirier managed to slip away from the rest of the lead pack, but it was all to try to build a gap as he had to serve a penalty. Wilde wound up the first into T2 after a 1:58:51 bike split as he gapped out the field in the descent, followed by Bogen, Geens, Bergère, and Smith. Next came Nieschlag, the last athlete within 28 seconds. Schoeman was next, 1:19 down. Zepuntke led the chase at 3:38, followed by Palmer, Barnaby, Stepniak, Hirsch, Bishop, Dubrick, McDonald, and Høgenhaug.

Wilde blasted out of transition, opening a 100 yard gap in his early strides. Geens had moved up to second place, 21 seconds off the pace. Smith was another 8 seconds back in third, followed by Bergère in fourth, 45 seconds from Wilde. Nieschlag held fifth, and Bogen was going the wrong way, the slowest of the lead pack riders, in sixth and losing time to the chasing Schoeman. At the quarter way mark and Bergère made his move past Smith for third on the road; the top four men were just 90 seconds apart from one another. Bogen had also managed to catch Nieschlag and pass him for fifth, and maintaining a minute gap to Schoeman.

At 8 kilometers it looked like this would be a two horse race for the win: Wilde held a steady 45 second lead on Geens, and they were matching pace with one another. Bergère was third, just under a minute behind Geens, but not matching the leading pair on pace. Smith was tightening his grasp on fourth; though Bergère had dropped him, he was also keeping the likes of Bogen, Nieschlag, and Schoeman at bay. Dubrick, Barnaby, and Palmer closed out the top 10, and nobody behind appeared to be closing up.

Halfway through the run and Wilde had split 34:31; it wasn’t quite the 1:05 half marathon pace he was seeking but it was indeed faster than anyone else on the road. Geens was 55 seconds behind, followed by Bergère at 2:11 down. Smith sat in fourth, 3:24 from Wilde, and with a 25 second gap to fifth placed Bogen. Nieschlag kept firm grasp on sixth and ready to pounce if either Smith or Bogen faltered. Schoeman was 7th, 4:52 from the lead, 42 seconds behind sixth. He had a healthy 1:20 gap over 8th placed Dubrick, with Palmer and Barnaby in 9th and 10th. Those two had a little to worry about, as within a minute of them was Bishop, Hirsch, and Stepniak.

With 5 kilometers left to run, Wilde’s lead had been cut to 45 seconds. Assuming that paces held, Geens would have Wilde in sight for a sprint finish. But Wilde faltered in the 16th kilometer, with the lead cut down to just 25 seconds. With the 17th kilometer, Geens closed further. And in kilometer 18 the pass was made. Wilde, with a grimace on his face, could do nothing as Geens blasted past him. Further back, Bogen continued to slide backwards, passed now by Schoeman for sixth.

Geens closed out the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, running 1:07:34 to victory. Wilde, fading hard during the second half of the run, still held onto second. Bergère came third, earning another bronze medal this year. Hometown hero Smith held onto fourth, edging Nieschlag for it. Barnaby finished down in 9th, but claimed the IRONMAN Pro Series title in the process.

Top 15 Results

1. Jelle Geens 3:32:09
2. Hayden Wilde 3:33:22
3. Léo Bergère 3:35:08
4. Kyle Smith 3:37:51
5. Justus Nieschlag 3:38:06
6. Henri Schoeman 3:39:20
7. Rico Bogen 3:39:36
8. Harry Palmer 3:39:42
9. Gregory Barnaby 3:40:14
10. Marc Dubrick 3:40:27
11. Wilhelm Hirsch 3:41:27
12. Thomas Bishop 3:42:01
13. Kacper Stepaniak 3:42:26
14. Braden Currie 3:44:28
15. Matt Hanson 3:44:47

The post Jelle Geens Runs His Way to 70.3 World Title first appeared on Slowtwitch News.