Matthews’ dual second place performances at IRONMAN World Championship events propelled her past long-time series leader Jackie Hering to the top spot on the podium.

Following her performance at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship this weekend, Matthews commented: “I’m really proud to finish the year with the goal that we set out at the start and I think…pulling that together with everything else going on has been a real logistical challenge, as well as a physical one. The funding behind it [IRONMAN Pro Series] and our reward, really enables us to travel to places like New Zealand, and do these races properly, with professionalism and considering our health and performance on race day… Hopefully I’ve set a good benchline for the future years of the IRONMAN Pro Series.” 

Barnaby, however, had to take a different road to the title. He came into the weekend with the IRONMAN Pro Series lead, in part because he had scored already in the maximum five events. The most likely scenario for him to hold onto the lead was to beat Matthew Marquardt to the finish line. Barnaby did just that as Marquardt struggled with cramping.

Barnaby said after clinching his title: “I’ve been doing triathlon for 20 years now and I’ve never earned in 20 years what I earned today, it’s amazing. It’s been an amazing year for me, a really long season, it was amazing to take the win in Western Australia [at the IRONMAN 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship Western Australia triathlon], it wouldn’t have been the same to take the Series without taking a win in an actual race in the Pro Series so I’m really happy.”

Matthews’ Road to Victory

Matthews had remarkable consistency throughout the year, with five podium finishes to her name at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events.

Matthews started her Pro Series campaign with a victory at IRONMAN Texas. She followed that by another victory at IRONMAN Vitoria-Gastiez, where she won with a comfortable eight minute margin, thanks to a dominating 2:54 marathon

Next came a second-place finish at 70.3 Tallin. But it was her remarkable duel with eventual IRONMAN World Champion Laura Philipp that saw Matthews rocket up the Pro Series leaderboard. That second place gave Matthews a firm grasp on second place, and with an open score available to her at 70.3 Worlds, any finish would see Matthews wrest the title from long-time leader Hering.

Hering, who had held first since a second-place at this summer’s IRONMAN Lake Placid, did not improve upon her score this weekend. Still, with over 18,000 points, Hering was able to take second place and the $130,000 check associated with it.

Lotte Wilms rounded out the podium, moving past Hannah Berry with her effort at 70.3 Worlds.

The top 10 finishers in the 2024 Pro Series are as follows:

Barnaby’s Title Journey

Barnaby came into the Series-deciding race having scored in five races this season, including an excellent sixth-place at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona and his first IRONMAN 70.3 victory at Western Australia. That win propelled him past IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange into the lead of the Series.

It set the stage for a one-on-one battle between Barnaby and Matthew Marquardt for the lead in the series. Marquardt, like Matthews, had only scored in four events coming into the finale in Taupō. It meant whoever came to the finish line first between those two, so long as they were within 8:46 of the winner, would wind up Pro Series champion.

Unfortunately for Marquardt, it was not to be; he struggled mightily with cramping as soon as the race hit the bike and would finish in 36th place. That would still be enough to move him into fourth place in the Series standings and to take home a $70,000 check.

Marquardt’s misfortune solidified Barnaby’s and Lange’s 1-2 finish. Kristian Høgenhaug, who led the chase group on the bike during 70.3 Worlds, finished 17th on Sunday and earned enough points for the final podium spot.

The final top 10 standings:

The 2025 Pro Series will kick off in three months, with IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong and spanning until next year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Marbella, Spain in November.

The post Matthews and Barnaby Take Inaugural IM Pro Series Crowns first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

He sure seemed like he was calm, cool and collected heading into today’s race, and Italy’s Gregory Barnaby proved it wasn’t just a show as he surged to an impressive win at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Australia today. He’s now at the top of the IRONMAN Pro Series standings with one race left – the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo in two weeks. For the women, Spain’s Marta Sanchez continued her dream season with a solid win down under, ensuring she’ll get to race in front of a home-country crowd at next year’s 70.3 worlds in Marbella.

All the talk of a world-record time disappeared long before the start once everyone had a look at the ocean – the first leg of the race promised choppy water conditions and the wind was slated to pick up through the morning.

Barnaby’s First IRONMAN Title

While he’s taken a couple of pro half-distance events, today was Barnaby’s first IRONMAN title, which seems like a fitting way to move to the top of the standings. The Italian was at the tail end of a group of five out of the water led by American Marc Dubrick, with Olympians Jamie Riddle (RSA) and Kenji Nener (JAP), also part of the group, with Scotland’s Cameron Main fourth out of the water just ahead.

By 20 km into the bike there was a group of 11 up in front as Swedish Uber-biker Robert Kallin began to push the pace. At the halfway point of the flat, fast bike course it was Riddle who was in front, with Dubrick just behind and Kallin and Dane Kristian Hogenhaug trying to figure out how to up the tempo. By the 60 km point of the ride Kallin was back in front and the efforts of the speedy cyclists and managed to thin the lead group to six – once again Barnaby was at the tail end of the group, but gamely hanging on.

By the end of the bike Kallin and Hogenhaug had put their stamp on the second leg of the race, but were hardly clear – local Western Australia hero Nick Thompson was just a few seconds down, with Riddle and Barnaby just a few more seconds back, and Dubrick finding himself 31 seconds behind the leaders as he arrived in T2.

Barnaby nailed the transition and led the men out onto the run course, but it was Riddle who surged to the front during the early part of the run. The South African would open up a gap of 39 seconds on Barnaby by the halfway point of the run, but the Italian, who has completed three full-distance IRONMAN races, appeared confident that the race would come down to strength over the final half of half-marathon.

Barnaby was right – he steadily gained on Riddle and made the pass just before the 15 km point. He would never look back, flying to an impressive two-minute win (3:37:35) over Riddle (3:39:35), with Dubrick rounding out the podium in 3:39:51. Kallin would hang tough for fourth (3:41:31), earning some valuable Pro Series points, with Aussie favorite, Olympian Jake Birtwhistle having an impressive run to work his way to fifth (3:42:08).

1. Gregory Barnaby – 3:37:35 (24:31/ 1:57:10/ 1:12:29)
2. Jamie Riddle – 3:39:35 (24:25/ 1:57:08/ 1:14:22)
3. Marc Dubrick – 3:39:51 (24:23/ 1:57:35/ 1:14:17)
4. Robert Kallin – 3:41:31 (25:34/ 1:55:38/ 1:16:20)
5. Jake Birtwhistle – 3:42:08 (25:12/ 2:01:17/ 1:12:23)
6. Ben Hamilton – 3:42:17 (25:44/ 2:00:40/ 1:12:05)
7. Jarrod Osborne – 3:42:22 (27:04/ 2:01:00/ 1:10:22)
8. Kristian Høgenhaug – 3:42:54 (25:40/ 1:55:33/ 1:17:43)
9. Mitch Kibby – 3:44:23 (25:43/ 2:02:23/ 1:12:48)
10. Sam Osborne – 3:44:50 (25:41/ 2:02:25/ 1:12:53)

Sanchez Enjoys a “Short” Day

It wasn’t quite a wire-to-wire win, but Sanchez was pretty much at the front of the race from the gun.

“I couldn’t imagine a better race, the target was to qualify for next year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, my home, so to take the win as well is something beyond words,” Sanchez said after the race. “It was a very good race for me, I was really focused all of the time, my mind was really into the race, I’ve been racing a lot of IRONMAN distance so this felt quite short, so I just kept that focus until the end.”

The Spaniard handled the choppy water conditions better than many of the other women in the pro field, finishing the swim in third – 22 seconds behind Dutch athlete Lotte Wilms (who has lived in Australia for 11 years) and New Zealand’s Teresa Adam. Aussie Richelle Hill was another eight seconds back, with Kiwi Hannah Berry hitting T1 at 1:16 behind the leaders. Some of the other favorites in the field had not fared as well through the first leg – Grace Thek (AUS) was 2:26 down, Maja Stage Nielsen (DEN) was 3:09 behind, Daniela Bleymehl was 3:30 behind as she grabbed her bike, and Els Visser (NED) was over five minutes behind as she entered T1.

Once out on the bike course, Sanchez quickly joined Wilms and Adam to create a three-woman group that was staying clear of the rest of the field. By the halfway point of the ride Berry had moved herself to fourth, but was a shade under two minutes behind. Over the second half of the pancake-flat bike course more of the players we expected to contend for the top-five moved up into the chase group. At the end of the bike Berry was still in fourth, but within a minute she was joined in transition by Visser, Bergsten and Bleymehl.

Sanchez quickly took control of the run, opening up a gap of 44 seconds on Wilms and almost two minutes on Adam within 4 km. Halfway through the run Wilms was hanging tough at about the same deficit, but it was Bergsten who was making the biggest move on the course, having moved herself to third, just over two minutes down.

There was no touching Sanchez, though, as she cruised to the win in 4:06:38. Bergsten managed to catch Wilms with a few km to go, moving to second, just over a minute behind (4:07:48), with Wilms (1:24:23) rounding out the podium. Hill (4:09:10) managed to hold off a fast-charging Thek (4:09:22) as the two Aussies took fourth and fifth, with Visser (4:10:11) and Berry (4:11:20) finishing sixth and seventh, just ahead of Bleymehl (4:12:35).

1. Marta Sanchez – 4:06:38 (26:39/ 2:12:14/ 1:23:00)
2. Anna Bergsten – 4:07:48 (31:59/ 2:10:24/ 1:20:30)
3. Lotte Wilms – 4:08:03 (26:17/ 2:12:33/ 1:24:23)
4. Richelle Hill – 4:09:10 (26:47/ 2:16:39/ 1:21:31)
5. Grace Thek – 4:09:22 (28:43/ 2:15:15/ 1:20:43)
6. Els Visser – 4:10:11 (31:49/ 2:10:46/ 1:22:48)
7. Hannah Berry – 4:11:20 (27:33/ 2:13:49/ 1:24:54)
8. Daniella Bleymehl – 4:12:35 (29:47/ 2:12:44/ 1:25:06)
9. Grace Alexander – 4:12:47 (27:54/ 2:13:50/ 1:25:52)
10. Teresa Adam – 4:13:04 (26:17/ 2:12:28/ 1:29:10)

Stay tuned for more of our coverage from Busselton.

The post Gregory Barnaby Surges To Top of IRONMAN Pro Series With Win in Western Australia; Marta Sanchez Nails the Women’s Title in Bussleton first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

No, it is not a name that you typically associate with Italy. The son of a couple from the UK (mom from London, dad from Bristol), Gregory Barnaby was born in Verona, Italy, 33 years ago. He did his first triathlon in a swimming pool in 2000, and has pretty much been hooked ever since. All that devotion has really paid off in 2024 – Barnaby heads into the final two races of the IRONMAN Pro Series with a shot at the overall title.

Formerly a member of the Italian national team competing at draft-legal World Triathlon events, Barnaby had already decided he would be moving to long-course racing at the end of 2019, realizing that he wasn’t likely to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“I thought it (long-distance triathlon) was more for me,” Barnaby said in an interview near the famous Busselton Pier a few days before the IRONMAN Pro Series race in Western Australia. “I always suffered with the really, really fast pace, especially on the run. I was a lot better over the long distance, even in training, so I probably could have switched before, but I mean, even short course has taught me so much that I take into long course.”

After competing in numerous half-distance races in 2021 and 2022, Barnaby’s big breakthrough came at IRONMAN Israel in 2022. The Italian ran alongside Patrick Lange for 25 km before the German was finally able to drop him. Barnaby ran a 2:35:33 marathon split (compared to Lange’s 2:30:31) and would finish third. (Denmark’s Daniel Baekkegard was able to hold him off.) In 2023 Barnaby made his IRONMAN World Championship debut in Nice, finishing eighth.

Based on those results, it should hardly be a surprise that Barnaby is now in the running to take the IRONMAN Pro Series. At the start of the season, though, the Italian didn’t appear to be on track for the success he’s enjoyed. He found out after pulling out of T100 Miami that he had a broken rib, which meant he couldn’t get started on the Pro Series races until IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca in May. He surprised himself and his coach, Luca Zenti, with a third-place finish there. In June Barnaby had a tough day in Cairns, finishing eighth. Things really turned around, though, In Frankfurt, where Barnaby finished third at the IRONMAN European Championship. He then moved up two spots at this year’s world championship, finishing sixth in his Kona debut.

IRONMAN Pro Series

With only one “counting” 70.3 on his IRONMAN Pro Series resume for 2024, Barnaby is just a few points behind American Matthew Marquardt and a couple of hundred points ahead of Kristian Hogenhaug (who also have a race in hand) heading into the final two series races. Hogenhaug is also here in Busselton, and all three will be in Taupo in a few weeks, too.

You can see the standings here.

“My goal at the beginning of the season was to finish in the top-five of the series,” Barnaby said. “I’m there now – I’m fifth – but now my goal is to finish higher because the season has gone so well.”

Barnaby was aware that giving himself a couple of shots for a decent score would be advantageous, which is why he and girlfriend Giorgia Priorone came to Australia after his race in Kona. It also provides some insurance in case something goes wrong at either race.

So, what would it mean for Barnaby to take the inaugural IRONMAN Pro Series and the US$200,000 bonus cheque for the winner?

“It would mean the world to me,” he said. “I’ve been in the sport for almost 25 years now, and doing it professionally for the last 12 years. It can be tough at times. The sport is changing and there’s more money involved, but it hasn’t always been like that. It wouldn’t just be the money, it would be an amazing achievement for me.”

Lest you think the pressure might get to him, it is worth noting that Barnaby has a reputation for being calm heading into races.

“Yeah, its a lot of money, and, yeah, it’s a big, big ambition to win the Pro Series, but I’m normally pretty relaxed before races and I think that is one of my strengths,” he said. “Now I’ve trained well and I can perform well. I know I’ve done the work and I don’t let the pressure get to me. I just want to race my best at each individual race. I already put a lot of pressure on myself, so I don’t feel too much pressure from the outside.”

So, to answer the question posed in the headline of this story, yes, it would appear that Gregory Barnaby is a likely contender to take the IRONMAN Pro Series this year.

Gregory Barnaby’s Bike (Training Set Up)

Since we caught up with the Italian a few days before the race, his bike hasn’t be completely set up for race day.

Frame: Trek Speed Concept
Wheels: Vision. (On race day he’ll use a 91 SL on the front with a Vision Disc.)

Cockpit: AeroCoach (Minini is one of his sponsors!)

The post Can Gregory Barnaby Win the IRONMAN Pro Series? Meet the Italian Contender first appeared on Slowtwitch News.