From the sun-soaked hills of southern France to the fast flats of northern Germany, the IRONMAN Pro Series continues to deliver.
In this episode of A Fighting Chance presented by HOKA, we follow top contenders as they chase crucial points at IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence and look ahead to a stacked start list at IRONMAN Hamburg.
Get an inside look at the moments that matter and the athletes who are all in on the race for the IRONMAN Pro Series title.
📍IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence → IRONMAN Hamburg
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[Music] After a week’s break in the Iron Man Pro Series, we’re back and we are back with a big one. The Qatar Airways Iron Man Hamburg, the European Championships for our women. Phil Common or welcome to a fighting chance presented by Hoka. I’m Laura Sidol here to give you a preview of Iron Man Hamburg and we’ll also take a look back at the racing that happened in Iron Man 70.3 Axon Provence. The Qar Airways Iron Man Hamburg, the European Championships for our women. And for the second year in a row, a women only race. But don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the men. They will have their European Championships at Iron Man Frankfurt on the 29th of June. Hamburg is in the north of Germany and is known as Germany’s gate to the world due to its historic significance as a major port city and trading hub serving as a gateway for global maritime trade. Hamburg has over 2,500 bridges, the most of any city in the world, and that’s more than Amsterdam, Venice, and London combined. Iron Man Hamburg is a city center race and it’s really geared up for great spectating and supporting. And the Germans, well, they love their triathlon. So, they truly come out in force. Even more so when the current Iron Man World Champion is German and she’s racing. But before we catch up who Laura Phillip will be up against in Hamburg, let’s catch up on all the action from Iron Man 70.3 Axon Provence. Pro Series continues. Today we are here in Axen Province, France. 54° Fahrenheit or 12° C outside. Clear skies at the moment. Absolutely beautiful morning. We get underway here in a province. We are [Music] here underway. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. And your champion in first place, Christian Blumenfeld accent province 70.3 champion, Margeline here. Great to get uh 70.3 with full score uh after Oceanside. I needed like a new or another race to get uh two and a half thousand points. So uh yeah, pleased to have uh 5,000 points from Texas and now 2 and a half thousand points from uh XM plans and also taking the W the win. Yeah, enjoy the course racing uh against the rest of the guys and uh yeah, it’s it’s like a challenging course in one way because like uh you’re not like just constantly producing power. was like up and down and you’re doing higher power in the hills and then you’re resting in the downhill and it’s uh yeah the reason why we choose to come here in the first place is because of uh getting that practice going into knees and uh yeah felt uh good positive and also quite pleased with how I was responding there on the run like when I was putting on the gas for the last 6ks I just swam alone like I was thinking I was not on a race I saw anybody in front behind or inside like behind me. So, it was super strange. And I was like at 1:30 after the swim and I just bike on my own and when I saw the girl, I didn’t want to like be behind them and I just wanted to continue my effort. So, I just passed them and made my race. I think like if you want to be at your best, you need to just go full gas and do what you can do the best. So, I didn’t like think about anything. I just made like what I was able to do just on on the last lap on the run like I had homeborg in two weeks in Iron Man. I just tried to stay conservative and I had a little gap from second. So it was just like chilling and enjoy with the like all the cheering. How were the fans today? Crazy. Like I think they they just helped me a lot to believe in me and to make this race a race. like it’s um a special atmosphere. It’s not like a training when you have a race. You’re it’s so different like you can be your best best best thanks to the others. So, it’s so great and I’m so grateful. Let’s see how that affects the overall standings of the Iron Man Pro series. Well, in our women, we have a new leader overall as Marta Sanchez from Spain takes that top spot. She has a second and fourth over an Iron Man in 70.3 giving her more points than Anne Richman’s who has a first and fifth from an Iron Man in 70.3 as well. Lisa Peter jumped up now to sit in third and Germany’s Laura Jansen moves up 12 places into fifth. And to the men, well, lots of changes in the overall pro series and a new series leader in Christian Bluminfelp, which if it wasn’t for his flat tire in Oceanside may have had the 10,000 maximum points instead of just a mere 9,312. Shamberg, Shioalier, Stones, Eden now fill the top five with Matia Cerelli and Cameron Main making it into the top 10. The guitar airways iron man Hamburg starts with an iconic swim in the very heart of Hamburg at the young fenik. The athletes will complete a one-lap roker swim navigating the inner and outer alster or for the locals in my German the bidden Alistister and the alen alster and swimming under the Lombard’s brookan and the Kennedy brookan the Lombard and Kennedy bridges. The zoo bike course is two laps taking athletes from the city center past the UNESCO listed Spikerat out to the idyllic ziron marshland, one of the most beautiful natural areas in Hamburg and host to four nature reserves. The Hokar run course is four laps in and around downtown Hamburg and along the western bank of the Alistster, concluding with a spectacular finish line right back where we started at the [Music] Yungfensteik. Now we’ve seen the cost, let’s have a look at which women will be lining up in Hamburg. The 2024 champion Jackie Herring has the privilege of wearing the number one bib as defending champion and rightly so. For Herring, Hamburg last year was her first full distance after a 9-year hiatus from that distance. The Iron Man Pro Series are reigniting her interest. And a good decision that was for Jackie as she finished second in the Iron Man Pro Series overall last year. But the focus may be on the Iron Man world champion and German Laura Phillip. Philip won in Hamburg in 2022 in what was then the fastest Iron Man climb globally. That was of course until Cat Matthew demolished that record on her way to winning Iron Man Texas this year. Cat Matthews was second behind Phillips at the Iron Man World Championships in Nice last year and is also lining up in Hamburg. fourth place in Nice last year and coming off the back of her winner Iron Man 70.3 Axon Provence, Margeline Pierre should also be in the mix for a podium finish. Currently sitting in second in the Iron Man Pro Series, German and Reichman will be hoping for the local support to put her in the mix. She’s likely to be behind Philip and Matthews out of the water, but Richman will be looking for a good bike run combo. Another athlete who will be chasing hard out of the water is American Danielle Lewis. A third at Iron Man 70.3 Oceanside, followed by a disappointing DNF in Texas. However, she bounced back to finish second at Iron Man 70.3 St. George. She’s in form and driven to get an Iron Man point score on the board. El’s viza could also be in the mix. And also keep an eye out for Solvig Los winning Iron Man 7.3 Venice Yu Solo now makes her debut over the full distance. Now let’s head to Daniela Reef to get her insights on the matchups and how the race may play out. Can they go faster than in Texas? I think yes. Um the course in Hamburg is known as being very fast. It’s a super fast bike and also the run is completely flat and having two of the greatest athletes on the start line battling it out with other amazing athletes, I think the heat is definitely going to be up and um it’s going to be a hard thought to win. And then also talking a little bit on the mental aspect. Um so we had the early season and now we are starting to come into peak season. That means that whoever wins the Iron Man in Hamburg will have a good indicator on if she’s on the right path to corner. So I would say from now it’s not anymore called pre-season or getting ready for the season. The athlete should be fit by now. And of course, maybe not in the absolute top shape yet for Kona, but June, July is normally where you want to start seeing good results from your winter training and you want to be close to your best. And I think that’s why this race is a good indicator as well on how the athletes are going. I think whoever wins um the iron man Hamburg will get a huge confident boost as well for the ongoing season for the pro series but also for the Iron Man in corner. Thanks Donella. Well I am super excited and looking forward to watching the women race in Hamburg this weekend. You can catch all the weekend’s action from Hamburg on Iron Man now outside TV zone or le. That’s all from me. I’ll see you next time. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]