Pro Race Coverage | 2025 Mainova IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship

🗓️Local Time: Sunday, June 29th, 6:00am CEST
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seconds in time. 30 seconds [Music] [Music] 10 9 Mission sequence starts. 6 5 4 3 2 1 zero. All engine running. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hello and welcome to the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men. A month ago, we witnessed record-breaking performances from the women’s European Championship in Hamburg with World Champion Laura Phillip, taking top honors over the 2024 Iron Man Pro Series champion Cat Matthews. Today, it’s the men’s turn and the start list here in Frankfurt reads like a who’s who of the top tier professional longcourse triathletes. I’m Dee Griebower in studio joined by five-time world champion Craig Alexander. Craig, welcome. Talk to me about today’s race. Is this some history in the making?
Hey Dee, how are you? Hello to everyone watching. I’ve been like a cat on a hot tin roof this week waiting for this race. You know, many of the experts are saying it’s the best regular season Iron Man field ever assembled. And it’s hard to argue when you look who’s on the start list. We’ve got six of the top 10 from the Iron Man World Championships last year, including the whole podium. We’ve got five of the top 10 from the North American Championships earlier this year. and we’ve got most of the main players from the IM Pro Series. This is going to be uh you know a spectacular race on a fast course. I think we’re going to see some aggressive racing and I can’t wait.
And when you said hot tin roof, Crow, you meant it because uh the weather today is going to be a factor for these men. We’re expecting some steamy temperatures. We’ll get to that in just a second. Ah, here we go. Weather presented by our friends at ROA. Current temperatures 68 degrees Fahrenheit, 20° C. Clear skies, winds are light, humidity at 77%. That humidity uh expected to climb into the mid 80s and those temperatures uh expected to get up uh well above 30° C as well. So, it’s going to be a hot one. That is going to be a factor. We’ve got $87,500 in prize purse on offer as well as 5,000 points for the Iron Man Pro Series. Craig, let’s talk about this course, this legendary course here in Frankfurt. Of course, as always, it starts with the ROA swim course. Our ROA swim course is 3.8 kilometers. That’s 2.4 miles. It’s two laps, which are separated by an Australian exit. We’ve got an on beach start. Of course, our venue here is the Langer Vaulty. The water temperature today 24.7° C. So, the professionals will not be in wet suits for today’s competition. This two-loop course, the shorter of the two loops is the first one. Then, they enter back into the water for the second loop, taking them into transition. Yeah. So, they’ll head through Ruby Transition and out onto the Zoot bike course. Uh, it is a two-loop course, of course. They start, as you mentioned, in the longer Voli, just south of the city of Frankfurt. They’ll make their way into the CBD and then do two loops. It’s a mix of fast and flat sections combined with some challenging hills and climbs. Total elevation gain is 1334 m. The distance of the course today is 175.8 km and they’ll head back and finish at Ruby T2 which is located at the Mangana. And of course then we will get out onto our Hoka run course. This Hoka run course again legendary here in the city of Frankfurt. It’s four loops of 42.2 km, that’s 26.2 mi, flat and fast run along the main river uh in the city center with the impressive Frankfurt skyline. The elevation gain, Craig, only 95 meters, but this course is action-packed with crowds at every step of the way. action.
And here we have our athletes getting ready to get underway here. As we have said, this is a starstudded field filled with some of the best athletes in long course racing today for our professional men. 5,000 Pro Series points on the line. Also, five qualifying spots for the men’s Iron Man World Championship in Nice coming up in September. Some big names still without qualifying slots. And as the athletes continue their warm-ups here, we’ve got a lot of action here to come at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Stop the beating. [Music] [Music] You know, and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re Always looking for what’s next. [Music] What do you want?
Uh, you know what’s that uh really good non-alcoholic beer I keep hearing about? Do you have that really great non-alcoholic beer that I keep seeing?
Do you have a non-alcoholic beer that actually
actually tastes good? It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s funny. Ask for it. Welcome back to the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. We are out here at the Langner Vaulty here in Frankfurt, Germany, getting set to get underway for what promises to be a legendary race here with a starstudded field of competitors vying for 5,000 points in the Iron Man Pro Series, $87,500 prize purse, and five qualifying slots to the men’s Iron Man World Championship to take place in September in Nice, France. I’m Dee Griezbower with Craig Alexander. Craig, take a look at this legendary venue. Yeah, it’s amazing. It was great shots earlier of the some of the top contenders warming up. We saw Gustaf Eden on our screen and Cam Worth. So, it’s going to be a great racing day today. I think conditions always play a part in the times. We saw historically fast times here last year. I want to say this year’s field’s even better. So depending on how hot it gets in that run today, I think we’re going to see some fast and aggressive racing because there’s a lot to play for. The 5,000 Pro Series points for the winner, the $28,000 first prize, but also the European title which is up for grabs today as well.
Yeah, that European title has eluded one of our race favorites. That’s Patrick Langa, of course, um who hails from this region, and this has for him been the fish that has long gotten away uh yet to claim the European title uh here in Frankfurt. that will be on his mind. We got a quick look there at Ben Canoot, one of our athletes uh the US athletes who is vying for one of those uh critical world championship qualifying slots as well. Yeah, it’s very interesting, Dee. There’s going to be definitely a race within a race because a lot of the top men have qualified and got their secured their spot on the start line for NE, but there’s some some big names that haven’t. You mentioned Ben Canoot, also Kieran Linders, who finished eighth in Kona last year and actually took second place here last year. He had an unfortunate crash in Texas earlier on this season. So, he’ll be looking to to bag his spot to Nice today.
Absolutely. Of course, we remember back to a year ago when we had a very similar situation where a lot of our top seated athletes um had already qualified and I think a lot of the men thought those slots would roll down, but we had some breakthrough performances from athletes like Kieran Linders. Uh the slots didn’t roll out of the top 10 last year. We’ll see if that happens again here out at the Langer Vulty getting ready to get underway for this uh Mova Iron Man Frankfurt men’s European Championship. We’re going to have our topseated athletes announced momentarily. Start time in just about 10 minutes. That’s going to be 6:20 uh local time. And let’s get it off. This is Bib number one from Norway. He’s an Iron Man world champion as well as an Iron Man 70.3 world champion, Christian Blumenfeld. Bib number two, hailing from this region, the local lad Patrick Lunger from Germany. Of course, the three-time and defending Iron Man world champion and wearing bib number three, this is the tall figure of the Danish athlete Magnus Bitv. He finished second to Langa at the 2024 Iron Man World Championship in Kona. Bib number four from the USA, Mr. Consistency, Rudy von Berg, third at the Iron Man World Championships in Kona last year and also third at the recent Iron Man Texas. Wearing bib number five, he is from Norway. This is Gustaf Eden. He was the Iron Man world champion and twotime Iron Man 70.3 world champion. Got a off to a great start in Oceanside. Let’s see what he can do today. And wearing bib number six. Also from Germany, Yonas Shamberg, representative of Germany at the Olympic Games as well as taking a third place in his debut Iron Man performance in South Africa earlier this season. wearing bib number seven. He’s from the United Kingdom. He had a breakout performance at this race a year ago. Uh he was eighth at the Iron Man World Championship in 2024. And as I said, second here a year ago today. This is Kieran Linders. Cameron and wearing bib number nine from Australia. Cameron W. Pameron has represented Australia at the Olympics for rowing all the way back in Athens 2004. He’s a cyclist on the pro tour and he also finished eighth in Iron Man Texas this season. And wearing bib number 10 from Denmark under the toutelage of a new coach this year which landed him a fourth place finish at Iron Man Texas, Daniel Beckagard. This is and rounding out our seated men wearing bib number 11 from Norway. Casper Storz, Olympic representative for Norway and also fifth place finisher at the Iron Men North American Championships in Texas earlier this year. And those are our top seated athletes, but there are so so many more that we’ll be talking about throughout the day today. Craig, athletes getting back into the water now to finish up their warm-ups. We will get underway at 6:20 local time. That’s in about 7 minutes. We talk about the race within the race. And I noticed, Craig, in the pre-race interviews, a lot of these guys were really sheepish. The question asked, “Do you think you can win on Sunday?” None of them really took the bull by the horns and said confidently, “Yes.” And I think that speaks to the level of competition uh we’ve got out on the raceourse today.
Yeah, it’s one of the best fields ever assembled. We mentioned that I think as we’re seeing the athletes putting the finishing touches on their warm-ups here, it’s always a nervous time before they call you back to the start line. But I mean, I think Christian Blumenfeld was was very vocal about his ambitions. Um, he’s always keen to win. That’s right. Christian Blumenfelt. uh probably if we had to say and it’s a dangerous thing to say in this field the favorite for today would you say he’s got to be one of the favorites I think he’s one of the greatest triathletes on the men’s side we’ve seen in our sport he’s consistent he’s had a couple of little hiccups but he is the defending champion here you know he he raced here last year 10 days after the Olympic games and we all thought myself included he would be underdone and laid down one of the great performances so I think you write that man off at your own peril And I think a lot more on the line for an athlete like Magnus Ditlev who’s got a lot more to prove. Certainly uh has a really strong resume but has yet to topple some of the greats like Christian Bloomfield. And then of course we talked about Patrick Langa wanting to win here in his home region hometown. Rudy von Berg, another one of our heavy favorites here. Uh you said it in his intro. Mr. Consistency always on the podium, often overlooked for the win. Could it be his day? And then a lot of buzz about Casper Storus as well. Yeah, they’re all I think some of the athletes that we’ll be looking at today, they’ll feature at the front of the race. I think Patrick’s race last year was lost here in the swim. He lost four minutes. So, we need to keep an eye on that. Um Casper Stoners is a man who I think’s in form. He went toe-to-toe with Christian in the recent Iron Man 70.3 race in Axon Province. Ran a 107. So, he obviously brings great form to this race. them.
Rudy vonberg, as you mentioned, no one gets on podiums, particularly in big races more than Rudy. I think the question for him is as an athlete, if if I’m a consistent podium finisher, can I take the next step and become a consistent winner? And um so today’s a great opportunity for him to do that. He’s no stranger to big fields. I mean, every race we see Rudy in, it’s a stacked field. So, I don’t think he will be in awe of his competition, but I’m sure he’s very keen to take that next step in his development as an athlete. Yeah, another one of the athletes that’s going to have to mind his P’s and Q’s during this swim to not try to give up too much time is Cameron Worf. He’s another one of our athletes today looking to secure his qualifying slot to the Iron Man World Championship in Nice. And then Daniel Bakagard. It’s a name that we sort of lost touch with a little bit. He had some setbacks um in his career, but this year has gotten off to a really strong start. He’s got a new coach uh and he could be another surprise performer here today.
Yeah. No, absolutely. I think there’s a lot of great swimmers here in this field and Daniel’s one of those and I think knowing who else is in the field, a lot of these good swimmers will be looking to push the pace early, but I think Daniel’s a guy who has great pedigree. I mean, I remember him winning Iron Man Western Australia two years ago when he did a 734. Had a couple of lean seasons. He had a bad injury with his back and new coach as you mentioned. So, I’m sure he’s keen to get his season up and running. um following on from a great fourth place finish at the Iron Man North American Championships. I’m sure he’s definitely got his heart set on going a little bit better here today and maybe stepping onto that podium. And let’s take a look at some of our notables with their color-coded swim caps. Helps us keep an eye on them uh as they get into the Rokus swim course. Of course, we’ve got Christian Blumenfelt wearing green. Patrick Langanger wearing light blue. Magnus Dv will be in pearly pink. Rudy von Berg in royal blue. Uh Gustaf Eden in pearly pink. Yona Shamberg in orange. We’ve got Kieran Linda’s in light blue. Camworth in neon red. Daniel Bakard, one of the good swimmers in this field. He’ll be wearing an orange cap, Casper Storis in green, and then we’ve got Christian Hugenhog and Benjamin Canoot in violet. And you had said uh Craig there, we’ve got uh we’ve got Cam Warf there. Uh quick, uh quick look as we go back to an overhead shot. The size of the pack the lead pack in this swim could be significant and change the whole dynamic of the race. Talk to me quickly right before we get underway. Um, how does that impact the dynamic of this race? Yeah, well, with so many big favorites and big names, the dynamics in this race are going to be crucial. And they say you can’t win it in the swim, but you can certainly lose it there. Patrick Lunga did last year. And knowing some of the the quality swimmers, Willie Hirs, Johannes Vogel, Yona Shamberg, I’m sure they’re going to want to get on the front foot early and create some separation. And we need to see who of the big favorites can latch on to that front group.
Yeah, definitely. Uh we saw uh we saw Patrick Langa able to cling on to the back of the swim group at the Iron Man World Championship a year ago. Proved to be uh sort of a critical thing for him. Uh will he be able to do it again today and sees this Iron Man European Championship title that has thus far eluded him as we take a look uh down the lineup of our professional men. We are less than a minute away from the start. Yeah, that’s a great a great last camera shot panning across the pro men. I’m sure a lot of the nerves are settling now as an athlete that this is this is what you’ve trained for. This is what the men have been waiting for and they’re about to get launched here. And a beach start here. They’ll take a couple of high knee steps. Dolphin dive their way into the Langader Vault Sea. I can hear over the local speaker, we’re 30 seconds away from the start. So Craig, it’s getting awful real.
Yeah. No, it’s good. And and as you mentioned, it’s a beach start with an Aussie exit. So I think that always factors into the dynamic here, too. It’s not your traditional deep water start. Um, you know, that’s a specific skill having to get out of the water and get back in and watching to see some of these athletes get away quick with their porposing or dolphining as we call it down under in Australia. And a lot of the good swimmers like Yona Shamberg I’m sure want to get out really quick here. And here we are underway at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. And as we see a couple of dolphin dives and they’re off again. We’re looking for some of our key swimmers here. Wilheim Hirs, um Johans Vogle, Ben Canute should be up there. Uh Daniel Beckagard, Rudy Van Berg, we expect to be in there. Patrick Langa, let’s look out for him. Can he hang on to that front pack? Magnus Ditliff, how much time will he lose? Will Christian Hogenhog be able to stay in touch? Yeah, these are all the story lines we need to look out for in the swim here. There’s certain athletes like a Magnus Ditliff, he has enough power on the bike that he can bridge a gap. So it doesn’t m I’m sure he’d prefer of course to be in the front group as we’re getting a nice shot of the athletes now about 100 meters into this swim. Things are already starting to thin out. We see two distinct groups forming but some athletes I think like Patrick his race will be determined by where he comes out of this swim. And we see a couple of yellow caps there. That is uh Wilheim Hirs. No surprises there. and Paul Schuster. Uh, two familiar swim leaders uh, taking to the front of this race. Um, I saw the green cap of Christian Blumenfeld there also off to a good start. And as you mentioned, Craig, uh, the Australian exit. I think we’re going to see our swim leaders with their heads on a swivel uh, when we get to that stage to see strategically how big is this group, who’s here, and who have we dropped. A lot of these guys are thinking about Patrick Langa and how much distance they can get on him both in the swim and the bike because he is revered for his run speed. Yeah, particularly if if the temperatures get up here. We know Patrick doesn’t mind running fast when it gets hot. I think he was the big mission from Iron Man Texas earlier this year and that certainly changed the dynamics of that race. You mentioned Willham Hirs already leading. I think he led the swim out here last year. So I always love a swim with an Aussie exit. I think it gives the better swimmers an opportunity, as you mentioned, to take stock of where everyone is and and really push the pace at the start of that second loop. That’s that’s where you tend to see some separation when you get a swim course that’s set up like this.
And as we talk about this ROA swim course, we would be remiss if we did not mention the course best owned by Yan Severson at 4217. Uh that’s a smoking fast swim. We’ll see how the men go at it today. But we are well underway here at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship with our men uh just now 2 and 1/2 minutes into racing as we take a look back at the swim start just three minutes ago. Definitely some athletes much more aggressive at that start. Certainly when you’re dealing with uh with this size of a field, some of those swimmers who are less confident, I would say might take a a small pause to try to get on some of those feet. But as our race leaders are here well and truly underway, I do see a yellow cap there. uh likely uh Wilheim Hirs there at the lead or sorry in second place right now and trying to get eyes on our early swim leader. A little bit of separation there at the start. Uh I’d like to see uh who I believe is Wilheim Hirs there in second place get up on his feet a little bit more would be much more beneficial. There’s a red cap there. I think that might be Andreas Sulversburg out in front. He’s a noted noted swimmer. Um comes from a shortc course background. Love to see athletes take it out hard like this. You know I think you can tell a lot about an athletes intention how they start the race and you know often with with athletes like Patrick we you mentioned he came out I think it was fourth or fifth place in Kona last year. This is a different swim. It’s a lake swim, not a saltwater swim. But, um, you know, with the beach start in that Aussie exit, I I think if you’re a little inconsistent with your swim performances, the start is crucial. Getting yourself in a great position, getting on a good set of feet and not missing the break or um missing where some of, you know, often in these swims, people drop the feet in the gaps can really open early in the swim and it could put you on the back foot for the rest of the swim.
You know what I’m seeing here, Craig? And and it it’s always fun, I think, for us here in the booth to talk about how we think the race is going to play out. And then, of course, it never plays out according to plan. So much talk before the race about how it was going to be such a big lead group in the swim. I’m surprised that less than 5 minutes in, our leaders are already pretty, excuse me, strung out. Yeah. What’s interesting isn’t from the overhead shot, we can see it’s not really a big group. It’s almost single file and that’s always a pretty good indication that the pace is on early. So if that is Andreas Solsber in the front, he’s he’s laying down the watts as they say early and and I don’t I don’t mind that strategy. I think if you’re a good swimmer, you’ve got to race to your strengths and put everyone else on the back foot. I’m sure athletes like Magnus Ditliff with all his experience, he he knows he’s not going to be at the front of the race at this point and he’s just trying to lay down his best swim and you know there’s so much firepower to come on this bike course that many of these athletes it doesn’t really matter if they lose a couple of minutes in this swim but for others it will make a huge difference to their race. A and again we see our professional men here getting a little bit strung out single file in the very early stages of this MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt men’s European Championship. This is a star-studded field and we’ve got quite a day ahead of us in racing. We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by ROA. Find faster with ROA and by Hoka. Fly human fly. Well, that’s it. We are back and truly well underway as our men are in the water here on the first outbound section of this twoop ROA swim course. Our men are strung out single file. Craig, this is not at all what I expected. No, normally you see a you see one or two off the front and then a group, but this is definitely single file. The pace is on just trying to identify that lead swimmer. I thought it might have been Susburg, but it could be Johannes Vogel who we know is also a great swimmer. I did see the violet cap of Ben Canu up towards the front and I think it’s Will Hirs as well in that front group. So, there’s some swim pedigree in this group and they are single file on each other’s feet as we see them making the turn and they’ll head back now towards the beach for their Aussie exit. The pace is on here. The pace is on. I like this strategy from the swimmers in the field. How much, Craig, do these guys talk before the race? Like, would some of the swimmers get together and say, “Hey, this is how we want to we want to take this. This is our chance.” Do the cyclists get together and and sort of strategize about working together, so to speak?
Yeah, it happens. I mean, I think the athletes know each other’s strengths and weaknesses very very well. So, sometimes it doesn’t even need to be spoken about. I mean, I I’m sure for instance, Magnus Ditliff and Christian Hugenhog, they just know that at some point they’re probably going to be together on the bike and they won’t need to exchange too many pre-race plans. It’ll just be go hard and bridge the gap. um and then set about you know eating into the lead. So I think it’s the same with the swimmers, but some of them might have had a chat. There’s probably only two or three swimmers in the field who realistically could lead. U there’s a lot who could be in the front group and maybe there was a couple of words spoken yesterday or even this morning about keeping the pace high and loving loving this strategy by the swimmers. I I think it’s a good strategy. It puts everyone on the back foot. um you know once the gun goes off they just launch into top speed and um it’s a race right from the get-go. No one’s playing tactics here particularly these guys at the front of this group. So you know we did expect to see some separation maybe not so early on in the swim. Uh and one of the leader one of our notables who is likely not at the front of this swim uh is Cameron Worf. Uh we had a chance to talk about Cameron uh to talk to Cameron uh about how critical this swim would be for a nonswmer in this race.
How’s this weekend going to play out for you? How do you see it?
The swim’s always crucial, especially now, as you said, there’s so many strong guys, Christian Magnus, they’re all great swimmers, so you know, they they swim together at the front of the race and the momentum of the race can be at the front. I guess I was fortunate in Texas to be able to get myself back into the race because there well I mean I guess Robert Kim was there and Christian and a bunch of those guys that you just mentioned but I was able to get myself back into the race but that’s not a given anymore. So I really need to swim well and either be with them or at least very close to give myself the best chance to be a part of it. And uh
yeah and obviously I also proved in Kona that I can also be patient and if need be you know, be confident in the speed that I ride at that isn’t that easy for a lot of people. And, uh, if I have to, I’ll just run them down like I was doing there. So, uh, yeah, I think I’ve got a lot of different options, which, um, is probably quite an advantage now. Confident words from Cameron Worf. I would expect nothing less. Cam Worf, the runner. I love it. I mean, he did have a he did have a great racing coner. He came off the bike probably a lot further back than he expected and that everyone watching expected, but he had a great run and got himself in the seventh spot there. So, he’s one of the few athletes who has the bike strength. It doesn’t really matter where he comes out. He’ll still be able to get about his business and lay down a good race. Many other athletes that their race outcome is determined by who they’re on the bike with or what group they’re in. So, I love Cam’s maturity. He’s matured as a racer and he’s experienced and he knows he can play a few different cards, but ideally he would like to be closer to the front. It’s so interesting watching this race as we see our leader again. Just beautiful open water swim stroke, nice high elbows. Typically, you see the separation come in the back half of the swim, not in the front half. So, I really feel there’s this this swim is going to blow open even more on the second lap here.
Yeah, absolutely. And this is not necessarily playing to the it’s certainly a different dynamic than we saw a year ago where a lot of the real contenders could kind of be in a big group on the bike, sit in, not do so much work, bank their run strength. Uh and right now some of the swimmers are are really sticking it to uh the field here and and shaking up the dynamic of this race literally from the gun. Yeah, I think in, you know, in that front group there, I did see Ben Canoot and I think Andreas Susberger is in there somewhere, too. And it’s interesting to note that both those gentlemen came out of the water in the top 10 at the Rio Olympics nearly a decade ago. So, they’ve got that swim pedigree. They’ve got that ability to to push the pace. And yeah, it’s interesting. You know, we did debate before the gun went off how big this front group would be as we see the age groupers lining up here about to hit the water for their day. um you know when when the really elite swimmers go off the front it probably makes it more of an even race behind because some of the pre-race contenders haven’t got themselves into that front group like a Christian Blumenfelt or or a Rudy von Berg. So you know often times you can see some of the big favorites latch onto this front group and they get a free ride in the swimmer maybe get a get an extra two minutes over and above otherwise what they would have. So um I’m liking the way this race is playing out. But I think we’re going to see um you know some individuals and a lot of smaller groups at the start of this bike ride.
Now we talked about um last year how uh Patrick Langa sort of lost the race in the swim. He had a nearly 4minute deficit uh coming out of the water. It seems to me with the swim pace being what it is and there not being quite the same size group that might spell trouble for Patrick again from the get-go. Yeah. We’ll have to see at this Aussie exit at halfway where Patrick’s position in this field. But generally speaking, when you’ve got a big field and a quality field, there’s always someone to to fill the gaps and to grab the feet when when those gaps start opening up. Um when when the field thins out like it has here, everybody’s got to do their own work. So I agree, Dee, it makes it a fairer race. The onus is on each individual athlete to do a lot of their own work here. And I think that makes for a very interesting race dynamic. And of course, we just saw some of our 3,000 registered age group athletes get underway here in Frankfurt. Triathlon here in Germany. So very popular. I raced one time here in Frankfurt and was struck by the level of popularity. I mean these German athletes in particular are like rock stars here in the country. They are are like major league sports might be in the US. Um like I I don’t know what the equivalent would be in Australia. No, I agree. I mean I think it’s one of the countries I mean I read that they one of the few countries who do a live coverage of many of our bigger races they the the iron man world champions in the Olympians all the triathletes the top the top name like our Yan Fredinos and Sebastian Kelays Patrick Lungers they’re household names in Germany. Um, it’s a it’s a country that really love their triathlon and and they show up in force to support the athletes and we’re going to get that today. We’re going to get big crowds, great atmosphere, and I think that’s why a lot of the athletes love to travel here to race.
Yeah, they get lots of support uh out on the course, no doubt. Particularly on that run course as we take a look at our swim leaders making their way back to the beach for that legendary Aussie exit. Um, racing, did you like the Aussie exit? Did you despise the Aussie exit? Um, how how did it play out for you?
Oh, I liked it. I mean, that’s what we grew up with down here, racing. Most of the races were beach starts. And I think, you know, any athlete will tell you, you just get used to doing it if you do it so often. So, we it was just our bread and butter. Uh, I think it’s something that we we don’t see as often in races these days. And I know a lot of these athletes would have included some of this into their specific preparation, doing some in-n-out sessions. And you know, just the physiological requirements of getting the blood from from your your arms and shoulders down to your legs again, that little spike in heart rate.
Yep.
It’s a very uncomfortable feeling when you hit the water for the second loop.
Yeah, it absolutely is. And it’s something that as a pool trained swimmer I did not especially uh enjoy, but uh can be a strategic advantage uh if you take advantage and practice it uh at home as we see our athletes. I’m eyeballing this Craig and I’m saying about 15 16 guys but really strung out uh single file here through the first lap of this Roa swim course. Yeah, these athletes on the back of this front group, they have to be very vigilant here. It’s very easy to get dropped coming up the beach. And of course, the first athlete hits the beach and he’ll be running while the the athletes on the tail end of this group are still swimming. So, you know, if you’re on the back of this group, you’d be making sure that you just get in and out around this Aussie exit and back in the water really quickly as we see our first athlete hit the beach. And every single one of these athletes, their head, the first thing they do, that head turns around and they look around. But I think looking at some of those color-coded caps to see who’s with them. But to your point, those athletes who are get up and on their feet seem to be getting a gap uh on some of the chasing athletes. As we look, it is Shawnberg in the lead with Vogle, Ben Canoot at third feed. Third feet and uh Casper Steppnak in fourth position. And it looks like that little group of four has gotten away just by a second or two. Yeah, see Kieran Linda’s up there as well having a great swim. Interesting. I didn’t I wasn’t able to pick Yonas Shamberg’s cap color, but he is a noted swimmer as is Johannes Vogle. So, you know, Johannes Vogel doing his first Iron Man. This is his debut Iron Man, but he’s comes off his first pro win earlier this year. So, he’s positioned himself nicely as we see some of the other pro men coming up around here. We’ve got that looks like Castor Sters or potentially Christian Blumenfeld going in.
Yeah, it looked like Christian Blumenfeld was at the very tail end. uh actually is sort of in the in the second cap of the chase group uh chasing Rudy von Berg that lead group was nine athletes strong that included it um Casper Stonis as you said Daniel Beckagard uh Christian Hogenhog in that group as well and then the second chase group including Rudy Vonberg Christian Blumenfeld uh Dewatcher uh and Patrick Langa in that group as well. So so far a very good swim for Patrick Langa. Yeah, he’s with a he’s with a good little group there. Obviously not too far behind Christian. So, I think he’ll be happy. But again, I feel it’s this second loop where we’ll see a bit more separation, even more than the first loop. The stronger swimmers tend to perform better on the second loop with an Aussie exit. So, let’s see if it plays out that way.
Well, in particular, too, uh the second loop’s uh slightly longer than the first uh in this swim by about 800 meters. Uh Magnus Ditliv sitting at one minute back through the first 1.5k of that swim. So, uh, we can see from our overhead shots here, uh, really kind of two distinct groups, um, as some of our chasers continue to make their way out of the Aussie exit. Good to see Casper Stepppniaak up there in the top five around. It was interesting watching some of the techniques, some of the athletes really attack that second entry into the second loop, get their hips out of the water, really stride in, and that that can save you five or 10 meters. Um, of course you’re going from a fast discipline running to a slower discipline swimming. So any speed you can carry in the water. It doesn’t seem like it would be much, but it’s very easy to lose two or three body lengths going through those Australian exits.
And absolutely one of the advantages these athletes would have had here with this being a lake swim, uh this being a a sand and gravel quarry, uh you’re not dealing with tides. Oftentimes you go to a swim venue the day before and and uh tides will be different than on race day, but the athletes will have practiced uh those entries and exits knowing exactly how many dolphin dives to take. We are into the second loop of this ROA swim course at the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Meet Kicker Run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run free mode. A gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally, just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speed and grade for you. Kicker Run by Wahoo. It’s time to run free. [Music] Here’s [Music] Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential, her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trid Dot, Elizabeth gets faster faster. And what does she have to do?
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Trot. We do the technology. You do the training. We are back with the action here at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Our pro men through the first loop of this ROA swim course into the second lap. We had uh Giannis Shamberg as our men’s leader through the first loop of the swim. He was with uh Vogle and American Ben Canoe just a half a step ahead of Casper Stepheniaak Kieran Linders Andrea Sol Sisber uh Daniel Bakagard Casper Storis and Christian Hogenhow in our lead group. Yeah, it’s a quality little group. Interesting to see Christian Hugenhog in that group. I mean, he’s noted for his cycling. I think he’d be really happy with that first sloop of the swim. And, you know, I always think it’s a huge advantage for the noted Uber bikers, as we call them, to launch their attack early and from the front if they can. It’s if it takes them two or three hours to catch up and bridge that gap on the bike, uh, I always find it’s less impactful. Someone like Christian, if he can get on this bike early and launch his attack early, again, it’ll just throw a spanner rod in the works of this race, I think. And it’ll play to the hands of other athletes like Magnus Ditliff as well.
Yeah, absolutely. And some of this some of the athletes around him could take advantage of his cycling prowess as well. Uh looking at Jonas Shamberg again, our leader through the first lap. Uh we had a chance to catch up with Shawnberg uh pre-race and here’s what he said about uh this swim and the day ahead.
Well, you had a great first Iron Man in Iron Man South Africa. What did you experience from that? And what did you learn that you’re going to bring into your second man here in Frankfurt? I learned that I’m good in the heat. I actually knew it before, but uh I love the heat. The hotter the better. And I hope it’s going to be like 30 plus degrees here, especially on the run, and it makes them suffer.
Fellow compatriate, um Patrick Langanger, he also likes the heat. He also does well in the heat. How do you how would you rate yourself against Patrick on a on a course like this? Uh last time I raced him was probably like 10 years ago. Uh but I think it’s hard to to race against him because or my strategy is completely opposite. I will try to be the front from the start to the finish and uh he will eat up the the uh the race from the back, but I think I would try to make it fast as possible to make him suffer. Well, there you go. Jonas Schamberg uh with that outstanding performance earlier this year uh third at Iron Man South Africa. Uh believe it or not, he was a gymnast when he was a younger athlete transitioning to triathlon. I think he uh made a pretty good call there. Yeah. Well, if he was a gymnast, we know he’s got great core strength and that probably helps him in some of these disciplines. But I I love his mindset and his mentality. He knows his strengths as an athlete. He knows that he’s a great swimmer and we’ve seen that throughout his WTCS shortc course career. He’s typically at the front of the races in in front groups and you need to be a good swimmer to do that. So, he’s racing to his strengths and he understands that if he sees Patrick, it probably will be later in the race. I just like how he’s focusing in on his own race. Um, it’s a great little Frank group. Daniel Bakagar’s in that group. Casper Steepnak’s in the group. Kieran Linders, I think he will have be really happy with his start to the race so far. he wanted to, you know, he had designs on getting in that Frank group and we know he’s one of the athletes who’s yet to get that qualification spot for for Nice Worlds later this year. So, um, and then it was it was about 45 seconds back to a a second group. So, two distinct groups have formed in this swim and still what’s noticeable to me, Dee, is they’re swimming in single file. It’s not bunching up at all behind the lead, the Arrowhead. So, that to me says that the pace is still quite solid here in both these groups. and causing these athletes to do quite a bit more work. That arrowhead formation we know creates a little bit of efficiency for the drafting swimmers. So single file still an advantage to be sitting on the feet but a greater advantage if the group is larger as opposed to the single file. Yeah. No, absolutely. So interesting to see Patrick Langer. I think he’ll be happy with where he’s positioned. He had some of the other big pre-race favorites around him, most noticeably Christian Blumenfeld. And I think one guy to that we really need to keep an eye on today is is Casper Storis. He’s he’s probably what you would say the unheralded of the three Norwegians, but
the other as we call him.
Yeah. Well, he’s like the like the stepbrother, I guess. We we don’t give him too much love, but he’s he’s a well-rounded athlete. He has won a WTCS race in Bermuda eight years ago. He’s represented um Norway at the Olympics, as we mentioned, and finished 11th there. I mean, just recently he went toe-to-toe with Christian at Axon Province and he ran a 107. So, we know he’s in form and I mean to lay down a run split like that, we know he’s got pedigree. He actually led this race four years ago um when he was solely focused on shortc course racing. Lost his nutrition on the bike and still figured up towards the front of the race halfway through the marathon until that sort of nutrition depletion came back to haunt him. Uh but I think he’s got a lot more experience now. He finished fifth earlier this year in Texas. So he’s he’s certainly a guy I think we need to watch. I think he’ll be towards the front of the race today.
Yeah, certainly building momentum towards be towards becoming uh one of the better known Norwegians as opposed to uh sort of the the third man, the third wheel uh so to speak. So lots of potential in the future for him. Yeah. No, absolutely. He’s one of the up and cominging shortc course speedsters and it’s that’s a natural transition we see that that is the transition that you see. I mean most athletes have a short course career and and then they step into the longer racing and it’s just a matter of fine-tuning I guess your fat oxidation and and your pacing and your nutrition. But you you bring that threshold and that speed and all those weapons with you into this racing. So excited to see Yona Shamberg today as well as Casper Storz. Taking a look too at uh Kieran Linders who had that breakout performance here a year ago coming in second. How important is it for the athletes to come back to a course they’ve done well at at the past or to take an athlete like a Patrick Langa who for whom a hugely accomplished one of the greatest athletes um in our sport um sort of this is the missing piece of his puzzle the piece that he hasn’t gotten the one that’s gotten away. It almost seems like you want one or the other. You want unfinished business because you want that hunger, that anger, that motivation, or you want to come back to a course where you’ve got really good vibes. You remember how well it went a year ago and that fills you with confidence. Yeah, I think it’s a mixture of both of those depending on your personality. What was interesting there, Dee, I think it was Sean Bird, he just rolled over and yeah,
did about 15 or 20 meters of backstroke and said, “Hey boys, who else wants to do some heavy lifting up front here?” So, um, it’s nice to see someone else take up the take up the pacing here, but no, I think it’s a it’s a great question that you raised, but I think it’s again, it’s a very individual thing. As an athlete, I always felt, you know, when you return to a place that you’ve raced at before, you know the course well, you know the conditions, and hopefully if you’ve had a good race there, yeah, you have it lessens the anxiety. I think there’s always good feelings. I’m sure Kieran will be riding the wave of positivity from a great performance. We heard him talk about how this race changed the trajectory of his career last year. So, I’m sure that comes with a lot of positive emotions. And, you know, Patrick, I think, is an athlete who does thrive a little bit on maybe proving people wrong. And we certainly saw him cross the finish line in Kona last year and looked like he had was carrying a lot of anger with him and get that up you stuff you everybody. Um, so you know, I think he’ll be wanting to set the record straight for his resume. He he’s he’s never won this race. I don’t think he’s even podium on, you know, on this course. So to have the resume that he has without that, I’m sure he feels that’s a jewel in the crown that’s missing. So he’ll be highly motivated as well. But that comes with pressure as well. I think when you are one of the favorites, it comes with a lot of pressure. Pressure indeed. But I think we can talk about, you know, his performance here last year and in previous years um coming up a little bit short, uh being the the local the local guy and and wanting to do well in front of the hometown crowd. Um and a lot of people have talked about this race as sort of the uh given the strength of the field is sort of the men’s Iron Man World Championship version 1.0 O where we’re getting a test of uh mid-season fitness uh for a lot of the guys that we expect to contend in in Nice. And when we look back to a year ago and how great and surprising Christian Blumenfeld’s performance was and how sort of disappointing and oh poor Patrick again but then fast forward to the Iron Man World Championship a year ago and the tables were turned. We had of course that outstanding performance from Patrick Langa uh where Christian Blumman felt sort of struggled and I think if you ask both of those guys which way you’d rather be. I think you’d rather be Patrick. Yeah, no doubt. Although Christian doesn’t strike me as the kind of athlete who lacks confidence even after a bad performance because he has so few of them. But just looking at the conditions here Des look beautiful. There’s not a lot of texture on the top of the water. It looked like it was Will Hirsh leading the swim there. And as we can see the shots we’re seeing, that sun is very low. It’s probably hard to sight. It looked like Hersh had to sight a little bit more than he would have liked and keeping the head above water. We also saw Johannes Vogel in there. So, um, but this group’s ticking along nicely. They’re not getting in each other’s way. Single file, I think the pace is still quick and I think they’ll be motivated to at least try and squeeze this lead out to to two minutes.
Yeah, absolutely. And of course that group of that group that lead group was uh nine strong at the Aussie exit at 1 and a half kilometers. They are getting a little bit strung out. So could potentially lose one or two by the time uh they make it to the exit of uh the Roka swim course. Can still see Ben Canoot tucked in there in in third spot. Looks super comfortable. So he’s he’s doing what we know he likes to do. He’s a great swimmer. He’s a front pack swimmer. Has been his whole career. So he’s having a good swim there. And it’s just interesting the dynamic. I mean, these guys will all be motivated to push the pace. Although, we did see Shawnberg roll off and do some backstrokes, so he was probably sick of doing all the pacemaking, but that second group, who’s going to get on the front there? Who’s going to do the pacemaking? It’s it’s all the big favorites. So, um, you know, really, they should share that pacemaking and the heavy lifting on the front of that group, but that’s not always how it works out. And that’s why we tend to see, you know, the chase groups lose some time and lose it quickly. Yeah, they tend to not uh be as organized or as motivated and I think a lot of people uh trying to strategize and and not wanting to burn the matches and and wait for somebody else to to sort of take charge and and and get it done. It looks to me like that group again that was just a quick eyeball shot there uh from overhead, but did look to be about the same size group. So, it doesn’t look like they’ve lost um any of their strength there from that group uh at the halfway point or the just slightly less than halfway point. Uh still about nine strong. So, no one spit off the back there. Yeah. And we as we flash back to the leaders here and Casper Steppnak just tucked in nicely in second spot. Very nice relaxed turnover. And even though he is on the feet here, we can still see him siding every three or four strokes, which is always a good idea. Never never put your your race in the hands of the person in front. Um, navigation can be hard. As you know, DE, you led your fair share of swims. And when the sun’s this slow, it is hard to sight. Um, so and you want to take the tightest line, the short swim the shortest distance that you can. So, you know, the the the really great open water swimmers, not only are they physically great swimmers, but tactically and technically in the water, they sight well, they navigate well, and they swim in the shortest distance. Well, and that sun though, I mean, you talk about it. I I remember years ago at this race when it was a women’s race, um that sun playing a big factor. A lot of the women swam pretty significantly off course because of that sun glare. We’ve seen even great swimmers. I remember at Boulder 70.3 years ago, our two lead men got tangled up in the sun uh the sun glare and uh lost considerable time um as well. But not a problem for our men today. I did see Ben Canoot who looked like he was moving his way into third position. looks like he’s sitting just in fourth, but um currently still feeling really really good and and pushing the pace trying to get uh to the front potentially as they make their way uh to the Ruby transition zone. But uh Ben Canute, one of our athletes looking for a qualifying slot for the Iron Man World Championship. Uh he uh broke ties with his former coach, made a lot of changes, moved uh his family uh in the US from Arizona up to Colorado. Uh started working with a new coach there. um just a different stimulus. Um and that’s good for an athlete from time to time to change things up, particularly if you’ve had a long-term relationship with a coach. Yeah, we we we tend to see that happen quite regularly. And it’s and often the relationships don’t end badly. It’s just a change of scenery that an athlete needs, a new voice, a new stimulus as you mentioned. And um you know, Ben’s an athlete with a lot of history in this sport. Of course, he’s a twotime podium finisher at the Iron Man 70.3 world. So, we know he’s one of the best in the world when he gets it right. And, you know, I feel athletes like Ben and Daniel Bakagar and Kieran Linda are getting a nice little ride in this group. They’re not having to do the pacemaking, but they’re just getting a nice little towe along, saving a little bit of energy and and getting a little bit of a a gap back to some of the other pre-race favorites. Yeah. And that’s a great place to be, right? I mean, particularly any one of those guys, I think, is likely strong enough that they could be at the front of that. So, a good choice. Um, again, we saw Ben Canute sort of pecking his way forward in that group. Uh, but to stay off the lead, save those matches for later in the day. Yeah. And and that’s that’s what we talk about the race dynamic and the tactics within a race. Like, you have your A1 scenario. You want to have as fast a swim as possible, spending as little energy as possible, which means having a fast start and getting in a group where someone else in the group is motivated to push the pace like a a Willam Hirs or a Yonas Shamberg. So, it’s playing out really nicely at the moment for for Daniel and Ben and Kieran and some of the other athletes who we don’t just expect to figure in the swim, but we expect to figure in the top five or top 10, you know, by the time we finish this race today. And as you look, we we mentioned it quickly, Christian Hogenhog, uh, a part of this group at at the tail end of it, uh, at least through halfway. Looking at this group, he’s sort of the powerhouse on the bike. So for him, could he, should he, will he bike away from this group?
And could we see a solo break off the front? For me, that’s the storyline of this swim so far is that Christian Hogen Hog’s got himself into this front group. Uh, if I was in his shoes and uh, and I’m not. I’m sitting here comfortably behind a microphone and he’s got his heart rate up in the high 100s, probably close to 200. I think he would revel this opportunity to attack early on the bike. And he he’s has so much experience. He’s not going to it’s not going to be a crazy attack, but he needs to again race to his strengths. He biked a 357 on this course last year. Yeah. You
know, he was. And I know it was a historically fast year last year. I did a little bit of research before the race and I think the top 10, seven or eight of the top 10 last year actually biked had eight of the top 10 all-time biking performances on this course. Only the legend Sebastian Kelay had a comparable time from years past. So, we know that meant it was a historically fast year. the conditions must have been, you know, favorable. But Hugen Hog still did outbike the rest of the front group by six minutes. So, you know, if I’m in his if I’m in his shoes here, I’m thinking this is, you know, this is my A1 scenario. This is, you know, if I have visualized this race, this is what I would hope to get myself into this front group and to really, you know, play my ace early on the bike. Yeah. And get away. I mean, I think we we mentioned it, you know, very quickly earlier, but a lot of these athletes thinking about Patrick Langa, um, who runs particularly well and particularly well in the heat, has unfinished business on this course. If Hogan can get away early, um, potentially get far enough away uh, to make Patrick really work for it uh, once we get to that run, obviously hours from now. But these are the things that aren’t necessarily at the forefront of these athletes mind but in the back of their minds playing through these scenarios. And I think Christian Hogen has to be thinking this is pretty ideal for me so far.
Yeah. No, absolutely. I would be reading myself for the best T1 of my life if I was Christian and I would be taking it up the road because I think you know you mentioned it’s probably not in the forefront of all these athletes minds. Well, it better get there quickly because we’re coming towards the end of the swim. And
you know, if you if you are in that second group and you get out of the water and you hear it’s 2 minutes to to Christian Hugenhog up the road, then I think that sets the table nicely for someone like Magnus Ditlift and to bridge across and really leads to a very aggressive start to this bike ride as opposed to what we typically see is a lot of the moves coming after 100 kilometers. It, you know, we could flip the script here with with Christian up the road. Yeah, let’s put some of these some of these uh favorites to bed early. Let’s let’s use our strengths and the swim and the bike to to distance ourselves from some of the the faster runners. Um we could see, you know, Blumenfeld uh try to bridge that gap as well. Uh Rudy von Berg, another athlete who’s very strong on the bike, uh will want to do some work uh to to distance themselves from some of the some of the faster runners. Indeed. And you talked about uh once they get to transition, leveraging that transition, uh every second matters of course here in the Iron Man Pro Series, that transition. It’s a pretty long run about 200 m up the beach into transition. So while it doesn’t look like much, uh it is a pretty challenging uh transition zone and an area where athletes can again take advantage. Um all it takes is a few seconds and then you’re, you know, off the front and gone. Yeah. No, absolutely. And I think some of those athletes you mentioned I think if it’s splined early particularly onto the bike cuz that suits Christian Blumenfeld as well. He’s an aggressive racer. We saw him leading the race in Oceanside before he flattered. So he’s not scared of getting his nose in the wind and and Rudy vonberg as well. Rudy loves a hard bike ride. So I think this early dynamic and it is early in the race but I think this early dynamic may play to Rudy’s strengths as well. And as we take a look here at a preview of our run up from the exit of the ROA swim course into the Ruby transition zone, our cameraman running very very quickly um into the run. Again, we saw a little bit of an uphill slope here and then athletes making their way all the way to the end of transition. Uh they’ll go into those transition tents uh drop off their swimkins skins, grab their helmets. Helmets must be clipped. Um, again, knowing particular race rules must be clipped before they exit the the tent. I believe some athletes in the past have actually gotten dinged for not knowing local rules. But, uh, most often times it’s your helmet has to be chin clipped before you put your hands on your bike. But, uh, here in Frankfurt in past years, some athletes have gotten uh, ding for not having it clipped out of the transition tent. So, always good to review those um athlete books and attend athlete briefings and learn local triathlon rules because every every venue while they’re similar uh local triathlon rules tend to be slightly different. So, always good to know that. But you can see uh we’re still running through transition here before we make our way to the bike racks. Yeah, I mean I think the time you spend going through T1 is it’s not race ending, but again you don’t want to be stationary while others are moving. So hurry slowly is the mantrum most athletes use. You know, you want to get through as quickly as possible. And you’ll see a lot of the top pros, they will not waste any time through here as we flash back to the swim. And again, still in single file D, which which I like. I think it means the pace has been, you know, probably slightly harder in the swim than a lot of anticipated. We haven’t seen that bunched up sort of group form in behind the narrow head. And it’s great. It’s great to see some of the pre-race favorites like Christian Hugenhog, like Daniel Bakagar, like Kieran Linders get themselves into this front group. I think it gives them a few options as they’re about to, you know, hit the hit the beach and run up into T1.
Yeah, we’ve got just about I’m going to eyeball it and say that’s about 100 meters to go. Those sight buoys typically tend to be about 100 meters apart. So, uh, we’ll call that less than maybe a minute now until they, uh, reach the shore and make their way into the Ruby transition zone. Again, course best here, 427. That is long gone from Yan Severson. So, uh, his course best will stay safe for yet another year. We’re at 46 minutes and change on our race clock with less than a minute to go in this Aroka swim course. That’s an unbelievable swim by Yan Citizen. 40 42 minutes. That’s just And we know he was the former course record holder at the Iron Man World Championships in Coner as well. And of course the founder of Sailfish, wet suits and swims. And um yeah, to have a 42minute swim um very impressive, but it’s this is an impressive swim by these men. 46 minutes. I mean, I think the conditions are good. Obviously, it’s a non-wets suit swim, which slows things down a little bit. Uh but the better swimmers prefer non-wets suit swim. I think it it’s an advantage to them. They get to, you know, utilize that strength and gain a bit of a lead over the lesser swimmers in the field.
Yeah. For those who don’t know, wearing that wet suit, uh, that neoprene provides a little bit of buoyancy, which helps the body position, particularly uh, for the less strong swimmers who don’t have that sort of natural body position in the water, perhaps not the drive of the kick behind them. Um, so yeah, the the stronger swimmers prefer the non-wets suit swims because they naturally have that better body position. So, uh, a little bit strung out here. We’ve got one, two, four, five guys in the lead and then another second or two, uh, to the last four in that group. So, just just a hair, but those those small gaps can grow incrementally uh, through transition. They can, but I think on the back of that group, Christian Hugenhog, I think he’ll be more than happy with this swim. In fact, I think you’ll be over the moon with it as I think it’s Andreas Sber leading out here. I saw the Swiss flag on his sleeve. Yiannis Vogel in this group, Kieran Linders in this group, Casper Sters. So, it’s an elite front group. William Hirs in this group. And we’ll get a good split. I think they’ve swung about a 47 minute swim. So, fast start, not the 42minut swim course record, but still a fast start to this race.
And of course, we knew the gap between this lead group and the chase group was 45 seconds at a kilometer and a half. We’ll see uh what damage has been done by these fast swimmers uh by the time all is said and done at the conclusion of our ROA swim course as we take a look at our swim split from our swim leader Andrea Salivisburg. Uh 4742 uh presented by our friends at Wahoo Element Rival official swim split 4742 from Andreas Sisber. Yeah. Well, Andreas was definitely one of the athletes you identified in the prairie race as having great swim background. So, he was up there. Ben Canu, we just see flash across the screen. Yonas Shamog looks completely comfortable. He was our early leader, led the first lap and I think did his job, then rolled over and did some backstroke and let someone else take up the pace for this second loop. And this is a great little group. Now with all eyes on how much time they have gained on this second group, which also contains many of the pre-race favorites. Yep. I’ve been eyeballing that clock, but these guys, as you said, eyes forward into transition. They know they’ve got the likes um of uh Christian Hogenhog amongst them. There we see Ben Canoot uh with the stars and stripes on his race kit. Very strong swim from him. Not a surprise. Again, I think to your point, the surprise was Christian Hogenhag as we look at Rudy Von Berg uh leading that chase group out. He is a minute and a half down. Uh joined by Christian Blumenfeld, Patrick Langa, uh and Paul Schuster, the next bunch out of the water. Yeah, I think I think Patrick will be over the moon with that swim. Um you know, he’s got some of the other pre-race favorites around him as we see Ben Canute here putting his helmet on. He won’t waste time in transition. We saw Yoanas Vogle run in into the change 10 on Ben’s shoulder as we see Rudy von Berg leading this second group out. So they lost yeah about 47 seconds on this second loop. So they’ve they’ve held pace okay. I don’t think anyone in this group will be too disappointed with that. Although they will be surprised to hear that Christian Hugenhog is up the road. I’m sure that will be a surprise to a lot as we see Yianis Vogel make his way out now. Kieran Lindes Andreas Sversber. So these these gentlemen are not mucking around. and they will want to maximize every second of lead that they have out of this swim.
And back at swim exit, Craig, we’ve got Magnus Ditliv, another one of our notable uh super strong cyclists. He is at just over two minutes back. So, he’s at the very very tail end. Uh about 30 seconds down uh from Rudy von Berg who led that chase group out. So, another 30 seconds back is Magnus Ditliv, but they’re all together. So, there’s another 11 guys that are within 30 seconds uh exiting in that chase group. Yeah. So, it’s nothing has really been settled as we knew it wouldn’t in the swim. Although, again, I’m just interested to see the early kilometers into this bike what what Christian Hugenhog decides to do. You know, a lot of the pre-race talk was that Magnus Ditliff and Christian would come out together and that hasn’t been the case. There’s 2 minutes difference as we’re following Andreas Sversburg out now. He crosses the mount line, flying mount. Beautiful work there. um he’d be no stranger to very fast transitions coming from a short course background. We see Kieran Linda’s in there. We see Yoanas Vogel in there too. So the gentlemen are now on the early part of this bike ride and I’m just I for me the big story line here is Christian Hooenhog. What a great swim and I’m I’m really really interested to see what his tactics are in the early kilometers of this bike ride.
And also of note, this isn’t the size group we thought it might be coming out of the swim. How does that affect early dynamics on the bike? Particularly as the athletes are sort of sorting themselves out. Some of the stronger cyclists maybe making their way to the front. There’s less congestion, less potential for those um you know head down trying to make your way forward, mistaken penalties that can happen. Uh smaller groups than we might have expected. Yeah, I think it in this early stage and we know it’s like 12 or 13 km before they get into sort of the business district. Um, I think it makes it faster, a smaller group, especially on on narrower, windy roads, fast transition. Yeah, there’s no congestion and especially if if you know Christian goes to the front and the pace is on, I think this group will will be moving quickly early. There certainly won’t be playing tactics here. And some other uh notable athletes, Gustaf Eden uh at 1 minute 50 seconds back. He’s just a couple of seconds ahead there of uh Magnus Ditv. Robert Villaki uh another athlete looking for a qualifying slot to the Iron Man World Championship in September. Uh he’s at the tail end of that group at 206 back as we take a look there at Gustaf making his way through transition to the mount line. again, Gustaf Eden uh had a couple of years of struggle with injury uh back had a great performance uh in Oceanside on the podium there in Oceanside. A little bit disappointing at Iron Man, Texas. So, a lot of eyes on Gustaf to see what kind of race he can put together today. Uh a little foreshadowing if into whether or not he um could get his way back to being a contender at the Iron Man World Championship in September. Yeah, and let’s hope so. I mean, it’s not that long ago that he was considered the best or one of the best in the world at Iron Man 70.3 middle distance and also Iron Man distance. I mean, he broke the course record. He ran a 236 in Kona. It wasn’t that long ago. As we get a good look here at Daniel Backagard, Daniel Bakagard at the front of the race and had a great swim. Sorry, my screen went blank for a second there. I apologize. But Daniel with the the distinctive canyon bike and the Red Bull helmet. Um I think he’ll be very very happy with his positioning early on in this race. But yeah, just back to Gustaf. I mean I think 12 months of not a lot. Yeah. 12 months of of of injury, personal struggles for Gustaf. And I think when you take that much time out from high level training and high level racing, it takes at least 12 months to get back. And we’ve seen glimpses of the Gustaf Eden we know. Uh we did see him get on the podium at Oceanside and he just hasn’t got that high level quite back yet and and as we see Casper Steepnak on screen here. Um great swim by him of course top 10 finisher at the Iron Man North American Championships earlier this year. So, um, he’s a guy we’ll be looking for for a top 10 finish here as well. Another great swim by Casper. He’s always in the front group. So, yeah, just be great to see Gustaf feed and get back to the Gustaf we know and love that consistent sort of vivaceious personality. He was he was great for the sport and and he’s heading back in that direction. So, let’s hope he can take another step in that direction today with another solid performance.
Yeah, I think a lot of people, you know, cheering for him to make his way back there. certainly is surrounded uh by greatness in in his his training partners. Uh that Norwegian squad very very strong. So to be surrounded by that uh I’m sure when he has his moments of doubt um you know he’s got two great training mates there that sort of lift him up and and continue to drive him forward. As we check in with Ben Canoot now um also looking to get himself a qualifying slot to the Iron Man World Championship. So, a lot of, as we mentioned before, races within the race. Uh, 5,000 Pro Series points up for grabs, an $87,500 prize purse, uh, and of course the title of European champion. So, well and truly underway here as we have started uh our bike course here. Uh, the conclusion of the ROA swim course and now athletes making their way out onto the Zoot bike course. Yeah, we see the leaders here. We saw Ben Canoot tucked in nicely at the back of that group. He’ll be he’ll be more than happy with his positioning after the swim and he’s typically an aggressive race at DD. We we have seen Ben, you know, test the legs of the other athletes. We saw him do it in Eagleman not long ago. He was up the front and off the front of the race for a little while. So, I’m wondering if he’s going to play it a little more strategic today. He has got the strength to do that. As we again we flash back to Daniel Bakagar here looking nice and comfortable. Daniel of course changing coaches this year as you mentioned right at the top of the show working with Philip Seep who’s Laura Phillips’s husband and Philip’s one of the one of the best tri coaches in the world. Uh so I think that’s a good change for Daniel. He wasn’t that long ago was regarded as one of the best Iron Man races. I I watched the race Iron Man West Australia in 2023 where Daniel just went solo off the front and raced to a 7-hour 34 Iron Man finish. Just incredible performance. And I I feel that his race in Texas was starting to show again glimpses of that form from a couple of years ago. As we take a look quickly here, uh, staying with Daniel Bakagar, but our top transition times presented by Ruvie, that’s Nick Heldorn, um, Casper Steppnak, uh, and Shamberg with our fastest transition times at 256 and 258 each. Uh, so taking advantage of those quick, efficient transitions, top Ruby times, sorry, top transition times presented by Ruby, easy for me to say. Um but yeah, Daniel Beckagard, a name that we talked about so frequently for so long and then just really again issues with injury. Uh so it’s great to see him glimmers again similar to Gustaf Eden uh glimmers of what he once was and as he continues his sort of comeback story uh under new coaching toutelage as well. Yeah. And we get a close-up look here of Yona Shamberg as well and got the mouth a little open. He doesn’t look super comfortable, which would lead us to believe that the pace is quite quick here at the start. But there we seem to take a a quick peek over his shoulder. Just comparing the the two positions we just got close-ups of, Daniel, I feel, has a much more comfortable and aerodynamic position. Um, of course, he’s got a lot more experience at this kind of racing. He’s probably done a lot more testing in the winter and on the Veladrome than Yonas has, but Yonas’s Iron Man debut was was really impressive earlier this year. I man South Africa finished third as we’re getting a look now at who is this coming through transition whoever it is they’ve got they’ve got four or five minutes to make up they haven’t had a great swim so not a not a great start to their day but yeah just getting back to to Yona Shamberg that third place you know Iron Man deu sub 8 hour race I mean it wasn’t that long ago where you know breaking breaking eight hours was considered did an exceptional time. Now we see athletes doing it on debut as we saw Jonas do earlier this year. And again, he’s just replicating that sort of form up the front of this race and I’m sure he’ll want to stay in this front group for the majority of this bike ride. I think I caught bib number 50. I’m not sure I quite saw that right, but uh not a lot of urgency out of this athlete. A little bit of confusion. Not sure what to do with that transition bag. Um, if you’re watching along at home, this is not an example of of how to transition. Uh, certainly took his time there at the at the rack. Um, but getting underway now, making his way towards towards the bike. He’ll grab it and get underway. I did see a few bags still hanging there. So, uh, a couple of guys behind him. Maybe he’ll pick up some company um, and get a move on. It was it was interesting watching this transition as opposed to Casper Steepniaak who you mentioned before had the quickest transition and you know Casper with a lot of experience and understanding the race situation he was in wanting to get through Ruby T1 as fast as possible had a lot more urgency. So yeah, they say that the transition is the fourth discipline and you you tend not to win races in transition, but you can certainly make your job a lot more difficult if you’re just trundling through while other athletes are already on the bike at 47 48 km an hour. It makes it a hard chase.
Yeah, a hard chase. And maybe he’s sort of resigned to the fact that this is where he’s at. But I think the quicker you can get in and out of transition, the quicker you can make your way. I mean, presumably if you’re a pro athlete and your swim is not as strong, you’re maybe a stronger cyclist and you going to want to get on that bike as quickly as possible. But um this athlete here finally finally underway. A couple more still to come out of the swim course, but uh most of our favorites uh well up the road. Yeah, as we get another visual on Casper Steepnak here. Great swim, great transition, looking comfortable on the bike early. Uh, it’s a great little front group. We can still see that Christian Hogenhog is on the back of this group. Casper STS is in there as well. Ben Koot. So, some of our pre-race favorites are in this group. And no doubt all these athletes have done a have done a head count and taken a roll call coming through T1 to see who’s in the group and who’s not in the group. So, they’ll be well aware of that chase group, who’s in it. They probably won’t have got a split yet as to how far behind that chase group is, but I’m sure they could imagine it’d be 90 seconds to two minutes. And Yonas Shamberg again here pushing a quite a high gear compared to Casper Steepnia. Casper’s cadence was a little higher. Yonas pushing a bigger gear and again we see the the hydration setup ste the the bottles just covering off that gap between the arms and and the two bottles behind the seat. interesting that a lot of athletes don’t carry the the drink bottles on the bike frame anymore. They do they just do so much testing these days in the tunnel and on the Veladrome. They know and and aerodynamics is such an individual thing. A lot of it is your position on the bike, but also things like hand placement, head positioning, drink bottle placement. It it all adds up to lowering your CDA and saving watts. And these athletes, they do their homework. The men’s and women’s, they spend a lot of time testing. They get a lot of support by their partners to do that. and they they they come into these races with the optimal setup. Yeah, it would have to be optimal. I I think in in conditions like this uh too perhaps everyone looking to maximize the hydration on board with temperatures going to be uh certainly a factor today. But athletes uh out of the water and on to the Zoot bike course. We are at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. What do you want?
Uh, you know what’s that uh really good non-alcoholic beer I keep hearing about?
Do you have that really great non-alcoholic beer that I keep seeing?
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actually tastes good? It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s that funny. Ask for it. [Music] Smoke. [Music] [Music] off. You are endurance isn’t just about medals. It’s about showing up. Even when your brain says go and your body says no. Showing up means taking care of yourself, skin, and all. Because when you train hard, your skin works hard, too. That’s where Bulldog comes in. With products packed with brilliant natural origin ingredients that help prepare, protect, and recover your skin. No fuss, no nonsense. Bulldog skincare is man’s best friend. Official men’s care products of Iron Man Europe. My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Zoot Sports, the original triathlon brand delivering comfort, speed, and performance since 1983 and by Hoka. Fly human fly. And Craig, as we’re back to the action here on the Zoot Bike Course, I was taking a peek back uh to some of our splits. And I’m just going to throw a number at you and say thumbs up or thumbs down. Cameron Worf 8 and a half minutes back.
Oh, that’s a double thumbs down. Unfortunately, Dy, I I just that uh that split just caught my attention as well. I think that’s a little bit further down than Cam would have liked and planned for, but we know he’s a fighter, so it’s going to be a long day. I think Cam would have
been resigned to the fact that he would have been solo for a lot of the race today, but I’m sure that’s a a little bit further back than he would have liked, and it’s certainly a lot further back than we’ve seen him previously. as we come up again next to Daniel Bakagar here and just a a relaxed position as they’ve made that sort of 10 or 12 km from the Langan and London up into Frankfurt. They’re going through the sort of the streets of Frankfurt here. We’ll probably get a great view of the skyline shortly. And I just got word also that Christian Hooenhog did lose about 30 seconds into T1. He stopped to put I think half guards on which a lot of the athletes use. Of course, if it’s a wet suit swim, you can normally wear them under the wet suit. But when it’s not, you have to put them on in T1. So, a lot of the good work that Christian had done in the swim, he lost about 30 or 40 seconds of that. But again,
to your point, he would have studied that in the wind tunnel, right? So, done that sort of costbenefit analysis of knowing, hey, I’m going to lose 30 seconds in transition to put these on because I can’t swim with them. Rules dictate in non-wets suit swims, uh, you can’t have anything sort of below the knee there. So, but he would have done the math to know those are more than 30 seconds to him across an iron man bike splits in terms of aerodynamic savings.
Yeah, 100%. He would have done the he would have crunched the numbers and so he would have known the aerodynamic savings and the time savings and it’s it’s a long race. It’s a long race. Um, you know, a lot a lot of the guys and girls have a a team around them. They have a very scientific approach. There’s a lot of testing that goes into these racing. It’s not just train hard. um you know and get out and flog yourself. It’s, you know, the the modern day triathlete, they’re not only are they superstars in terms of their physiology, but just the planning that goes into these events, their race scheduling with the Iron Man Pro Series, now the testing of equipment, it’s it’s next level. So, as you mentioned, Christian would have done all the testing and he would have known that it’s a nonwit suit swimming that he was going to take that time. As we see another athlete with calf guards on here, that is well, that is Christian. That is Christian who’s ripped through the field on his Quintana. I was wondering who that was, but um so he’s made up that 30 or 40 seconds already. So there you go, Dee. To your point, um whatever time he’s given up, he’s back. He’s back into that group. We get another little slow-mo of Christian going past Daniel at warp speed.
Yep. We’ve got Christian Hogenhog making the move past Daniel Bakagard. We did uh chat with Daniel Bakagard about some of the dynamics here in Frankfurt. Here’s Daniel Backagard. You’re in Texas.
Yeah.
New coaching setup. Is there anything you’ve taken from the building to Texas that you’re bringing into Frankfurt this weekend? Uh, speaking of uh new coaching setup, I think um to be honest, the first the first year I see it more as a like learning experience, one big learning experience in terms of, you know, obviously Philip Cyp have have done really well with Laura. You know, it’s just about basically learning how to be a professional athlete. uh they have a lot of different expectations or Philip have a lot of different expectations compared to what I’ve been used to and it’s a good change. It’s also really tough. Um and then coming off last season the discovering torn discus in my back it was like uh basically starting from scratch and um that’s kind of how I approached this race as well. Um, one thing is definitely, you know, being at back at full fitness again and and being able to actually race properly and um, and race hard, but also, you know, the whole setting with the Iron Man Pro Series is something we’ve not really seen before in in this magnitude. So, uh, um, basically I’m just I’m really stoked to be here and and it’s it’s nice to be on the start line again where I actually feel healthy and and ready to go. Great to see him back and healthy and able to race and energized by a new coach. I would say if his expectation was for a year of learning, he’s he’s off to a good start because he had a he had an outstanding uh open to the season. It was his best Iron Man race certainly since about 2023. Um so good to see him back racing and not shying away from top top competition here. Uh I think when you take a hit like that in terms of uh injury and underperformance uh you might want to shy away and get your confidence back at some less aggressive races, but not for Daniel Bakagard. Yeah, I think Daniel’s always been a a very confident athlete, confident in his ability and and a lot of that would have come from his preparation. So he had a very inconsistent year. We just heard him talk about the injuries that he that he had to battle. Um, you know, and and yet even last year, sporadically, we did see the Daniel that we that we’re used to seeing. He got on the podium at a T100 event in London. So, always mixes it up with with the top level competition as we get a look at Kieran Lindes here who again, he’s just set himself up nicely with a great swim. You know, we’re we’re through this kind of technical part of town here. We’re not on the the fast open roads in sort of the neighboring countryside outside and around Frankfurt yet. The athletes are still sort of navigating through the streets of Frankfurt, but still at speeds are high here and Kieran Linders has got himself in a great position. He is one of the athletes you mentioned Dee who’s yet to qualify for the Iron Man World Championships in in Nice later this year. uh whilst he would want to try and replicate his podium performance here last year, I’m sure in the back of his mind is also that just need to, you know, to punch his ticket for the World Championships. Obviously, he had an unfortunate incident in Texas, crashed going through one of the aid stations. And when your season is so meticulously planned out, as the athletes have to do it now with this Iron Man Pro Series, one little hiccup like that um can just throw a spanner in the works for the rest of the season scheduling. And I’m sure Kieran is very very keen to get that cone of qualification done and dusted today.
Oh, absolutely. And it is it’s the level of racing is so high that there really isn’t much margin for error when you do have a catastrophic event like that, particularly when you’re vying for the Pro Series. um if you’re going to want to sub in another race, uh factoring in all of that travel, um these athletes have to be absolutely at the top of their game every time they they tow a line, uh with a level of competition being as high as it is. Craig, I’m looking down some of these splits just through 13 12 kilometers. Um and the likes of Christian Blumenfeld, who was, you know, twoish minutes down, now three and a half minutes down. So, the front of this race is moving very, very quickly. Yeah, absolutely. And I I think we talked about having sort of an athlete like Christian Hugenhog in this front group, one of what we would call the Uber bikers, the really strong bikers. I mean, these athletes are so wellrounded, but they they do have their strengths and they’re known for their strengths. So, I think the other athletes in this front group saw Christian in that group and they have not messed around, you know, the opening kilometers of this bike ride. And it seems like the second group that was a minute 30 back has lost a little more time. But again, it’s still it’s still very early days in this race. But it is interesting dynamic just to see experienced athletes like that lose 30 seconds so quickly into this into this bike ride. Yeah, we would have expected Christian Blumenfeld, Rudy Vonberg to to really, you know, get after it on the bike and and go after that that lead group uh out of transition, but to have them losing time, I think speaks both to um how fast the front of this race is moving and perhaps how maybe that group is a little disorganized through the city sections. Uh a little bit more technical there, so not as easy to to make those moves. Yeah, potentially. As we mentioned, a smaller group navigates the twists and turns of a technical course a little bit quicker. Interesting that Magnus Ditliv has now made his way up to to Christian Blumenfelt. So, two of the big pre-race favorites together, but even Magnus has lost time to the front of this race. So, that’s that that’s an interesting dynamic in itself. But again, early early kilometers of this bike ride and I think things will change slowly but surely. But again, I’m just loving that Christian Hugenhog is up the front here. He he looked like his, you know, to answer your question, Denny, what would his tactic be? Will it looked like the way he passed Daniel Backagard that his tactic is just to take this race right up the road very early? Absolutely. And why why wouldn’t he? I mean, certainly, I don’t think he has any reservation about going it potentially solo when he gets to the front of this race and and making a move off of the front. Why give athletes, you know, like Christian Blumenfeld, like Rudy Vonberg, um, a chance to to grab on, right? He’s going to want to get get away and get gone. He knows how this race played out a year ago, uh, where Christian Blumenfeld, you know, found himself in a group and was able to sort of b his time um, and then put together such a strong run. I don’t think anybody wants to leave, uh, a dynamic like that to chance uh, particularly with Patrick Langa being not that far back out of the swim as well. Yeah, and Patrick is is tucked in with that group. Um, so he’s, you know, he’s got a visual and he’s very close to Magnus Ditliff and Christian Bloomfeld as we see Yonas Shamberg navigate this little up ramp over the freeway. And, you know, I’m loving this tactic from Yonas. He’s he’s probably the catalyst or one of the reasons why this front group has splinted so quickly. And, you know, from a group that was separated by 10 seconds out of the swim, they’re now separated by over a minute.
Yep. Just saw a split that Daniel Bakagard is a minute back from the lead here. So, um, very, very aggressive racing as Yona Shamberg takes a look back down to see who’s back there and how far back they are. And yeah, I like this tactic. It’s it’s aggressive racing. It’s the new age of racing. We get a lot of, you know, fast courses, but we have fast athletes on fast courses and that that, you know, with aggressive racing that leads to really exciting dynamics. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, Shawnberg rode super well uh in in South Africa and definitely seems to be taking the bull by the proverbial horns here at the BOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. We are on the Zoot Bike Course with lots of action still to come. [Music] Here’s Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential, her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trid Dot, Elizabeth gets faster faster. And what does she have to do? I just opened Trid dot and did my workout.
Trot, we do the technology. You do the [Music] [Music] [Music] You know and we know the thing about challenging yourself is. You’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] You are watching the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. I’m DD Griebower live in studio alongside Craig Alexander. We’ve got Shawnberg off the lead with about a minute over the Chasers. This is this is one heck of a ride so far from this athlete who’s only in his second Iron Man. Yas Shamberg was known even in his shortc course career for launching attacks on the bike. Um and not just mindless attacks. He, you know, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But um he’s an aggressive racer and he’s racing in his home country. He’s had a third on debut. You’ve got to imagine that he learned a lot from his first Iron Man race in South Africa and he’s, you know, he’s bringing a lot of that knowledge here as we get a some vision back in the field, the athletes coming up that overpass that we saw Yonas go over two or three minutes ago. I mean, he has really lit up the early kilometers of this bike course.
And and how much Craig does that alarm the guys in the chase pack? I mean, you’ve got you’ve got Christian Hogen Hogan there who is probably one of our sports strongest cyclists. Are they just letting him go thinking he’s an unknown entity? He’ll come back to us. Uh this is too aggressive. Like what what’s the mindset there in the pack?
Yeah, I think some the more experienced athletes are probably thinking, you know, historically this kind of move doesn’t work on the bike. So, um in the end, as we see Rudy von here, this is the first good footage we’ve seen of Rudy vonberg on the bike. And you know, Rudy’s one of the better bikers in this field. So there’s a lot of kilometers still to play out on this bike course obviously. Um they’ve only just got onto the first lube. So but I’m loving what Yion Shamber is doing here. I mean he did race as we mentioned Iron Man South Africa earlier in the season. Um that was a big Iron Man Pro Series event which Magnus Ditley have won. So he’s not without experience Yonas. And he he’s raced a couple of other Iron Man Pro Series events. He raced in Axon Province recently. So he’s he’s an experienced athlete. He doesn’t have the Iron Man experience that a lot of these other athletes have, but he certainly has raced at Olympic games. He’s got quite a few middle distance or Iron Man 70.3 races, you know, under his belt on his resume. So, um I wouldn’t say this is a suicide attack by any means. May maybe his plan was to shake things up early and then at some point he’s going to settle into more of a steady state all day long threshold pace. But, you know, I’m loving this. I I reckon it would be sending some alarm bells through some of the field here. Yeah, I would I would imagine so because they’re probably getting some splits. I mean, we’re still in a pretty densely populated area, so these guys getting shouts out from the spectators on the course as to what the time gaps are. And I think if you’re Shawnberg, whether or not this attack sticks, I think when you’re in only your second Iron Man, you’re gaining such valuable experience about what works, what doesn’t. Uh he’s qualified for the world championship. He’s got to learn what kind of race dynamics work for him. And granted, the World Championship in Nice is going to be a completely race different race dynamic to this one, but I think the more aggressive you are in your race strategies, the more you learn and can put towards future races. Yeah. And obviously, and maybe maybe he’s playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers. Maybe he’s thinking if I just ride hard early at some point Magnus Ditliff, Christian Hugenhog, potentially Christian Bloomfelt will bridge across and the pace will settle and we’ll have a nice little group at the front. I mean, I’m not sure what his strategy is, but he knows his numbers, he’s experienced, and it’s going to be interesting to see what does unfold over the next say 20 to 30 km of this bike course. So, it does look from, you know, the expression on his face that he’s he’s pushing here. he’s pushing and it’s quite early in the bike league to be doing that. Particularly on a day where the temperatures are going to be soaring, uh you want to be mindful of that core body temperature as those temperatures rise. But again, Shawnberg through 24.3 km and that was minutes ago and we have yet to see uh the chase group going through. Our GPS tells us it’s about a minute and change, but by my watch, it feels like it’s been longer than that since he went over that 24.3 km timing. Matt, again, uh, the Iron Man tracker giving those timing updates, the numbers you’re seeing on your screen based off of GPS locations from trackers the athletes have on their physical person. So, uh, right now, Jonas Shamberg, uh, very, very aggressive through the early stages of this Zoot bike course.
Yeah, and we’re getting we’re getting various started to look at and analyze here. We’re getting some GPS data and also the timing data. And interesting to see that Kier and Linda’s is 3 minutes back at 23.4 km. So that’s that’s three minutes. You know, they were side by side out of the swim together. So yeah, Yona Shamberg, he’s playing his cards very early and we can see what his strategy is. For me, it’s just going to be interesting as as the kilometers tick away here and some of the more established bikers who we know have a track record of biking close to four hours like your Magnus Ditlvs, your Christian Hugan Hogs, Christian Blumenfelt. What you know, potentially if they bridge up to Yonas, this could if he’s still got some juice left in his legs, this could be a great tactical move with, you know, with the majority of the field two or three minutes back. Yeah. And it is just that. It’s two minutes back to the chasers. There are seven strong Wilheim Hirs, uh Casper Steak, uh Andrea Salisber, Ben Canute in that group. Uh Johannes Vogle, Christian Hogenhog at the back of that group. Interestingly, uh perhaps biting his time, uh and Casper Storis, uh rounds out that chase group through 24.3 km as we see Dee Yona Shamberg now on out at sort of in more of the rural areas surrounding Frankfurt, the open roads and you know, it’s out here where the average speeds are a bit higher, aerodynamics becomes a little more important. You know, Yonas’s position is probably not as arrow as some of the others. Um, you know, it’s it’s hard to eyeball and know exactly what someone’s coefficient of drag is, but you know, typically as the average speeds get higher, aerodynamics becomes exponentially more important. You know, we went through the technical part of the course early, some cornering, you know, through the sort of the business district of Frankfurt, um, close to where T2 is. And now we’re out on the open roads, higher average speeds. So, I think we’re going to learn more about how this race is going to unfold in the next 15 to 20 minutes, particularly as, you know, some of the more noted bikers get out on these open roads. As we look at Shawnberg here, a little bit towy in his uh position, I think you could generate a little bit more power by driving that heel through the bottom part of that pedal stroke. And a nice high cadence, which is not atypical for uh athletes coming from short course. I think um they tend to spin the legs at a slightly higher rate, but uh Shawnberg uh with a real toe down position and a nice high cadence.
Yeah. Interesting, isn’t it? You just analyzing the different positions of the athletes and just like with open water swimming strokes or even even run techniques. There’s, you know, there’s no real right or wrong. The main thing is is can you answer the question, is it effective? And some athletes have more of a a toe down position. and others sort of drop their heel and rake more across the bum the bottom of the pedal stroke which in theory what we learn is that’s a slightly more powerful position but tends to work with a lower cadence. You know athletes who who spin a high cadence tend to have this sort of toe down position as we can see back here with Ben Canoot he’s got that high cadence sort of toe down position as well. So, you know, when your heel is not dropped at the bottom of the pedal strike, it it lends itself to a high cadence and you know, athletes have their own sweet spot with cadence. It can be anywhere between 80 reps per minute and 100 revs per minute.
You know, an athlete that comes to mind with a low cadence was Chrissy Wellington. She she biked with a with a lower cadence, but it was no less effective for her. So, um it’s just interesting. I’m like you. I’m a fan of the sport, watching the different the different techniques and the different strategies and how they go about it
and and athletes can have a different sort of sweet spot on that cadence for different sort of power targets. You might find athletes in Iron Man racing with a slightly lower cadence, but when they get into 70.3 or even shorter racing, ticking with a higher cadence. So, it really just depends on, you know, taking time in your training to realize where that sweet spot is at different energy levels. and we chatted with Ben Canoot uh before the race uh about his experience, upcoming experience here at Frankfurt and and here’s a check-in with Ben Canute.
Uh so after Eagleman, you said you didn’t execute your race craft to your full potential. What would be a good execution looking like in Frankfurt?
Yeah, I think Eagle Men, you know, when you’re training for Iron Man, it’s just so hard to get the 70.3 exactly right, especially when you’re racing some of the best in the business there. So, I I like to sometimes give those race reviews when it’s still pretty raw cuz you get those firstirhand impressions, but looking back on it, I think there’s just a lot of little things that um really could have, I guess, worked against me. But mainly here, like I had the calm and present uh being in the present down in Eagleman. It just didn’t have that slight bit of aggression. And maybe that was just getting a bit stuck in Iron Man pace. uh a bit of fatigue from Iron Man training, but here I’m tapered and rested and really for this race, I want to be racing uh present, making the right decisions and just moving through the race and and really letting all the training that I’ve done show in the race. And that could be, you know, if I’m super fit, you know, I always believe that I can play for the win, but it’s really competitive nowadays. So, it could be 10th, could be 15th, but as long as I’m racing and competing for the slots and against other guys and able to extract everything I can out of myself, that’s always a win. There you go, Ben Canoot. Just happy to be in the hunt here. Again, business for him, securing a slot for the Iron Man World Championship upcoming in September for the men in East France. Of course, the women will follow uh from uh Kyua Kona uh in October, but right now this is the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Ship. [Music] We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] This is the Bova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship and you are watching race leader Yonis Shamberg with a technical malfunction. Um, right before we went to break there, he his arrow bar came completely undone. He has stopped. He had a 2 and 1/2 minute lead on the chasers and he is giving that up now. The entire front of his arrow bars fell off the bike. Craig, what’s going on here? Uh, I tell you what, when I saw that happen, I got the same sick feeling in my stomach that I got when Christian flattered in Oceanside or or or when Magnus Ditle double flattered in St. George. It’s just robbing us of an interesting scenario here. I was just I was going to comment that I thought it was a good tactic to go so fast early in the morning when the temperature is still 20 or 21 degrees before the heat gets up. And maybe that was his plan to maximize, you know, these cooler temperatures knowing that it’s forecast to hit 30° by midday, 30° C. So, unfortunately, he’s hit that cobble section and the whole arrow bar has come off. It looks like it’s sheared straight off. Like I’m wondering if it is like a stripped bolt or if it is a I mean all of these athletes would have checked double checked the the bolt tension after traveling um going into a major race like this. You would leave nothing to chance. Uh so I don’t know if this is like a fracture. This is not a quick fix. He’s he’s lost considerable time here and that mechanic is not having an easy go of it. No, it looks like there’s it looked like some of the carbon or the spacers had been sheared or broken. So, that needs to be repaired. He’s probably lucky he didn’t shear the internal cabling as well as he’s just going up that cobbled section there. Ah, just heartbreaking. I mean, these, you know, we we often sit here and talk about, you know, the technology in the last five or six years with these bikes and how it’s enabled some of these faster times, the the comfort and the aerodynamics in the front end cockpit. But unfortunately this is the downside. U you know with a lot of the the athletes being 180 plus centimeters tall they have a lot of spaces. They have their arm pads in the actual arrow bars themselves are
100 mil plus off the base bar. And that puts a lot of tension and torque through that especially when you hit a cobbled section. So unfortunately all the aerodynamics and and all those gains that you get you know and the carbon manufacturing is better than it’s ever been. You can still get this. You can still have this happen.
And here’s the other thing. I mean, you see that mechanic he was trying to figure out, can I put the bar together without but he can’t he can’t leave the other part of it off because that’s his whole hydration. He has nowhere else to put hydration on his bike. That’s a critical part. So even you know if that strip the mechanic’s got to figure out how to rebuild it exactly the way it was. If Jonas wants a chance to drink anything for the rest of the race. You know what? If I’m Yonas, I would just be saying don’t worry about the drink bottle. Just get the bars on there. Um, plenty of aid stations on this course. Whilst not ideal, what’s also not ideal is is stationary here on the side of the course while everyone else is at 45 plus kilometers an hour. So heartbreaking for this young man. I mean, he’s had a great start to the Iron Man Pro Series. He was one of our leaders on the Iron Man Pro Series scoreboard after, you know, if if we’re just looking at one Iron Man result and one Iron Man 70.3 as we see him get going here. Hats off to that mechanic cuz that looked like it was going to be a 30minute fix. So, I want to say he’s lost four to five minutes as we see some of the other athletes shoot past, but his race is not over. It’s not ideal, but his race is not over.
It is heartbreaking though. Um, but the mindset has to be, you know, you got you got to have a short memory and forget about what had transpired, the lead you had built, and just put yourself back into the race and the race dynamic. Have a have a short memory. Um, as they say, be a goldfish. uh the shortest animal with the shortest memory span. Uh forget about what has happened and just stick yourself back into the race where you are. Stay in the moment and hope like heck it doesn’t happen again. Yeah. Well, that’s got a Rocky’s confidence a little bit. And you know, we see Christian Hugenhog here looking really nice and arrow. Great head position. Face sort of tucked in behind his hands there. Beautiful cadence. Making a little adjustment in the saddle as we see the athletes do. But yeah, I mean just look at the front ends. Ste, you look at the cockpits on the bike. I mean, how they’ve evolved in the last five or eight years. They’re they’re almost like a motorcycle fairing. They’re way more aerodynamic. They’re way more comfortable. They take so much more of your upper body weight. But I think with that weight and that transmission of weight through the front end, if you hit cobbled section or bumps on the road, there’s always the danger that this can happen. We saw it happen in Iron Man Frankfurt, you know, just three weeks ago in the women’s world championship. Um, you know, an athletes front end the whole arrow bar came loose. So, it’s it’s not something that we see too often, but it’s it’s something that can happen. We have seen it happen before and of course the risk is these athletes travel from a great distance and reassembling their bikes. One would think you go over it with a fine tooth comb, but because the front ends are more complicated, uh, you get the torque wrong on one bolt. And like you said, that that bumpy section of the course that can very easily unwind that bolt, it’s so sensitive to torque tightness. Uh, and how tightly, you know, overtighten it and that spells danger, undertighten it, and it spells danger in a different direction. So, um, lots of complexities, not the best, um, turn of events for Yonis Shawnberg, but to your point, his day is far, far from over, but I think those chasers, uh, singing a pretty happy tune. They just got a gift. Yeah. Well, it certainly changes the early dynamic of this race. And, you know, just watching this temperature slowly creep up. I didn’t mind the tactic by Shawn Berg going hard early while it was cool. um you know, potentially doing a lot of his work and creating those gaps and that separation to then settle into more of a steady pace as the temperatures got up there. But
well, not only that, not I was going to say not only that, Craig, but but forcing the others to play catchup when the temperatures get hotter, right? So, not only advantage for the leader, but putting the pressure on the chasers to do it when it’s hotter.
Absolutely. So, yeah, it was it was a great tactic by the young man. And but you know, one of the things I took away from those pictures we were seeing, Dee, was he didn’t look stressed. He looked quite relaxed. I guess that comes with having raced at an Olympic games and regional championships, world championships. He’s he’s a composed, you know, experienced, mature athlete and knows it’s a long day, whilst not ideal. But yeah, I was I just got a sick feeling in my stomach when when I saw that those pictures. I just thought, you know, it just when you when an athletes on a flyer like this, you’re just so interested to see how how it was going to play out. I was really looking forward to the next half an hour or an hour.
No, absolutely. But now we have the next, I don’t know, six hours to look forward to to see uh if he can get it back. I’ll say he’s he’s he’s a decent runner. He’s a very strong runner as well and and he’s far from out of it. Um it’s just a it’s a different dynamic, but I think for if you’re Christian Hoganhog, uh you’re pretty pretty excited about that turn of events. Uh as we look at uh Christian with a a nice um gap now on the rest of the field. Yeah. No, absolutely. Looking back, there’s no one even in sight. So, we talked in the swim about what what card potentially would would Christian play knowing that, you know, that he biked a 357 here last year that this is his strength. Um, you know, he said in the leadup he’s had a great preparation for this event. He feels his run’s in the best place it’s been in. So, um, you know, one man’s bad luck is another man’s good luck. And so interesting to see that Shamberg’s still in the top 10, which is incredible really that so early in the bike he’d amassed such a lead. So I guess one of the advantages for him is that his race is definitely not over. He’s still in contention here. And um but as we cast our eyes forward to to Christian Hugenhog is who’s leading this race. Looks super comfortable on the bike. Just immense power that he’s putting down through that drivetrain. Um Dee, he’s here on these open roads outside Frankfurt hitting, you know, 45 50 55 plus kilometers an hour on some of the the flatter, faster sections. It’s it still places everyone behind him on the back foot because a lot of the big favorites are still 2 minutes down. Well, and this is honestly this is the dynamic I expected out of the swim when he was in that lead swim group was that he would uh jettison himself to the front of this race and go for it uh on his own. what I didn’t expect with Shawnberg and then of course absolutely didn’t expect uh for Shawnberg’s mechanical failure but it spells absolutely success for Christian Hoganog as he takes a look over his shoulder um grabs some nutrition sees an opportunity there uh with no one coming uh cooling himself off which tells me that the temperatures are rising uh let’s let’s listen to Christian Hogenhog um about this this bike course
uh you originally to race eagle member withdrew to focus on Frankfurt. How’s the focus preparation gone into this this weekend? Uh really good. Uh like you don’t want to speak too profound of yourself. I think that you can sometimes jinx it, but it it has gone really well. I would say it’s the best I’ve been in a swim, bike, and run. And yeah, the the run is in a really good place. I think I can I I I have a number. I think I can run, but uh it’s always like Yeah, you never know.
How is the heat for you? Do you like Do you like to race in the heat or play disadvantage or what’s your
uh Yeah, a little mixed I would say. It’s It’s harder to I would say make a difference on the bike because when you produce a lot of power, you also produce a lot of heat. So it’s uh like I would say you have to work together with someone. So like maybe the overall power can be a little bit lower. Uh but other like in that regard I think uh yeah we’re just very well prepared for the heat and I’ve had a yeah a long heat block since April actually. So also really good prepared for that. But u yeah some small mistakes can can end your race in heat. Well, that’s the key right there, isn’t it? Uh, the heat tends to magnify those errors either in pacing or fueling. Of course, we saw uh Christian Hoganhow with a with a great bike performance back at Iron Man, Texas. Uh, but he really struggled on that run uh running 315 uh back there in the Woodlands. Uh, but he says he’s done a lot of heat prep, so maybe that is going to work out differently for him today. Uh, we’ve seen there’s another bottle launch there. I don’t know who that was. Oh, both bottles for that athlete there. Is that Casper Storess who’s going back for his bottles?
Kieran Kieran Linders. Kieran.
Yeah, Kieran Linders going back for his his bottles. I mean, it’s it’s quite astonishing, Dee, to be honest. The number of times we see this at races. These bottles, I know they’re aerodynamic in the placement, but the the physics, they tend to shoot out at regular intervals. So, I mean, Kieran’s gone back there. I don’t know if the bottle has shot out or actually the bottle and the cage. The whole thing, the whole contraption has come loose and come off the bike. So, certainly not ideal for Kieran chasing his Iron Man World Championship qualification slot as he watches the next group slowly ride by. He just needs to get back on his bike and go.
I think I think you’re right. Like I think there’s nowhere for him to put those bottles. It’s if if if it were just the bottles launching, he’d have stuck them back in and gotten back going, but he was trying to figure out where to where to put them cuz he was on the side of the road longer than just shoving a bottle back into the cage. It’s like a comedy of errors out there. Yeah.
Or a comedy of tragedies. Yeah. It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s crazy, isn’t it? I mean, you It’s heartbreaking for these athletes. They invest so much time and effort and money into preparing for these races to have these sorts of mechanicals come around, but it’s part of the sport. I mean, as you mentioned, you need to get your bike, someone’s got to go over your bike with a fine tooth comb. You need to test it in the days leading up on the cobbled sections and and you know what, even doing that, it still may happen. Things can work loose in races. So, unfortunately, it’s just a part of the sport. Well, tragedy there for um for a couple of our athletes. Uh Shawn Berg with a a completely dismantled uh front end. Um but opportunity for other athletes as we check in here. This is uh Yonas Hoffman.
Jonas Hoffman. Yeah, Jonas Hoffman is having having a decent race and moving. And what’s noticeable about Jonas Hoffman is he’s got a 10K PB of low 29 minutes and a and a half marathon PB of 104 105. So he’s known as a runner and apparently still runs in some nationally competitive national level competi you know running competitions, track races, half marathons. So comes from a a running background and has running pedigree but has you know multiple top fives to his name as well. I think a a fourth place fourth place earlier this year Iron Man South Africa. So, you know, has pedigree in triathon as well. So, interesting to see him still in the mix and and moving through the field as we see Christian go through one of the aid stations out on course here. Eldi Diablo there supporting the athletes with his little pitchfork. You mentioned you mentioned before Dee the temperature starting to climb. So, I think we’ll see, you know, the athletes be super vigilant with their hydration, you know, on the bike. Um, and also just tipping water on themselves, that convective cooling, keep the keep the core body temperature as cool as possible. A lot of this course is still in shade as we can see Christian Hugenhog riding through a shaded section here. But when they come out into that direct sunlight, the core body temperature does go up. I mean, we heard Christian say in his fighting chance segment a minute ago that, you know, the higher the watch you want to put out, the higher the core body temperature, and he’s trying to put out some high watts right now.
Yeah, we did see him uh grabbing that water and and cooling himself off and also speaks to potentially why Kieran Linders was so mindful to go back for those bottles. I think if conditions had been different, he might have just pressed on. But um lots of action here at the Minova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship with lots of action yet to come. Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Applause] [Music] Meet Kicker Run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run-free mode, a gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally, just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speed and grade for you. Kicker Run by Wahoo. It’s time to run free. Here’s [Music] Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential, her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trot, Elizabeth gets faster, faster, and what does she have to do?
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Trot, we do the technology, you do the training. My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Morton. Get used to it. And by Ruvie, the indoor cycling experience. And if you’re just joining us, I’m Dee Griezbower, joined in studio by Craig Alexander. And this has been an action-packed opening couple of hours here at the MOVA Iron Man European Championship here in Frankfurt. Uh we had Christian Hogenhog with a an extraordinary swim setting himself up uh to have an extraordinary performance on the day, but it was Shawnberg who went off the front and as we see here, suffered mechanical catastrophe uh standing on the side of the road for over two minutes while the mechanic brilliantly got that front end built back together. And then it was Kieran Linders who suffered uh a setback launching his bottles. Uh we don’t know if he’s been able to get those back on and get moving, but lots of um lots of non-triathlon related triathlon issues out there this morning, Craig.
Yeah, and we see Shawn Berg again here. He looks very reluctant to put any weight through that cockpit, that front end area. And yeah, I’m guessing if you’ve had one catastrophic equipment failure like that, you would be a little reluctant to put all your upper body weight back through the front end of the bike. So, um, yeah, this is not not ideal for for Jonas, but as we mentioned, he seems to be up and running again, and we’ll keep an eye on him as we go back to Christian Hugenhog here, who is just doing what we’ve seen him do at a lot of races is just really lay down the power on the bike. And it’s not like he goes at any crazy pace. He’ll be able to maintain this throughout the course of this bike. I mean, he biked a 357 on this course last year, different conditions. It’s going to be much hotter this year. Uh I think they got some rain on this course last year as well. So but for me this is a really interesting storyline it sets the race up nicely because you know looking at the time splits a lot of the big pre-race favorites are together about 5 minutes back of the lead. Christian Blumenfeld Magnus Ditliff Rudy von Berg Patrick Lunger is in there keeping them company as well. So, you know, a lot of the names that we were talking about pre-race, the guys who have figured on the podiums at the World Championships in recent years, um, and won a lot of the big regional championships, they’re they’re just making their way through this race with a little fanfare early, and we know these races, they’re they’re long days. Um, and they take many twists and turns throughout the course of the day, but I’m liking what we’re seeing from Christian Hugenhog so far, Dee.
Oh, absolutely. and and he looks so smooth and so in control. We’ve seen him a couple of times uh getting water on himself to keep that court body temperature down as the temperatures uh here continue to rise as the sun continues to rise. Uh Hogan Hog now with a minute and a half lead on the chasers including Andreas Susber uh Casper Steenak, Casper Storis in that group. Uh Ben Canute hanging in there as well. Uh Yonas Vogle and Wilheim Hirs. Uh it is the next group of chasers that was about three and a half minutes back with a lot of our favorites. Ditv Blumenfeld, Rudy Vonberg. Uh they’ve been a little sluggish to make a move given the the cycling power in that group. Craig, do you think?
Uh, yes and no. I I think they’re so strategic, those guys you mentioned and so experienced. They’ll be racing to their strategy and to the situation that’s been presented to them within the race as well. So interesting that that group behind Christian Hergenhog that you mentioned, that’s the remnants of the front group and they’re still all together a minute 30 down, you know, and some of our pre-race favorites are in that group. You know, Casper Storis and Ben Canute are in there. So Yiannis Vogle who it’s his first Iron Man today but he logged his first pro win earlier this year so he’ll he’ll have some confidence coming in I you know they’re they’re hovering about a minute 30 back of this man on screen right now and I think they’re still in a great position but I mean the fireworks are still to come it it you know typically on a 180 km cycle it’s about the 100 km mark where we’ve seen in the past Magnus Ditlev catch up and a few of the other super bikers and that’s where the I mean, that’s certainly where it came apart in Texas and and often where it does come apart. It’s the last third of the 180 km where we learn a lot more about who’s who’s gone too hard early, who’s really racing to their their strategy, who’s saving a little back for the marathon. But at the moment, on face value, Christian Hogen Hog just looks amazing to me. He looks relaxed. He’s no stranger to the front of the race and he’s just doing what he normally does, which is ride at his own pace. And you know, we talked about his strategic decision in T1 to put those calf guards on, but the biggest part of this race is the bike ride. Aerodynamics is so important. Now, we we regularly see bike splits around the 4hour mark to the 4 hour 10 mark. You know, the whole top 10 last year rode under four hours 10. So, we know how important aerodynamics is and so far that’s proven to be a good decision. Oh yeah, absolutely. And um you know to your point, the fireworks starting sort of in the last third of this race and with the temperatures uh increasing uh any of those pacing errors, nutrition errors, over overcooking yourself quite literally will overcook you on a day like today as we see the rem remnants uh of the chasers coming through that 45 and a half kilometer mark. Uh it’s Daniel Beckagard who is alone in eighth place at 325 back and then the big group of chasers uh Gustaf Eden has moved to the front of that chase group uh with Yonas Hoffman who got we got a quick look at uh Rudy von Berg, Magnus Ditlev, Christian Blumenfeld and Patrick Langa still hanging into that group as well. So uh a big story uh developing back at four and a half minutes back.
Yeah. And also Yiannis Shamberg has is tucked into that group. So, um, you know, he saw his two-minute lead disappear or just evaporate right before his eyes, but he’s still in the race and he’s a lot he’s with a lot of the the big race pre-race favorites. So, um, there’s still a lot to salvage for him today as well. But, yeah, interesting that Patrick Lung is still in there and, you know, a lot of those names that you mentioned, Dee, their MO is always to just fly low under the radar early in the race knowing it’s going to be a 7 and 1 half hour day or thereabouts. And you know, in the end, the marathon is is is where it’ll be decided. I mean, it’s where it’s always decided. And um you know, you overcook or burn too many matches, as they say in the bike, that can cost you three or four or five minutes in the marathon. And you know, last year the top 10 was separated by 15 minutes. From first to 10th place in this race was 15 minutes. So, you know, that just speaks to the competitiveness of the racing these days in the men’s and the women’s racing as we see. Well, I’m Hirsh here making a pass on is that Ben Canute in the in the group there. So, this is the group that’s 4 and a half minutes back. Dee that you mentioned before and you know William Hirsh knowing the draft rules. He can’t slot in here if these athletes are correctly spaced at 12 m. He’s got to keep making forward progress and put out those big watts until he gets on the front of the group. He’s just made a another pass and now he looks like he’s going to try and slot in or no, he’s staying out. He’s got to make the pass. So, he’s got to go all the way to the front here.
Well, they have a they have a they have a technical official right there with them. And of course, with the help of race ranger, we know um you know, he can see the indicator lights on the back of every athletes frame and know that there isn’t the opportunity there uh to slot in without risking uh a penalty for himself. So, uh he had to burn a match there and go all the way to the front of that group. Found himself caught up. Um but you can see lots of watchful eyes uh on this group. So makes uh sense to burn that match to keep yourself out of the penalty box.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, we can see the motorbikes down there. Some of those are media, but absolutely some of them will be technical officials. And you know, with the race ranger in play now, the athletes and the officials are are very clear about the spacing and and you know, the rules are if you if you’re passing a whole group that’s correctly spaced, you do have to make that move right to the front of the group. And that’s what Willam Hersh did. Now we can put his head down and and keep going with that. As we see, it’s a group of six six athletes. They’re about four and a half minutes down from the lead. And you know, you mentioned Dee, the forecast is for, you know, 30° C by midday. Um, so it’s it’s certainly not the 19° C it was when the gun went off. The temperature is starting to get up there now. So these athletes have to be super mindful of their hydration, their nutrition, their pacing, and they’ll be getting splits. they’ll know exactly who is up the road and and who’s behind them on the road. So, um you know, very tactical. I think this group kind of has ridden together for the first sort of hour. Um and it looks like no one’s making any moves to try and bridge up to Daniel Bagard who’s a little bit up the road. And it also looks like they are increasing their lead on the Chase group even further back. the Magnistle left group, Rudy von Berg group, uh average pace through that last segment, uh certainly supersedes that next chase group. So, I I like how this group is looking. Um they’re they’re moving well together. Um certainly being second, third wheel here is a is a definite advantage. uh taking advantage of the aerodynamics, the legal benefit that you’re getting from riding even the the legal draft distance uh creates a great efficiency there. And this group looking very very strong together. Not terribly worried about what’s up the road, but also distancing themselves from what’s behind.
Yeah. No, absolutely. This is the remnants of the front group. And I made a mistake there. Daniel Bakagar is actually off the back of that group. He has drifted off the back of that group. So yeah, it’s nice to see, you know, that group stay together and a lot of experienced athletes like Ben Canut’s in that group. I’m sure he’s quite content just to ride a nice steady even pace as we look here.
Gustafen.
Yeah, Gustaf. This is Yeah, this is back to the second chase group now. Gustaf at the front of that group. And you know what I’m noticing, Craig, is the difference in Gustaf’s position from what he rode at the Iron Man World Championship um back in in Kona in October of last year. He was very much more stretched out. He looks a little bit more compact here, potentially a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more support under his core there. Um he’s got that head tucked nice and low. Aerodynamically, he looks absolutely brilliant. Yeah, he looks good. He’s always been great on the bike. Gustaf technically has great skills cornering, descending, and yeah, I think what we saw, I mean, the Norwegians, they love to experiment, and he really extended that body position out to that that Superman position that we used to see back in the day, the pure pursuits on the Velrome used to ride. And, you know, I think at some point the rules would change where your your arrow bars couldn’t extend out in front of the front wheel. So, it sort of brought the center of mass and the body position a little bit back over the bottom bracket. But Gustaf looks great. He’s always been, I think, very aerodynamic. He’s been strong on the bike and yeah, he he’s not scared to do a lot of the work for this chasing group here. This is the group that has his countryman Christian Blumenfeld in it. Patrick Lung is also in this group. So, um, you know, a lot of the pre-race favorites here, but Gustaf, when he is in form, he is not scared to put his nose in the wind and do a lot of work on the bike. So, I’m I’m hoping this is a good sign for Gustaf’s race today. Yeah, again we saw moments of of brilliance from Gustaf at the start of the season landing on the podium at Iron Man 70.3 Oceanside. Uh wasn’t quite as strong at Iron Man Texas, but again we see uh Gustaf continuing um his comeback story. Of course, he had injury. He had the loss of his mother. Uh but seeing sparks of the Gustaf of old What do you want?
You know what’s that uh really good non-alcoholic beer I keep hearing about?
Do you have that really great non-alcoholic beer that I keep seeing?
Do you have a non-alcoholic beer that actually
actually tastes good?
It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s that fun. Ask for it. [Music] [Music] No, it’s [Music] [Music] [Applause] Endurance isn’t just about medals. It’s about showing up. Even when your brain says go and your body says no. Showing up means taking care of yourself, skin, and all. Because when you train hard, your skin works hard, too. That’s where Bulldog comes in. With products packed with brilliant natural origin ingredients that help prepare, protect, and recover your skin. No fuss, no nonsense. Bulldog skincare is man’s best friend. Official men’s care products of Iron Man Europe. This is the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. I’m Dee Griebbower live in studio alongside Craig Alexander. Uh this has just happened a moment ago as we take a look at Casper Storis who had moved to the front of Chase One. Uh in doing so, the moto came up, had a little conversation with them. I don’t see a card, but definitely a pointed conversation between athlete and technical official here, Craig. Yeah, I think that official needs to make his point and then get out of there because he’s disrupting the flow of the race if a penalty was assessed. You know, sometimes the official because of safety can’t come in and communicate with the athlete at the point that they they do see an infringement take place. Um and and and they’re under no obligation to give a a warning either. So hopefully it was whatever that official saw was minor and he just thought maybe he needed to communicate something to Casper. Um because this front group is moving nicely and they’re in a good position. It’s interesting Dee the you know where is the momentum or the balance of power in this race right now. I mean a lot of the pre-race favorites are in that group that’s about 4 minutes 20 to 430 back. you know, your Gustaf Eden’s, Magnus Ditliv, Christian Blumenfelt, Patrick Lung is in there, Rudy von Berg is in there. So, to me, the balance of power and the momentum is still still sort of with that group. I mean, they’re not losing any more time to the front of this race, it seems. Um, interesting that Casper Storz, who to my mind and to my way of thinking is one of the pre-race favorites, he’s 3 minutes up the road from that group, though, so he seems to be in a really nice position. But we’ll just see how that little conversation with the technical official if that if that comes to anything.
Yeah, I did not see a card flash, so we will wait to get word down from the course if anything did materialize from that. You know, Craig, in addition to the pros who are out on course today, there are nearly 3,000 age group athletes uh competing alongside at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Among them are a number of athletes using Trid Dot. Tridot is the official training platform of Iron Man uh to help athletes get race ready. These Tridot athletes get a unique benefit uh of expert coaching uh from AI powered training plans including predictive race day splits to guide their strategies. Today’s Trot athlete feature is Matthew Fullerton. Let’s hear from Matthew about his goals and strategy for executing his race plan today that he got from Trot. Hello, my name is Matthew Fullerton. I am from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and we are currently in Frankfurt about to race the Iron Man. I had never been to Europe before. Gave me a great opportunity to uh go across the pond um travel Europe a little bit and then more importantly, I just wanted to choose a really big scary race. Being amongst a bunch of pros and a bunch of people have done it a bunch uh before. It was a pretty cool opportunity opportunity for for me to do my first one. Try it out was massive. I think more times or not when most people sign up for an Iron Man, they just get a pre-built training program sent to them and then they just start doing it. Uh what’s really unique about Trid Dot is it took my data, it studied my data, and then made tons of suggestions along the way. And I think standing here today, I’m probably much more prepared going the Trout route than just doing a generic training program. Goals race day. Um personally, I’d love to finish in the 11 and 1 half hour mark. Uh if you ask my coach just with some of the injuries and hiccups along the way, she’d probably say 12 and a half hours. So, time stamp time stamped 11 and a half hours. And then I think the most important thing is I’m in Europe doing an Iron Man. It’s a pretty cool experience. I just want to have a lot of fun. My coach is Vanessa Ronley. She’s also from Calgary, Alberta. Um, funny enough, she has been family friend since I was all the way in a diaper. Um, so I was playing sports university, noticed she got into triathlete, our triathlons, and as soon as I graduated, a few years went by, I reached out to her. Um, she’s a pretty remarkable human being. She’s someone that’s not only a great coach, but been a great mentor through this whole journey. And um as much as the training hours were on me to get them done, probably wouldn’t be here without her. Yeah. So once a Frankfurt uh iron man’s done, hopefully no injuries, hopefully I’m in good health, and then uh crazy enough, 20 days later, I’m doing a 70.3 in my hometown in Calgary. Well, you can see there his predictive times of 119 for the swim, 613 for the bike, 4:34 for the marathon, and 12 uh just shy of 1219 overall. We’ll be checking on Matthew’s progress later to see how close his actual times are to his predicted splits. The end of the race day, Iron Man and Trot will post his finish time along with his splits on their social media pages. So check out Try Dot if you’re looking for a new coaching plan. And back to the action here. This is still that chase group. Uh Wilheim Hirs there uh getting uh moved past uh that’s Johannes uh sorry Johannes Vogle uh moving past Wilheim Hirs. So that chase group uh at one and a half uhish sorry two and a half minutes back of the lead but of note uh the chase group uh the second chase group of Eden Ditv vonberg etc not really losing time to the to the first chase group. So that gap staying around two to 215 between those two big chase groups. Yeah and it’s interesting isn’t it? I mean that was my point before. Where is the momentum at the moment? Where is the balance of power? I think that group that’s 420 down will be quite comfortable where the race is at at the moment as we see Yannas Vogel here on screen. He just made the pass on Will Hersh. And yeah, this group’s still moving well, but they have lost another 35 seconds to the freight train up the road that is Christian Hugenhog. And he’s just I think he’s just going to slowly edge away from this race, Christian. But it’ll be interesting to see, you know, in the last 60 or 70 kilometers if for me the big story line is, you know, will will there be any of the other super strong bikers who launch out of that group. I’m sure you know Magnus Ditliff is he’s firmly entrenched in that group that’s 430 back with Blumenfeld with Eden with Ler. He will not want to get off the bike in that group and with with those other athletes. So, you know, he’s probably just waiting for the early miles of this bike to tick over, for the heat to get up, for the conditions to get a bit tougher. And then I’m I’m absolutely positive at some point we’ll see Magnus Ditlier bridge across firstly to chase group one and then and then try and get some open spaces and you know make some inroads into Christian Hugenhog’s lead. But yeah that that chase group one Yannis Vogle Casper Steepnak William Hirs Ben Canute Ben Canute again just quietly going about his business. Andreas Sversburg Casper Storis they’re they’re in a great position right now. They’re only 2 minutes back of the lead and you know we’re almost coming up up on one/3 distance of this 100 km 180 km should I say zoot bike course. So um they’d be really content with their positioning so far. The other thing I really like about this first chase group here Craig is that they they do seem to be whether intended or not sharing a lot of the load at the front. So, we’ve seen a lot of changes at uh the lead chaser currently uh Vogle at the front of this. Of course, he’s coming off his first pro win uh at 70.3. Valencia with a really strong all-around performance. Uh but this chase group, this first chase group really sharing the load here. We’ve seen Hirs at the front, we’ve seen Stor at the front, now we see Vogle at the front of this group. It’s really been SISburg uh and Canute who have been a little bit safer at the back of that pack. Uh but for the most part trading the leads up at the front uh which I think is a pretty efficient way to go about it. Yeah indeed I agree 100%. And I think when the groups a little smaller like this chase group one is a little smaller than the big group behind I think it’s easy to share the workload like that without getting in each other’s way and and keep the legal spacing. And often when you’ve only got half a dozen athletes, six athletes and they’re motivated you can space out further than the 12 mters and actually still move quicker. Um, so you don’t have that dynamic of rolling into the zone or having to be careful. You can you can just keep the gas on, keep the throttle wide open. Um, keep the spacing a little greater, but still move along and carry great momentum, you know, over this flat sort of part of the course, slightly underllaying part of the course, but they are moving well. Chase Group One, still losing a little bit of time at each check to to Christian Hogen Hog off the front, but um, yeah, I think they’d be more than content with their their positioning in this race so far. I think when you talk about that second chase group um you know the the cycling power in there the Magnus Ditlev you say you expect a move from him at some point uh Blumenfelt von Berg Patrick Langa is in that group to my mind Craig is it at all surprising that they’re not being more aggressive to dispense of Patrick Langa in in or sooner rather than later as opposed to giving him I don’t want to say a free ride but giving him a ride along with this group. I would think that they would be mindful of trying to distance themselves um from Patrick Langa sooner rather than later. Yeah. No, I I think it would be in the front of all of their minds. I mean, we saw Rudy von Bberg talk about it in some of the pre-race interviews that he did that there was a lot of talk that, you know, in Kona last year, Patrick didn’t draft, but he got a free ride in that group, so to speak. I mean, there’s and there’s no free rides as such, but you know that maybe the onus is on some of the other stronger bikers to to show their strength and distance Patrick. No one wants to get off the bike with Patrick. He’s shown he can consistently run
235 or better if the conditions are favorable. I think he ran a 237 here last year, which was surprising given that Christian Bloomfield ran a 232. Um, you know, I put Patrick in that sort of upper echelon of runners of course with Christian. So, but again, we’re only at 60 km D. There’s 120 to go. Um, but it wouldn’t escape the attention of of Magnus Ditlv and and Christian Blumenfeld and Rudy vonberg that that Patrick is still with them in that group. And each kilometer that ticks past and he’s still in that group. It’s it’s less and less time and less and less of a lead that they can build up over him. Well, that certainly is a story line that will develop as we continue to move through this uh Zoot bike course. But uh you’re looking at Vogle who is leading that first chase pack uh including Casper Storis, Wilheim Hirs, uh Casper Stepppniaak, Ben Canoot, and Andrea Salvisber with Daniel Bakagard sort of stuck uh in between the two chase groups, but uh it is Christian Hogenhog off the front who continues to outpace both chase groups. Uh not surprising. We saw him with a very very strong swim uh but uh now alone at the front of this race. Yeah. And I mean it’s it’s great for Christian, isn’t it? I mean it’s great for him. We know he’s a strong biker. We know he led off the bike last year as we get another close-up visual of Johannes Vogel here and he’s got that arrow position, the forearms, you know, angled up, hands in front of face. I mean that seems to be the standard position. You know, there’s a little variation between each of the athletes, but you know, in the drink bottles, it’s interesting, Dy. One thing that hasn’t escaped my attention, most of these athletes are carrying at least 3 lers of fluid with them
at all times. So, I I think they’re all super mindful of the the temperature and the conditions, but, you know, I’m I’m really intrigued to see Christian Hugenhog run today. I mean, he ran he’s known for running in the mid-240s, but he’s just come from a a really specific heat prep um and and a really sort of focused buildup for this race in particular. So, uh I think he’d have his sights set on 240 or better. Um you know, in cans just a few short weeks ago, we saw Matthew Marquart break 240 for the first time. He ran at 239. And I think that’s the benchmark now that a lot of these athletes are aiming for. And it’s it’s the minimum requirement to win a big race. as we see
this group slightly
Ben Ben Canute trying to make a move there and you see this on undulating courses don’t you where this the you know you’re on a flat fast section at 50 km an hour and then you hit a little uphill and the speed’s dropped to under 40 km an hour and the the group tends to bunch up and they have to be super careful here this group we can see all the motos with them there off the side just monitoring their spacing you know they’ve got to keep a minimum of of 12 meters and I think it’s always good course management to you you know, in a group that’s only got half a dozen athletes to space that out to 15 or 17 meters just because of this concertinering. You’ve got to got to be super careful you don’t encroach that draft zone because the rules state that if you do enter the draft zone, you’ve got to keep making forward momentum until you make the pass. So, you know, all the athletes know the rules and they they know that there’s plenty of to out on course here. Well, and of course with Race Ranger, they’ll know that once they do encroach that draft zone, if you do get that sort of accordion effect going up some of these rolling uh sections of the course, once that light turns red, uh they’ve got to go. They’re under a lot of uh surveillance surveillance there. You can see all of the motos, of course, some of them media um but a lot of them will be technical officials. And so you don’t want to get caught, to your point, up uh with that red light because you’ve got to burn a lot of matches to move yourself to the front of this to keep yourself safe. Yeah. And just interesting at that last time check, Dee, that
Christian Hugenhog is just riding away from everyone,
even the second chase group. I mean, I thought maybe they would potentially hold the gap or um but he’s he’s slowly and but surely just riding away from the entire field. Again, we’re still very early into this bike ride and I just cannot imagine a world where Magnus Ditliff is going to want to ride this whole 180k with some of the athletes who are in that that chase group two with him. Uh, you know, Christian Blumenfeld, we know he’s one of the better runners, if not the best marathon runner in this race. I’d put him up there with Patrick Langer, but he’s also aggressive on the bike. And I don’t I don’t think he just wants to watch the, you know, the race ride away up the road like it is at the moment. Well, and it’s not just Hogenhog. I mean, if we look at at some of our GPS data now, it looks like Chase one is actually even pulling away now. that gap was at around 2 minutes, went to 2:30, and now we’re seeing it at 3 minutes. So, I I think that Chase 2, while there’s a lot of miles left to go, or kilometers, depending on where you’re watching, um they can’t be too complacent. They’ve got to be mindful um of managing that gap.
No, absolutely. I mean every kilometer that passes us here on the bike course and every time check that we we go past if if that gap grows even by 30 seconds or a minute that’s that’s a 20 km chase to shut that down again 20 to 30 km of of of higher output higher core body temperature to shut that down at the back end of this bike ride when the temperatures are getting up there. So, you know, let’s keep an eye on that chase group two with a lot of our pre-race favorites because they need to stop the bleeding here, particularly to this chase group one, but also to Christian Hogan Hog up the road. And you know, Ben Canut, we just got a great shot of him there. He looks great and he’s in a great position here. Super experienced athlete. He knows how to find his way onto the podium of big races and I’m sure he’s really delighted with how his race is playing out so far. Oh, absolutely. I think he’s managing this uh really well. I had said just moments ago that he was one of the athletes in this chase one group uh who hadn’t put his nose at the front of the race, but whether it was because he got caught up uh in that rolling section and and saw that race ranger turn red. Uh this is the first time we’ve seen him at the front of that group uh taking a turn. But yeah, I think he’s managing this really well. Swam in that front group as we expected him to manage that swim really well as well. We never saw him right on the front, but he was sort of third and fourth. um foot so to speak if you’re talking about the swim course uh and had saw him riding third or fourth wheel in this chase one but for the first time at the front of course Ben can saying it again uh needs a qualifying spot to the Iron Man World Championship so that certainly is a priority for him uh to secure that that qualifying slot came a long way over here could have waited stayed a little closer to home at Iron Man Lake Placid but wanted to test himself uh against this really high quality field and I think uh has every reason to be pleased with how things are going thus far. Just watching Christian Hogenhog take that sweeping left at speed there. This road surface looks beautiful. They’re carrying their speed through the corners and you know I just love the the different positions he’s you know even though they’re more aerodynamic. The hip angle is open more than ever because of the the new triathlon specific bikes. And just looking at Christian’s front end here, it seems to be different. He’s his arms, his upper arms are not sort of at the same angle as a lot of the others. They’re sort of at a different angle, but it seems to work for him. He can maintain that position and that high power comfortable position that he likes and, you know, closes the gap right off between his his hands and his face. There’s not a lot of gap there at all for wind to create turbulence in there and hit that frontal surface area of his body. But yeah, he’s making his way off the front of this field. And yeah, no, I agree 100% with, you know, I think Casper Storis is another one who fits into that category that you you talked about with Ben Kuis there. Like he’s in just a really good race situation right now with a fast, motivated group that’s that’s edging away from a lot of the pre-race favorites. And it’s not too big a group to manage on the road here. Yeah. You know, again, I just watching Christian Hogen take that that corner back there brings me back to a year ago when we had very different conditions. Again, we had a bit of rain uh and Christian Hogenhog was one of the athletes that actually skidded out on this course uh a year ago on one of those turns, but very different conditions now, able to take advantage of those great technical skills. Uh every second matters uh as we um continue on the journey through the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. That’s [Music] [Applause] [Music] heat. [Music] [Music] You know and we The thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] This is the my Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. I’m Dee Griezbower live in studio alongside Craig Alexander. You are looking at Christian Hoganhog who is riding away from a very very strong field overall. We’ve had two distinct chase groups take form each with about six to eight athletes each. The first chase group sits at about two minutes back with the second chase group at about five minutes back. And this race, Craig, has not been without drama. Uh we have had uh a lot of technical malfunctions for the athletes. Notably, our early leader uh Shamberg lost his front end. Uh stopped to have it repaired. Uh lost a gap of time uh which allowed Christian Hogenhog to make his move towards the front of this race. And now he sits alone and he looks great taking these corners at speed on the open roads outside Frankfurt now and yeah he’s having a great race Christian Hogan Hog it’s it started with a swim he tucked himself nicely into that front group um and you know apart from Yona Shamberg’s early breakaway which culminated with a mechanical as you just talked about Dee as you just touched on it’s been all Christian Hogenhog at this point but um interesting ly we just got word from the course that Yan Shamberg’s whole front end has just come off the bike and he’s he’s tossed it into the field there. So he’s he’s riding this bike like a road bike and you know we let’s keep an eye off to him because there’s a significant error disadvantage but we did see SVG Loftset do something similar a month ago at the Iron Man Hamburg European Championships for women where her whole arrow bar came loose. So she was she sort of had one arm in the arrow bar and one arm on the base bar and she was able to battle on as we see Shawnberg. He’s having a conversation with the Yeah, he’s having a conversation with the the race official. Now my my question and what’s going through my mind at the moment. Where did he dispose of those arrow bars and is he going to get a penalty for littering
or abandonment of equipment?
That would just that would just rub salt in the wound. But if if that motorbike gets any closer, Yonas can hop on the back of it. I mean, he needs to just get out.
He may want to.
He just needs to move left. I mean, let’s give the guy a break. What What was he meant to do? Stick it in his back pocket. I mean I mean, truthfully, he’s just I mean, I know the rules are the rules, and we we have to abide by the rules, but he’s had terrible luck. He’s now riding without the front end of his bike. Um, and it looks like they’re remmonstrating or or the race officials remmonstrating with him because as we know, DD there is a rule about intentional litting and even unintentional littering. It’s just not permitted at all.
Yeah, we’re getting we’re getting word from from now down from the course and from our technical team on the ground uh that the race officials have decided that uh his bike setup in its uh current condition is not safe uh either for himself or other riders around him. he was riding in a group and they just think that it’s it’s not a safe position. He’s lost the ability um certainly to to shift from at least a different location. One would assume he’s got shifters on that base bar. Uh but technical officials deciding that in the current condition given the fact that the bike seems to be falling apart. I think maybe there’s some concern other parts may not be secure as well. Uh would that base bar be in jeopardy of of falling off? So, at the moment, technical officials telling him uh it’s not safe. He’s going to have to cease and desist from um from the rest of the race, which is which is terrible because this this guy was given it the old college try despite uh some really ill fate out there so far. But, uh his day I is going to come to an end.
That is unfortunate. I mean, I think it’s a a safer position than being down on the arrow bars to be honest. I mean, he’s he’s just riding it like a road bike almost given that yeah, it’s not a road bike set up. his weights way further forward, but it’s not a super super technical course. But anyway, they’re the rules. Um, he was probably going to be assessed an intentional littering penalty anyway. So, um, just a really unfortunate turn of events for Yona Shamberg, whose race for the first hour to an hour 20 couldn’t have gone any better, but it’s actually turned into a nightmare for him.
Yeah. Uh, I mean, and and really really unfortunate because it it seemed like it was going to be I mean, early on his day, he was he was taking some chances there um strategy-wise, flying off the front uh out of the swim all on his own until disaster struck and and disaster has gone from bad to worse. Uh he did get some help from uh a mechanic out there to get the bike back together, but it doesn’t look like it held and uh technical officials just deciding that it is not a safe thing. So it looks like he will soft pedal his way. Uh this is a twoloop bike course, so he will soft pedal his way back into the city and his day is unfortunately done. The good news is that he has a qualifying slot. He’s not one of our athletes who needed a qualifying slot for the Iron Man World Championship. But given the fact that this was only his second Iron Man, I think he was probably looking forward to gaining that valuable race experience, which is why he was sort of sticking it out despite less than ideal circumstances with his bike. But you can see there, maybe that’s why it’s not safe. You’ve got that that um stack there pointing up like a dagger. Uh and if anything should happen, he certainly don’t want to impale himself or anybody else.
Yeah. And that’s that’s clearly not safe looking at that sort of top tube section or whatever you want to call it. The stack height really that’s just
um yeah, it looks like a a lethal weapon there just sticking up towards his head. So the officials have made the right core. It’s it’s a just an unfortunate situation. It’s a part of racing and you know De I love how you’re glass half full. I’m more glass half empty on this one. I mean I feel for Shawn Berg. He was one of the contenders for the Iron Man Pro Series. um you know he may need to look at getting himself on the start line in Iron Man Lake Placid in a few weeks because he if he wants to figure on the podium of the Iron Man Pro Series at the end of the year he needs a third Iron Man um you know to score points because of course the way the series works it’s five races count towards your your series tally at the end of the season and three of them are Iron Man races so he needs that third race and you’re 100% correct Dee the race official just pointing to that sort of stack that’s just exposed right at the top of his base bar, which does look like almost like a knife just jutting out of his arrow bars there.
Yeah. I mean, all it would take for it was for him to go, you know, over a bump and go sort of butt over teacups, as they say, so to speak, uh for that to become a real hazard uh to him. Uh so technical officials making the right call. His day is over, unfortunately. But that is not the end of his season. We will see him again. that uh start list for Lake Placid closed a couple of days ago. So whether he’s on it uh as a hedge or not, he’s gonna have to reshuffle his season because to your point, yeah, Pro Series points matter. Uh but at least he’s got his his birth to the World Championship. Yeah, we’re just getting wood. And here we are uh back. Uh I believe this is still Chase Casperis.
Yeah, this is Yeah,
this is Chase one. Yeah, Casper Storis. Um and they’re through that last split they’re holding now to the lead three minutes back. And interestingly that the group behind this group with a lot of the big pre-race favorites has gained 10 seconds. So certainly nothing to scream from the rooftops just yet. But we’ll watch the pattern of these splits as they unfold. And we’re getting word from the course that Cam Worf is doing what he does, what he loves to do, which is eat his way through the the the groups ahead of him. And um so we’ll keep an eye to whether he can sort of latch back onto that group that’s five minutes back. of Christian Hogenhog at the front of the race and that would be quite an effort for Cam if he’s able to do that because I mean he was spotting you know KB big blue Langanger Magnus Ditliff about 3 minutes out of the swim 3 or four minutes I think maybe even more so if he’s closed that down in 75 km that’s some great riding by Cam Worth
also you know you talk about some of the dynamics in uh the chase 2 uh putting 10 seconds into chase one but also starting to shed Patrick Langa a little bit uh through 69 and a half kilometers. Langa now not a lot but about 20 seconds back actually probably 30 seconds back of the front of Chase 2. Uh so that group starting to make a move away from Patrick Langa as well.
Yeah. And I mean that was I don’t want to say it was inevitable but I mean you and I have been talking about it Dee and I think it was all the the talk before the race uh you know for Patrick Ler where you know the story line for him is where does he come out of the swim and and also how does he find this dynamic on the bike because we we know you know none of these gentlemen not one of them not one single one of them want to get off the bike with Patrick Lugger u so you know I still feel Christian Blumenfelt um can match him when it comes to an Iron Man marathon. But I mean, if you feel like you can distance him on the bike, why not? Why take the chance of getting off the bike and rolling into T2 with him? As we see Yona Shamberg talking with the race officials here, I’m sure I’m sure they’re organizing a potentially a lift back to to T1. Yeah, you can see the disappointment and frustration uh in his face, but that’s fuel for the fire for the rest of the season. Um and and certainly for the future uh took some some big risks and I think we both were applauding uh his aggressive riding uh and the race strategy early on. Not meant to be today. Uh he’ll have to save it for another day and there will be another day. One of the benefits of the Iron Man Pro series there’s you know it’s a season it’s a season long affair but you know these athletes are very particular. I think one of the things that the Iron Man Pro Series has done is just make a lot of the athletes, you know, much more meticulous with their race planning. We heard Rudy von Berg pre-race talk about the need or or or his desire to get 8, 10 or 12 week blocks in between his big races. And you know, these athletes schedule their season well in advance, but you know, they’re also professional athletes. They do factor in some flexibility and contingency plans as well. Well, that’s just the thing. They have to be meticulous about the planning because the level of competition is so high. And as we said earlier, they really need to be firing on all cylinders at every single race. They can’t have a race where they’re slightly off because the level of competition is just so high. So, yes, they have to be meticulous, but they also have to be flexible because things like this do happen and uh there are flat tires, there are things that happen. And so while you need to be meticulous, you also need to be flexible. So it’s a really it’s it’s it’s the series is phenomenal in that regard because it requires just that level of focus but also balance and flexibility. No, absolutely. As we see our leader cresting a hill and just again just being really disciplined with pouring that water on his neck, in his armpits, in his groin, trying to keep himself cool. But no, I agree D. For me, I mean, one of the huge revelations the past couple of seasons has been the advent of the Iron Man Pro Series. I mean, we just see a seasonl long narrative now. We see greater depth in the bigger races outside of the World Championships. Um, you know, there was a time there where you would, particularly in the Iron Man distance racing, not so much in the middle distance or Iron Man 70.3 because I think we’ve all always seen great depth in those races, but with the Iron Man races, we would really only see worldass fields and that that really sort of that great competitive depth at at world championships or maybe some of the European Championships. And you know, as fans of the sport, we’re just getting treated to it a lot more often now.
And a lot more names coming into the sport. I mean, certainly the opportunity with the Pro Series uh to to make significant amounts of money, money that professional triathletes haven’t seen historically, uh certainly is bringing a lot of people up to the longer distance who might have stayed at the middle distance. Um, so I think we’re seeing a lot more a lot more athletes and the depth of field just just absolutely skyrocketing. Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, it’s a $1.7 million prize purse at the end of the season. $200,000 for those athletes good enough and lucky enough to win. Last year, of course, in the women’s racing that was Cat Matthews and and for the boys, it was Gregory Barnaby. So, it’s a professional sport. These athletes need to be rewarded accordingly and they are and I think they earn every cent that they make. It’s such hard racing as we get a sort of a uh we’re getting a visual now of Casper Steepnak who’s and he’s still in that chase group one. I mean he’s one of those athletes you talked about Dee like Ben Canute and and also Andreas Sverlessberg who has had a great swim and have just been sort of you know meandering I don’t like to use the word meandering but they’ve been navigating the early kilometers just in a really uneventful way riding to their plan really steady this group seems to be moving well and Casper you know comes into this race you had a 10th place finish earlier this year at Iron Man Texas a North American championship so we know he comes in with with reasonably good form and fitness and I’m sure he’s looking to improve on on that 10th place and and an eighth place finish that he got here last year. And another athlete uh along with Ben Canute uh looking for that qualifying slot. Uh he still is in need for of one of those. So that will definitely be playing in his mind. Um, you know, how I I think for some of those athletes, and we mentioned Kieran Linders, Casper Stempnak, uh, Christian Hogenhog, uh, and Cameron Worf, some of our top named athletes, uh, who need qualifying slots for the Iron Man World Championship. Do they race slightly more conservatively here to try to protect that spot as opposed to sort of going for broke for more points, for the win, etc., etc., because there are so many points like there’s no chance you compete at the Iron Man Pro Series if you’re not at the World Championship. So, a lot of those athletes without the slot are going to be trying to defend that slot, I think, almost as their top priority. Yeah, potentially. I think it’s a good point. I think but I think their their mind and their thinking might sort of drift to that later in the marathon when they maybe perhaps need to go into damage control. But I think at this point in the race, your major priority is to win the race. I mean, if you win the race, you bag the 5,000 IM Pro Series points and you also get the the nice qualification slot if you haven’t already got one. So, you know, a lot of those problems go hand in hand. If you win the race, I think a lot of those other scenarios that we talk about sort of take care of themselves. But again, to your point, if if it becomes a real death march in that run, the heat gets up and you need to make a decision whether do you go for the win and roll the dice and potentially at some point the wheels may come off or do you sort of circle the wagons a little bit and race a little more conservatively just to lock up that World Championship qualification slot and and more Pro Series points. I mean, they’re definitely decisions that each athlete will be faced with at some point in this marathon. I think as we look at here at Hirs who is a part of chase one. We look back in the tracker to chase two to see that sort of power group, that momentum group. Christian Blumenfelt, Magnus Ditlev, Rudy Vonberg. They are stacked up one, two, three in that chase. They’ve got Daniel Bakagard with them. Gustaf Eden still holding on. But of note, Patrick Langa through 75 1/2 kilometers uh is now almost a minute back of chase 2. So that he’s losing a lot of time once he lost touch with Chase 2. Uh he is bleeding time uh in a big way.
Yeah. Well, let’s keep an eye on that because I think
I mean that was six kilometers. Yeah. that that and that that that would raise your eyebrows because normally when you if the the pace is too quick and you start drifting off the back of a group, you want to do it in sort of a a well-managed way. You don’t want to lose a minute and six kilometers. So either he suffered a mechanical something’s happened, he’s gone through a real flat patch, or the other boys are just saying, you know what, we’re we’ve had enough of him being in our post code and we’re we’re just going to, you know, open the throttle up a little bit here as we see a nice closeup of Casper Steepnak. Again, just a really consistent athlete on the Iron Man Pro Series. Um he’s he’s bagged some good results. Seventh here last year, 10th earlier this year in Texas. I think I said he was eighth here last year. He was actually seventh, but still looking good. Still looking comfortable. Upper body completely motionless. He just looks Yeah. relaxed as he crests this little hill out on course. We’re at sort of a more exposed part of the course here, Dee, where the wind could be a factor, although we’re hearing the winds are quite light. But, you know, this course is quite exposed. If the wind gets up, that could certainly play into the hands of the stronger cyclist. But yeah, it was interesting that last check you just gave us how Magnus Stitliff has now moved to the front of Chase group two and I think we expect to see some fireworks.
Well, not only that, but uh I’m just watching the time gap and the gap uh between Chase one and Chase 2 is actually starting to come down. So, I think those those big boy bikers in Chase 2 are starting to get a move on uh moving towards Chase One, but also moving away uh from Patrick Langa. We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Music] [Music] My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Qatar Airways, going places together, and by Bulldog, man’s best friend. And we are here through still on the first lap of this Zoot bike course. Uh lots of race dynamics playing out. Christian Hogenhog at the front of the race. There’s a small chase group uh including Casper Storis, Ben Canute, Johannes Vogel, Andrea Salvisber, and Casper Stepheniaak. But the big movers on the course are Magnus Ditlev, Christian Blumenfeld, Rudy von Bourb, Daniel Bakagard closing in on Chase One. Yeah, and we’re with we’re with Chase One now. We were with William Hirs at the back of Chase One there. And that group is Yeah. just getting about their business. Very uneventful for them. I think very manageable number of athletes, six or seven in that group and they seem to be sharing the workload now. Um it’s interesting though I think yeah the big the big I guess storyline for me in the last 15 minutes is that Patrick Lunger has been distanced from chase group two and it looks like as you mentioned the uh some of the big boy bikers are putting their big boy pants on and they’ve they’ve had enough of just being sort of bit players in this thing and they want to get they want to get towards the front and I think you know for someone like Magnus Ditliff that that first I guess priority is to close the gap down to chase group one and then get himself up into thin air off the front of the race as we see Christian Hogenhog doing right now. Yeah, Christian Hogenhog continuing to to dominate this Zoot bike course. Uh mindful that the temperatures are rising so through the aid stations uh getting that water uh to keep that core body temperature down not only uh in the body but on the body uh to maintain that cooling. as we take a look at the skyline there. That is where the athletes are headed back uh into the city before they will uh head back out for loop number two on this zoot bike course. And I think it’ll be really interesting to see if this dynamic continues to play out how the dynamic changes when uh the fraction of chase 2 of Magnus Ditlev, Christian Blumenfeld, uh Rudy von Berg, uh Arnold is in that group as well. when they converge with Chase one, that’s going to be a much larger uh less agile manageable pack. Uh I would anticipate that Ditlev Blumenfeld and the the stronger cyclist in that group are not going to stick around. They’ll bike through it. Uh but certainly for a time that’s going to add some congestion uh potentially at a point when these athletes are still in uh the more dense uh urban city center. Yeah, just interesting watching chase group one here and the back of the group will hers when when you see athletes at the back of the group stop pedaling so they don’t encroach on the draft zone ahead. That to me says the pace is not super hot here. When the pace is hot, you’re you’re always at just at your limits. And I I think this this groups is almost riding within itself. But no, I agree. I think when we get to that 100 110 120 km mark of this race, the heat’s getting up there and we know the pedigree of Magnus on the bike. We know Rudy von Bberg how he can ride Christian Blumen felt Gustaf Eden particularly if Gustaf is finding some some form and and I just feel that those those athletes that I mentioned they will they will ride a very hard last bike course. So yeah, that that’s the dynamic we need to look for. And as you mentioned, you know, when when they as we see uh we see Christian multiskilling here. I love this
elbows in the looks like he’s unwrapping a Marsbar or a Snickers as we call it down in Australia, but I’m sure it’s a
it’s a precision hydration chew bar. It’s a It’s a chew bar.
There you go. So, um he’s being sponsored. Correct. Nice work, Christian. The sponsors are no doubt watching. And um yeah, so when they get back after lap one and they have to negotiate or sort of navigate their way through that technical part of town, it’s a perfect play for someone like Magnus Ditlev if he can if he can be on the front of the group already to launch an attack from. So um you know I think DD you know in recent times one of the things we have seen you know with the racing the men’s and the women’s racing is just the top athletes how they’re able to even split their their bike ride and their marathon. And I think a part of it is training, but a big part of it is also the the nutrition. I I really feel the nutrition has come on leaps and bounds in endurance sports the last five or eight years. Um you know just the quality of nutrition, the athletes ability to keep their carbohydrates up to keep their you know to minimize or mitigate their electrolyte depletion and you know it’s a big part of performance for the muscles to be able to contract and and generate maximum force, maximum output. Um the athletes are mindful of all of those things and and we’re always mindful and knew about these things. But it was just hard to find products where you could you know manage your losses as well as the athletes do these days as we see Casper Storis here again just really looking smooth and and rhythmical tucked into this chase group one. Um he seems to have kept himself towards the front of this group DD and out of a lot of trouble that you can get yourself into on the back of these groups. Yeah, certainly through that last sort of turn, we saw a little bit of overtaking and and athletes getting a little jumbled up. Uh certainly safer to be at the front of the group rather than at the back where you’re going to have to to respond to to the according effect of what’s going on ahead of you. And it looks like uh Stor may be going off the front entirely here up again. another conversation uh with a race official. That’s Salisburg. So that conversation, this is from a moment ago. So that’s Salisburg who was at the front of that group uh having a conversation with the official again. I don’t see a card. No, he needs to move though that official. He needs to do what? Because he’s just bottlenecking the course there. But you’re right. Sometimes because of safety concerns, the motorbike can’t come up and and talk to the athletes. So they may assess a penalty but not be able to communicate that to the athlete for one or two or three or even 4 km down the road. But um yeah, I just found at that particular point of the course that was a pinch point on the course there and the athletes were just encroaching right from behind that motorbike. So yeah, we’ll keep an eye on on what was happening there with Andreas Sversburg. Again, it’s where you want to have like mics on all the athletes down there to see what these conversations are are going on. But right now, mostly what we’ve seen are conversations. We haven’t heard of any penalties yet uh from our technical officials, at least not amongst our favorites, but we have seen quite a few conversations between athletes and officials out on the course. as we take a look there at the gorgeous Frankfurt skyline. Such an interesting course. Uh such a densely urban uh city and yet um a lot of the the mixed topography of the course. The athletes really do get out into the open countryside. Um, a great mix of of technical riding throughout the city and then open riding out in more in the countryside as Christian Hogenhog, our current race leader, making his way to the end of the first loop of this zoot bike course. That last time check he was about nearly three and a half minutes up from chase one. Chase 2 making their move. They’re 420ish down. Uh, they are making about a minute down now on chase one. So, those two chase groups, one and two, uh, converging and again, possibly right in the city center. So, that’ll make for uh, some exciting riding.
Yeah, that’s going to be fun to watch. That’s perfect timing that if that chase group two does catch up that they they tack onto the back of Chase Group One coming through sort of the technical section in town as we see Christian coming to the end of his first loop. And this is a magnificent course, Dee. I mean, that skyline of Frankfurt, it’s it’s not too often you get big races in urban settings, and I love this. You get a mix of everything. Um, so, but yeah, I I’m really looking forward to this this second loop on the bike. I I think we’re going to learn a lot more about how this race is going to unfold. Um, I can’t imagine that Magnus wants to be anywhere near some of the guys he’s with on the bike here. Um, so, and the temperatures are getting up there. So yeah, it’s interesting that Chase Group One, there’s been a lot of demonstrating between the athletes and the technical officials, but we don’t think there’s been any penalties assessed as of yet. Uh, which is a good thing. And it just for me that a lot of the strength apart from Christian Hugenhog who’s off the front, a lot of the bike strength is in that chase group too. You know, Rudy von Berg, Christian Blumenfeld, Gustaf Eden, Magnus Ditlev obviously. So um, they will not want to be anywhere near some of these other guys coming into T2. So, they’ve got the second loop of this bike to really do some damage. And I think we’re going to see some some grenades dropped at the start of this second loop.
Yeah. You know, you and I were sort of speculating. We knew that group would form at some point. Uh I was sort of I thought it would happen sooner. Uh they were very patient uh before making that move certainly. And and I’m wondering, we haven’t had uh cameras on them and hopefully when these groups converge, we will get our first look at uh DitLv, Blumenfeld, Vonberg, uh that group on the bike. Who the instigator in that group is? We’ve seen on the GPS that it it hasn’t been just one. I’ve seen Ditv at the front. I’ve seen uh Blumenfeld currently at the front of that that uh chase 2. uh who the instigator of that was uh to get that group moving, but they are certainly on the move now as we anticipated that they would be. And here we have Hogenhog uh lapping their their age group athletes. So he is well into now the second loop of this Zoot bike course. And I don’t think given the nature of the course that he will get eyes on the guys behind him. I think he’ll be good and gone uh by the time they make their way into the city. Uh but uh Hogan Hog out for loop number two. Yeah. And he’s looking amazing. He’s looking amazing. He looks good. He looks like he did two hours ago and I just I just got a split there. He rode that first loop 202. So um he’s looking great, Christian. And he’s I think he’d be really happy with his race at the present. But yeah, I mean all those names you mentioned, Dee, I mean take your pick. It could have been anyone. It could be any one of those Vonberg, Ditlf, Eden who really want to be agitators in that chase group, too. I think they all have the power to do it. I think, you know, tactically it’s smart to do it coming into town. I mean, when the average speeds drop off, it’s easier to attack out on the open roads when, you know, the group’s rolling at 50 km an hour. It’s hard to get away. So, I think those, you know, experienced, powerful bikers will be wanting to make a move and not only hurt some of some of the other athletes in chase group two, but but bridge up to chase group one and just blow straight through chase group one. I I’m I imagine they’re not they’re not going to want to sit around and and take take anyone along for the ride on loop two.
Well, no. And for the first part of loop one, they were taking Patrick Langanger around uh for a ride. But Patrick Langanger, now the one uh hemorrhaging, he’s lost almost two minutes in the last uh 20k uh to Chase 2. So things not going Patrick Lango’s way at present. But off to lap two on the zoo bike course. [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, [Applause] hey, hey, [Music] Meet Kicker Run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run free mode. A gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speed and grade for you. Kicker run by Wahoo. It’s time to run free. [Music] Here’s [Music] Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential. Her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trid Dot, Elizabeth gets faster faster. And what does she have to do?
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Trot, we do the technology, you do the training. I’m Craig Alexander with Diddy Griebower and you’re watching the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men, race 11 of the 2025 Iron Man Pro Series. And we’re here at the start of the second lap with our leader, Christian Hugenhog, who really is having I don’t want to say the race of his life, but he’s having a great race. He had a great swim. He got himself into an elite little front group, and now he’s distancing himself from his competition as we flash back to the chase group one who are navigating the technical part at the end of lap one, start of lap two, coming back through the main part of Frankfurt here. and starting to pass some of the age group athletes who are just heading out, starting their day. And Dee, it’s it’s an exciting race, but I’m really looking forward to this second loop on the bike because I think we’re going to see some fireworks.
Oh, absolutely. We’ve already seen a lot of excitement uh in the first uh lap, including the swim. Uh again, pre-race bigname uh Cameron Worf uh over eight and a half minutes back out of the swim. He has yet to make an appearance. He is still chipping away. Uh we had two distinct chase one, Chase 2. Chase 2 now converging. Uh with chase one, we’ve had some technical issues that have have seen um uh poor uh Jonas uh Shawnberg have to withdraw from the race. Um so we’ve seen certainly a lot of a lot of action and I think we’re only going to see more as we continue through this zoot bike course. Interestingly, Patrick Langanger started losing touch with his group towards the end of loop one there. And you know, honestly, I’m not I’m not concerned yet because maybe that’s a tactical decision. I I think Patrick has the ability even on a hot hot day to run a low 230 marathon here. So, I think he can spot seven or eight minutes potentially to to many of the other men in this field. And provided he finishes the ride with some juice left in the tank. you need some gas left in the tank. So, you know, if if an athlete over bikes and the wheels come off, that’s that’s a different scenario. But if it’s a if it was a tactical move or a strategic move by Patrick to to ride with a lot of the contenders for as long as possible and then slowly edge his way off the back of the group, but you know, maintain his output and and manage himself, his core body temperature, his fueling, his hydration. I you know if he’s doing all of those things and checking those boxes I’m confident he can run a 230 to a 235 marathon somewhere in that ballpark here and you know at the very least I think that can be good enough to get a top five or a podium if not better.
Yeah and he’s not alone out there. I mean, while he has uh peeled off the back of Chase 2, he’s still in a group a small group uh of four athletes, Paul Schuster, uh Morton Schmidt and Dice, uh Matis. Uh so he’s not alone out there, which helps, but I wouldn’t say that that’s the kind of firepower he’s going to want to hitch his cart to um for the whole second lap of this bike. But that is the fate that he’s got and we’ll see how uh close he’s able to stay uh to some of our bigname contenders through the second lap.
Yeah, for sure. We’ll keep an eye on his splits and you know if the gap’s slowly widening that that’s not as concerning as if you know he just falls off a cliff and you know starts losing chunks of minutes at each time split. So we’ll keep an eye on that. You see this this part of the course here is again it’s the it’s the technical sort of narrowest narrower section in town. Um got some some of the age group athletes on course. So these guys will be looking to make their way through and out onto those open roads again and hit hit the you know hit the heights 50 55k an hour. I think the road surface looks good. Average speeds look good and um you know I expect to see some moves in this second lap. Yeah. again and uh our athletes having to navigate some of the traffic in the technical sections with the lapped age group athletes. Uh certainly adds um a degree of difficulty through the more technical section here. Um athletes wanting to capitalize because this is where to your point once you get back to the open roads it’s harder to make a move. They they could make a move here but they’ve got to they’ve got to navigate those age group athletes as well. Um, but it’s an opportunity uh if you’re willing to take the chance. Yeah. No, for sure. And I mean, these guys have great bike handling skills, great technical ability. So, they’ll be as we get a look now at Patrick Langer as he starts his second loop. And yeah, he looks I don’t know. I wouldn’t say he looks comfortable. His cadence a little a little lower than it was before. And we typically when Pat Oh, sorry. When when we see Patrick riding well, he’s got a little bit of rhythm in his shoulders and his rhythm, I agree, Craig, looks a little off.
Yeah, he looks a little off to me for sure. I mean, I think he’s certainly not a a natural bike rider like some of the other boys, but we’ve seen him. I mean, he biked a 406 in Kona last year. So, this man can ride a bike. He just he looks a little off to me today. I’m not sure. But again, I am still backing in his ability to I mean I mean his body language to me still looks like he’s he’s up for the fight. Um and I I think he’ll back himself in, you know, if he he can stay close enough. I think he’s always confident in his ability to have if not the fastest the second fastest run on course. And um so all is not lost for this man just yet.
Nope, definitely not. But I am eyeing this GPS data uh that says chase 2 is just 40 seconds uh behind chase one. But sticking with Patrick Langa, we met with Patrick uh pre-race uh for our a Fighting Chance series. Here’s a visit with Patrick Langa. Yeah, I can only imagine how great the feeling must be to finish this race uh on on top of the podium. Hey man.
Hey man. Hello.
How are you? Yeah. Good. Good. Good to be back. Uh fifth time racing here in Frankfurt. So uh yeah, excited as always. And um no, I think it’s going to be a great day. It’s a special place for me indeed. Um I grew up actually in the northern part of Hessen, which is the state we’re currently in. So, it’s 150 kilometers up north and um it’s just cool to to see so many familiar faces and friends coming out to this race and cheering me on and um it’s definitely definitely home turf. I had a really really bad swim uh year last year. Um but we analyzed what what happened and I think I I know what to do better this year. And um if you look at the swim in uh Kona uh was out of the water in force play. So it’s not that I’m not capable of it. And I think I proved it many times that I’m like u a pretty pretty solid allround uh triathlete and not just a runner. Um and so yeah, I just want to keep this uh this this positive momentum from from Kona, especially the good swim there. And uh so I know I can do it. I I know I can be close to the front on the bike as well. And uh for the runner, I have no doubt.
I suppose the the ultimate question is what’s it going to take Patrick Langanger to snag a European championship title here in Frankfurt? As always, we have to be thinking close to course record uh times. And um if you look at the time that Christian posted here last year, uh it’s insanely fast. also taking into consideration the the the conditions. So, um yeah, we we will see times sub 7:30 here um to take to take the win, which is uh yeah, just smoking fast. A Fighting Chance presented by Hoka is our race week series that pulls the curtain back and gives you a behindthescenes look at the everyday lives of our elite triathletes. Thanks to our friends at Hoka for that visit with Patrick Langa. For more on a fighting chance, you can check out our Instagram at iron manry and full episodes on proseries.ironirman.com or on our Iron Man YouTube channel. We’re here with our men’s leader, Mr. Christian Hugenhog. And he again is just really set about extending this leader. It’s slowly extending over chase group one, but I want to say holding steady with chase group two. Di looks like, you know, a lot of the stronger bikers in chase group two. They’re not making inroads on this man, but they’re they’re keeping the gap as it is. And I’m I’m just interested to see. I mean, there’s got to be movement from this second chase group. I think there’s too much depth of talent, too many strong bikers, too many athletes with their hearts set on winning this race um just to ride as one big group kind of like a procession for this second loop. But I really think Magnus Ditliff is going to launch at some point and and he will take possibly Rudy von Bur. We heard Rudy talk about having to make that decision at different races and um it’s a case by case, you know, depending on how his legs feel, but he feels he can up the pace towards the back half of the bike and not burn too many matches. So, yeah, there’s some still some interesting dynamics to play out, some interesting storylines here, but Christian Hugenhog is just having just a great race so far. Yeah, very aggressive on on lap one and and definitely holding that gap to chase two. We’re going to catch up uh with Chase 2 in just a second here. Moto’s getting back there. I want to get a read, Craig, on their body language to see um sort of who’s instigating, what their intent is, how organized they are. So, uh looking forward to getting eyes on that, which we will have momentarily. But, uh right now, Christian Hogenhog very much in control. Still looks remarkably well to me. I I see no change um in his his demeanor, his energy level, in perceived power that I can see going through those pedals. Um he just looks outstanding. Yeah, he looks exactly as he looked two hours ago. Same cadence, same posture, little bit of a shoulder roll, a little bit of a head bobble, but not a lot of upper body movement. Super efficient, and he’s opened up a three and a half minute lead. So, I mean, it’ll be interesting to know what kind of a lead or what kind of a number he has in his head. um that he thinks he needs. I think it’s going to be seven minutes he’d want. Um I don’t think he’s going to get seven minutes over everyone in the field, but over the majority of this chase group, I think he might get that amount of time. I think there’ll be breakaways from the chase group as we mentioned. It’s got to be Magnus Ditlv, Rudy von Berg. Um I’m thinking Christian Blumenfeld as well. So, but again, there’s a lot of there is a lot of talent and a lot of depth in that group. And it’s hard to break away when the average speeds get higher. And they do once they get out out of the town here into the open roads around Frankfurt. The average speeds are higher. And as we always see, it’s just harder to to bridge a gap or to break away from a group when the speeds the average speeds are just higher. And you said Craig that that to your mind a reasonable number for Hogan Hog and a number that he might find manageable is is seven minutes. That’s seven minutes on who? Like when we look at I mean again we still have a lot of riding left to do. But certainly we saw Christian Blumenfeld run extraordinarily well uh here. Rudy von Berg I don’t tend to think of him I mean he’s he’s consistent as all get out. Is he an athlete that could run seven minutes into Christian Hogenhog? I’m not sure. You know, that’s a finer line for me. Um, who amongst these chasers, and if we even blend chase one and chase two, does Hogan Hawk have to be worried about? You know, you threw down that number of seven minutes. Is that just Blumenfell? No, I I think he’ll have I think he’ll have around seven minutes on the remnants of that group who’s ever in it. But I think he’ll need more than 7 minutes on Christian Blumenfeld if he wants to win because I think I think Christian will run low 230 here. He did it last year 10 days after the Olympic Games. We saw him just even have sort of misadventure throughout the run. He was vomiting. He had toilet stops and he and he still ran a 232. Unbelievable really. Um I think this is a very fast course notwithstanding there’s some twists and turns and it’s lapsed. So there’ll there’ll be a bit of lap traffic as we saw with the women at the European Championships in Hamburg just four weeks ago. I think you know the the third and fourth lap they had a bit of age group traffic to navigate through but that that’s racing and these athletes are used to that. Um you know the upside is the age group is give you a lot of emotional uplift and support. So, um, you know, I think if if Christian Christian H as opposed to Christian B wants to win, he Christian H needs more than seven minutes over Christian B. I I think but I think, you know, he’ll have about seven minutes on the on the front group. The question is who’s going to be off the front of that front group? I think Magnus Ditlia for sure. I think Rudy von Berg as well. Um, you know, so you know, there’s a lot to play out in this race and and if if it gets too tactical that that group and that that’s why I just I don’t think someone like Magnus Ditliff will play tactics here. I think he’ll just blow straight through, chase group one and he’ll just ride a very evenpaced high output second lap. I don’t think he’ll bridge across to this man. Um, the lead’s too big now. I just think the remnants of that front group will have about 7 minutes deficit to the leader off the bike. But the question is who’s who’s between the leader and that group. Well, exciting times to come. Uh Christian Hogenhog through 106 kilometers, but behind that the fireworks are starting to go off. Uh the gap between chase one and chase two um is only about 20 seconds, which with that many athlete um if our um spotters on the course are giving us good information, which they always do, uh that’s going to create a 13man group, which is going to take time to sort out uh turn inside out and then have to your point the the Magnus Ditvs um sort of bike through them. Uh but it’s going to be a little congested there for a while, but that those two groups 20 seconds apart now. So, uh it’s all happening. Yeah. And it it’ll be interesting to see who in the in chase group one, you know, they would have been getting splits. So, really experienced athletes like Casper Storis, he probably has been anticipating this catch. And the question is, have they sort of managed their effort a little better the last 10 or 15 minutes? dropped the heart rate 5 to 10 beats just to regroup knowing that chase group two is about to attach onto the back of their group and knowing exactly who’s in that group. I think they’re expecting fireworks just like we are. Christian Hogenhow continuing to dominate his lead over all of the chasers now 4 and a half minutes. So Hoganhow continuing to ride strong, but lots of action happening behind him with the two chase groups, one and two, converging as one with 13 athletes now amongst the chasers. And now looking back even further, Patrick Langa at 746 back uh again still wedged into that smaller group. He is at the front of that now. Uh but with a group of 13 again as they’re getting out of the city into more open roads, they’re going to get out and get gone, which could be bad news. As we take a look for the first time at uh Christian Blumenfeld uh in chase 2, soon to be Chase one. Isn’t it amazing? We’re what, three hours into the race and we’re only clapping eyes on Christian right now. So, I I think it just speaks to the depth of the racing and the quality and a lot of these younger athletes who are keen to swim hard and take the race up the road and um it’s great. It’s it it lends to, you know, as us as fans of the sport watching, it leads to a really great and interesting race dynamic. And but again, this man has so much experience. I’m sure he’s not panicking. He knows what kind of a marathon, iron man marathon, he has up his sleeve and he’d be he’d be crunching the numbers. Um he it wouldn’t have escaped his attention that Patrick Lunger has has drifted off the back of this group. Um but he’d also have eyes on the front of the race. I mean that’s he’s a champion. He has a champions mindset. He’s he’s thinking about nothing other than victory. He’s not thinking about Iron Man Pro Series points or the $28,000 first prize paycheck. He’s he’s thinking about winning the race and adding a European title to his incredible resume. And uh it’s interesting you know this sort of congested narrower part of of the bike course DD it is hard to it’s harder and easier. I mean with with the sort of the stop start nature here gaps can form but the speeds aren’t as high here but the gaps can still open up for this group of 13. And I don’t think it’ll be a group for of 13 for very long. Yeah. And as we take our first real look at Christian Blumenfelt, let’s take a chance um to visit with a fighting chance presented by Hoka, our race week series that takes you into the inner everyday lives of our elite athletes. Christian Blumenfeld is certainly one of those athletes. Let’s have a visit with Christian Blumenfeld. The world champs outside of the world champs. So uh yeah, it is a European championship though and uh as you know like the strongest uh triathletes in the world comes from Europe. So it makes sense that it’s a tough one. Hello.
Hey. Don’t film my sweaty armpits. Please don’t film it. Okay.
Nutrition for a weekend.
Oh, that’s a lot of water gels. How many gels do you have?
I don’t know. That’s actually nutr nutrition for two. So, a lot of sugar. Easy to swim, easy to run or maybe a little bit of some strides on the run.
Last year was a runaway race for you.
Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, last year I just came here to validate. So I think I will have the same mindset this time around. Like I’m I’m just here to finish to validate my slot and then we will see where I’m ending up.
Is that a tactical mindset? Yeah. Yeah. I’m just here to validate. Been back home in Bergen since XM and uh training has been good. It’s uh obviously way easier to do the har specific sessions in the weather in Bergen compared to what we did like going into Texas. So the pace on the run has been good and the power has been good. So I just hope that uh that can translate into a good race here. We’ll head back home to Bergen after this race and then we’ll do a fiveweek block in the French mountains before heading down to the French coastline and preparing for N.
Thank you.
I can do my socks even higher.
Yeah, I think that’s a good idea, baby. Okay. Team Norway against team Denmark against team Germany this weekend by the looks of it.
Yeah, of course we have to make sure that it’s uh we would rather see three Norwegians on the podium than three Germans or three Danish people. So u uh we might have to talk a bit to the German team in order to work against Danish. How was the water
collecting the last 10 meters on land? 3k. Uh, no, it’s nice. It’s not too warm.
Not too warm. Hopefully, it’s uh better with like 24° than 21.9 because then
Yeah,
it’s a bit warm with that wet. So,
yeah.
How long are you going to run for?
Like uh uh 45 minutes. We have to leave from here in 65 minutes. So, need to put in enough time to get a shower as well. Byebye. [Music] Thanks to our friends at Hoka and to Christian Blumenfeld for spending time with us on a fighting chance. And if you want another look at Gustaf Eden in knee socks and speedo, you can check out uh full replays at proseries.ironironman.com and on our Ironman Triathlon YouTube channel. Back to the action here, Craig. Yeah, interesting to to hear Christian talk about he hasn’t done as many Iron Man specific sessions as he had done into Texas. I’m just wondering how many Iron Man specific sessions he did last year when this race was 10 days after the Olympics. I mean I don’t think it I don’t think it matters for that man to be honest. But what was interesting there Dee was watching a bit of the chaos through the aid station there. Um, some of our pro athletes trying to grab some aid, very congested part of the course, but again, the pros and age groups alike are are used to are used to that and and know to manage themselves well through those aid stations as we sort of start hitting more of the open roads out of the urban setting now. And um, you know, this race, we sit here and talk about Magnus Ditliff needing a lead or needing to separate. It’s also again, you know, that that race in Kona last year where Magnus went on a long chase of Sam Lelo on the bike, you will remember, and and and probably overbiked himself a touch. Well, we know Sam overbiked and and and Magnus did as well, and ended up sixth or seventh off the bike and yet ran himself up into second place. So Magnus Ditliff, like like all the athletes, we tend to gravitate towards their most um well-known discipline or their strongest discipline, but they they’re all wellrounded. So I mean, Magnus Ditliff would be more than confident. I know in Challenge Roth, he’s run 234 before. Um he’s he’s got a number of mid 230 marathons to his name. So I’m sure Magnus is very confident in his marathon ability, but he would still like to have some separation. Don’t get me wrong. Oh, I think he’d absolutely like some separation, but I think he also will remember the the price he paid, to your point, for pushing the pace at the end of the bike. I think, you know, as soon as he crossed the finish line at the Iron Man World Championship, that first 10K of the marathon were some dark times. So, uh, that’s that’s a lesson that stays with you. So, maybe he’s being just a little bit more controlled this time. We’ll find out. [Music] What do you want? Uh,
you know what’s that uh really good non-alcoholic beer I keep hearing about?
Do you have that really great non-alcoholic beer that I keep seeing?
Do you have a non-alcoholic beer that actually
actually tastes good? It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s that funny. Ask for it. [Music] [Music] not pick it You are endurance isn’t just about medals. It’s about showing up. Even when your brain says go and your body says no. Showing up means taking care of yourself, skin, and all. Because when you train hard, your skin works hard, too. That’s where Bulldog comes in. With products packed with brilliant natural origin ingredients that help prepare, protect, and recover your skin. No fuss, no nonsense. Bulldog skincare is man’s best friend. Official men’s care products of Iron Man Europe. This is the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship and this is race leader Christian Hoganhog who is enjoying a fiveinut lead over all of his pursuers. Uh some key components here, Chase 2 and Chase one have recently um well are about to very quickly merge and some of our race favorites uh will quickly move to the front of that chase group. Uh quite a race so far, Craig. It’s been a great race so far and I’m I’m loving Christian here just taking these corners at speed, cutting up the inside. Um to be honest, the amateurs are being amazing. They’re staying right and they’re staying off the sort of the the turning line, the apex, and Christian’s able to carry all his speed through these corners. And yeah, he’s just on a he’s on a mission here today. He’s um had a great swim. Set himself up really nicely. It was a an elite select little front group in the swim. And I think the big story line coming out of the swim was was his presence in that front group being one of the better bikers in the field. And he’s just slowly and steadily just added to his lead throughout the course of this bike ride so far. As we see that chase group one and chase group two coming together. And you know, we’re expecting to see some movement now on this second lap. Uh I imagine that some of the athletes in that group are maybe just on their limit and maybe even over biking where there’s a lot of the more experienced athletes and the sort of the higher level athletes like the athletes we’ve mentioned you know Magnus Ditliff Rudy von Bur Christian Blumenfelt Gustaf Eden typically he’d be an athlete you’d consider in this group as well they will just they won’t slow down on this second lap they’ll keep the the pressure and the power on and at the very least try and hold Christian’s lead here to to what it is and um and also do some damage to athletes not in that group like like Patrick Langer and it’s interesting you know Patrick’s the start of his season was similar to last year I think he got 17th in Oceanside this year he was 16th last year the big difference was last year he then went on to win Iron Man Texas a few weeks later and he didn’t get to race Texas this year so you know without a good race here his Iron Man Pro Series is is hanging by the balance absolutely for the pro series. Uh and I think there are some some questions. The reason he didn’t race in Iron Man, Texas, he had a adductor strain. I believe it was a bit of a I don’t know if you call it athletes like to differentiate between a niggle, which is not a full-blown injury, and an injury. I don’t know how much it sidelined him. Certainly kept him out of Iron Man Texas. Uh and no one really knows the status of that. I mean, obviously, he’s fit enough and and healthy enough to be to be racing here in Frankfurt, so one would assume um that he’s not going to turn up and jeopardize the rest of his season if he’s not at full health. Uh but he missed a bit of running, and so there were a lot of questions as to what his form would be in the wake of that injury. The the bonus side of that is that uh he’s going to be fresher than some other guys that have put in a lot of hard racing in the Pro Series thus far. Yeah, I think at his age, you know, sort of the 38, 39, missing a bit of training is not as important as just being healthy and injury-free. I I read it was an adductor injury, sort of an inflammation of where the adductor attaches to the femur and that that be that that injury actually can escalate and become a stress fracture quite easily. So, he did the right thing resting. Uh but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of run form he brings into the marathon today as again we’re just looking at Christian Hugen Hog and he is absolutely flying. He’s just a picture of efficiency effectiveness. Look at his upper body dee. It’s just you know that head position, the hand position, his cadence. Nothing has really changed for this man over the last two to three hours. And he still looks like he’s laying down a lot of power. I mean, he’s now on the open roads. He’s well into his second loop. And, you know, his his lead is it’s steadily growing. It’s steadily growing. And I mean, he’s having a great race. He’s having a great race. The question is, if he wants to win this race, what lead does he need? I mean, I look at his aerodynamics just looks so perfect. The way the helmet sits nicely uh between the shoulder blades there, he’s so still. Uh, my question is honestly, oh, there he goes. From a practical perspective, yeah, he’s laying down good power, but how is he even seeing a power meter number at the moment? His hands are so close to those thumbs. Uh, that would be hard for my aging eyes to be able to see, but so smooth. You could put a a cup of coffee uh between his shoulder blades, it would sit right there. Um, he just looks outstanding. And you can tell because he is now 514 up uh on the chasers again continuing. It’s it’s not massive time gaps, but it’s, you know, since halfway through the first loop, it’s been 10, 15 seconds almost every time in station.
Yeah. And I think that just speaks to how he’s managing himself and how he’s riding to his own power and schedule. I don’t think he’s over biking even close to it. Um, yeah. I love your coffee analogy. It reminds me of the old chocolate milk challenge where the the swimmers used to put the glass of chocolate milk on their heads. So, we could we could certainly do that with Christian right now. He looks great. Cadence is still good. Nothing has really changed for this man. But, yeah, he will
he will be riding to his strategy, to his pacing strategy. Uh, and he’ll be getting splits as well. So, I think he’s just going to keep chipping away and adding to that lead. Uh, and I think he’d be happy with seven or eight minute lead. Now, will it be enough? I I don’t know the answer to that, particularly if Christian Blumenfeld, the other Christian, and it’s not too often we refer to Christian Blumenfeld as the other Christian is is within seven or eight minutes. I I I just have that memory of him running at 232 last year indelibly imprinted on my brain. It just it was amazing to watch. And I know the conditions are different. It’s It’s forecast to be a little hotter, but I still think this man has the ability to do it. So many questions still to be answered. Again, the conditions that, you know, you look at Christian Blumenfelt and potentially running that low uh 230s. Uh yeah, the Heat. Christian can do well in the heat. He doesn’t always. We’ve seen him certainly at the Iron Man World Championship a year ago struggle. Um that was more nutritional than I think uh the temperatures. Um but the conditions do factor in that the the thing that that Blumenfeld has going for him is that he’s been tucked into a group for the entire race and Hogenhog’s been, you know, while not over biking doing it 100% on his own. And there’s there is a big difference there. Oh no, absolutely. there’s an energy saving in the group even at 15 or 16 m. So, as we now see the big man Magnus Ditliff, this is where I think he’s going to start going to work. Um, you know, he’s known for just even splitting his bike ride, just keeping the power steady and high. As we see him catching up, we can see chase group one. They’re just tacking onto the back of Chase Group one here. That’s William Hirs there on the right. He’s coming up to pass. A lot of the guys in chase group one, this is Johannes Vogel up the road. He’s coming up to pass up out of the saddle. You Magnus is just staying down in the arrow position as he rides up
through the group. See Johannes Vogle having a little remmonstrating with the officials here. But uh it’s it’s water off a ducks back to Magnus Dley as he just he’s just going to ride right through the group. Um and he’s just going straight to the front. That was Rudy Vonberg we just saw there too. So, you know, a lot of those the big players that you mentioned, DB, they’re starting to, you know, the cream is rising to the to the top of this second group. Um, and it’ll be interesting to see because I mean, from the front group’s perspective or the chase group one, Casper, Storis, and Ben Canu, I think looked great. So, I think they’ve been anticipating this catch and it’ll be interesting to see what the tactics are moving forward here.
Well, that was that was going to be my question as groups one and two converged. We’ve been speculating and I think we’ll see it play out right now with uh uh Magnus Ditliv uh at you know making his move here who group two which will become group one picks up from the old group one and carries along throughout the second lap. So, um, you know, to your point, Casper Stor, uh, Ben Canute we said was riding conservatively, um, not at, you know, doing as much work at the front as some of the others we’d seen. Who picks up and tries to go, uh, with the big bike boys, uh, in Magnus Ditlev, uh, Blumenfeld, etc., etc. But right now, it is Magnus Ditlev doing a lot of the work on the front. Uh we had a chance to visit with Magnus Ditv in our ever popular a fighting chance series presented by Hoka.
You’ve got a compatriot in Christian Hogen talking tactics.
We have actually we can uh tell all the all the stuff we’ve been talking about. Of course that would be pretty cool to do some damage together. Yeah. [Music] Start of the season went very good. Uh nice race South Africa and went to St. George. Thought I was going to smash the Americans and uh double flooded on the bike. So yeah, obviously that didn’t happen and Lionel was also extremely strong. So yeah, either way it would have been uh tough. It’s good sometimes to get uh that things are not going on a straight line perfect all the times. For me at least, I get some motivation and feel that I’m extra focused after something like that. I went on an altitude camp afterwards and I’ve been in uh Fondr in France. It’s always tough when you are in the camp. Yeah. Like you can’t do what you can do at sea level obviously. So you have to trust the process. And then when you get down and you see the numbers, then you get the confidence uh back again slowly. It’s starting to get hot.
It’s only taking this break to get the temperature down.
It’s strategic. It’s going to be hot. How do you like the heat?
I think it’s actually okay for me. Maybe I’m not the natural heat performer, but I think I can compensate a bit of of that by being smart about the racing I do. There is no magic sauce to swimming. Yeah, it’s a process. I’m really enjoying it and I’m seeing small steps. I’m hoping to find myself in the first big group of people. If there is like three or four people up the road, then it’s it’s no problem.
Going to be quite special. the Danes versus the Norwegians versus the Germans.
Yeah. Yeah. We have Daniel also. So, three Danes, I believe. It’s a just a very big field with so many great athletes. The plan is to do well here. I might have to then go do 70.3 Swansea if I want to perform really well in the Pro Series, but I will assess that after Frankfurt. Either way, I’m all in on N. And that’s my biggest goal of the season. Uh, a short trip to Swansea is can be squeezed in. Yeah. [Music] Well, there you have it from the gentle giant from the man from Denmark, Magnus Ditlev. Softspoken uh but really really um a likable guy. Uh I think he’s got a quiet confidence about him. There’s never a hint of arrogance from him. uh he’s put in a big effort to improve his swim. He said at the start of that a fighting chance series. Thank you again to our friends at Hoka for that visit. Uh that he was hoping that he would have a compatriate and Christian Hoganhag, but unfortunately Hogan Hag is five minutes up the road, but Magnus Ditlev uh doing all he can uh to move through. Uh we see quite a bit of congestion right now. A little shaking of the head at some of the dynamics going on there. And we expected that because now uh chase groups in one and two have converged. There’s 13 guys in that group also trying to overtake uh lapped age group athletes. So it’s a bit of uh a lesson in patience and perseverance. Yeah, just noticing there Dee as Magnus is out of the out of the saddle the angle on his seat. I’m not sure if he normally rides that. I I want to say that maybe his the tip of his seat has dropped maybe over the cobble section or something. So, um I don’t know if that explains why Magnus has ridden the first lap with this group uh or not. And and also holding that position, it’s harder on your quads when you when you’re having to slide back in your seat the whole time. So, not only does it impact your bike riding and your bike power, but it may impact his running as well. So, just interesting. It’s not often you see Magnus pass a group and then a group repass Magnus like we just saw then. So, um, as now we’re seeing Christian Blumenfelt on the front of the group, race number one there. Interestingly, no hydration in his rear bottle cages. So, that’s something he’ll need to rectify at the next aid station. But, yeah, this has been an interesting race. It’s certainly had a different dynamic to what we’ve seen in some of the other bigger regional championships. And it’s great to see I don’t want to say an unheralded athlete, but someone certainly who wasn’t being mentioned as one of the pre-race favorites really just taking it to the rest of the field up the road and building a just not an inconsequential lead here. This is this is going to be up around six or seven minutes shortly. Um and as I said, there’s still runners in this group who who are capable of even on the hottest of days mid 230 marathons. So, it’s just it’s it’s really getting to an interesting part of this race. So, it’s I’m I’m just keen to see what kind of gaps if if this group can sort of stop the hemorrhaging of time and keep it around that five and a half minutes or if Christian Hugenhog just just continues to to increase the lead and if he can get it up over seven minutes, which I think would be a win for him. Well, Christian Hogenhog now through 127 km. We’ll see if uh the Chase group, which is now 13 strong and uh combined our former Chase one and Chase 2 into one group, uh they are a bit disorganized as we’ve seen some back and forth uh with the athletes in the chase group. Uh but we will have eyes peeled to our iron man tracker to see uh if that five minute gap is getting closer to six and ultimately your call Craig 7 minutes uh which would give Christian Hogenhog a comfortable shot uh potentially at winning given some of the the run ability uh of these chasers. But, uh, Christian Bluman felt looking very calm, collected, obviously full of confidence, uh, there as we look at the rest of our Chase group making their way past some of these age group athletes. Uh, now this Chase line uh, extending pretty long with quite a few guys in it. Yeah, it’s a long it’s a big group and with the congestion I I think you just as we pan back through the group you do see a lot of athletes freewheing not wanting to get into the draft zone in front and and that can happen D you talked about when when does a group become too big
and when does it become when does it become clunky and when does when does it become inefficient you know Christian Hogan Hog he doesn’t have to worry about any of that he’s just riding to his heart rate riding to his power Um he’s got clean road, clean air in front of him. And it’s it’s a little more clunky and congested back here. So um yeah, it’ll be interesting. I I think these guys really want to get a move on as we see Daniel Backagard now reappear on our screens for the first time in a while. And there just seems to be a lot of chopping and changing with this group, which leads me to think it’s not a steady pace. Uh it’s not a a particularly high pace either. Well, no, because we had talked about how this group was effectively going to have to turn itself inside out as Chase 2 catches Chase one and then sort of the strength of Chase 2 moves to the front uh and doing so all in a larger group. And of course with race ranger and athletes properly spaced out in order to make those moves, you’re going to have to burn a match. And so you want to pick the right opportunity to do that given the congestion on the course. So yeah, I I think in seeing this this chase group effectively, as I said, turn itself inside out. Um it it’s it’s not pretty. It’s not elegant. Uh but I think in time eventually it will work itself out. But yeah, the paces again, you can see, you know, the freewheeling and you’ve got the the the race officials out there as well. So it’s definitely heads up. Uh the last thing these athletes want to do at this stage is is incur a penalty by having their head down uh through a a complicated section of the course. That’s not going to be to anyone’s advantage at this stage. So athletes being very very heads up as we are partway through lap two of the zoot bike course at the BOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. [Music] We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Music] You know, and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Hoka Fly human fly. and by Precision Fuel and Hydration. Personalize your race hydration with Precision Fuel and Hydration. I’m Craig Alexander with Di Gower and you’re watching the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships for the Men. It’s race 11 of the 2025 Iron Man Pro Series. And Dee, we’re here with the men’s chase group. We’ve got Yiannis Vogle on screen here. And I just I feel this group is getting in each other’s way. I I think they’ve lost a minute in the last 10 km to to our leader. I just got sort of saw some vision of of Magnus Ditliff and this is not how he likes to ride. He likes to slap it in the 6011 and just turn that gear and keep going and he’s having to stop pedaling, freewheel. Um it’s a congested part of the course. I I think this dynamic is going to play into the hands of our leader. 100%. And we had said how great it was that the groups were converging back in the city where it was a little technical and maybe some of our stronger riders could uh be aggressive through some of those technical sections. It hasn’t really played out that way because to your point that they’re in each in each other’s way. It’s not a pretty sight for a group of 13 to turn uh inside out when the faster chasers have closed down a threeminute gap um to chase one and to sort that out and let the stronger riders ride through in a in a group that big when they are simultaneously overtaking uh lapped age group athletes has proven complicated and has absolutely slowed down the progress of the chasers. Um, and yeah, a a great thing for Christian Hogenhog, who now sits 615 uh ahead at only 127K. So, when you were talking about that 7minute barrier, uh, it could it could actually exceed that. Yeah. And I think the irony is that he’s going to be doing it in a more efficient way. He’ll just be riding steady. There’s a lot of chopping and changing in this group, accelerating, trying to pass the group, freewheeling, cutting in. It just, it’s not an efficient way to ride. And we just get word that Cam Worf has made his way up to Patrick Lunger’s group and through that group, the group that has Paul Schuster and Patrick Langer and they’re now 10 minutes behind Christian Hogan Hog. So yeah, Patrick hovering at 10 minutes back. So we’ll keep an eye on that as as we see Yannis Vogel here again on screen. And yeah, I just think when you see athletes like Magnus Ditlev and Rudy von Bergen, they’re not just able to slap it in that big gear and turn the gear on the open road and hit the top speeds. I mean, here again, we see up on the base bar, not down on the arrow bars. It’s just not effective and efficient riding. It’s not a It’s not a fast way for a group to ride. They are getting in each other’s way.
And not only that, you can see it sort of starting to affect them mentally. We saw Magnus sort of shaking his head a little bit. A lot of them when they’re sitting up they’re sort of shrugging with hands in the air like what the heck is going on? And that level of frustration is is only sort of adding to the fatigue at this stage of the race where you really want to be focused in and continued to be relaxed and and in the moment. Uh I think the the frustration is is really building for these athletes and that’s counterproductive as well. Yeah, we’re seeing some crazy. I mean, Yonas Vogle just got passed by Yonas Hoffman there and then he makes an immediate repass. I mean, it’s not efficient riding. So, yeah, we’ll see how this plays out, but I think that seven minutes that we predicted for Christian off the front is it could turn into a lot more than that. And yeah, the the free pedaling, I mean, they’ve got to be mindful and just keep their patience. As we take a look at our AG1 supplemental stats on Johannes Vogle, uh 127 kilometers, uh traveling at 41.61 kilometers per hour, uh average speed, uh estimated time at the next time split, 4 hours 18 minutes. But you can see if they can adopt the mindset of, okay, I’m having to freewheel a little bit. I’m coasting. Perhaps this is a chance to let the heart rate come down a little bit, get some nutrition on board. Uh, we’re not hammering at this point. But to your point, they’re not making efficient forward progress in this manner.
No, not at all. As we see Gustafed in there on screen for the first time in a little while and Casper Storis was in there as well. So, there’s still so much quality in this group. Ben Canute been there as well, but a lot of this chopping and changing of the lead and accelerating and slowing down and it just but but they continue to lose time. So, it’s not efficient. Uh but we’ll have to see. I can’t imagine Magnus or any of the the you know Rudy von Berg they’re going to tolerate this for too much longer. But in some respects, your hands are tied because if if there is congestion or the slower parts of the course, it just does it it concent back together. And it it’s a very very hard race dynamic to navigate when the group gets this big. And I’m just trying to look back at the last timing split and see if anyone has gotten dispensed out of that group. And it and it hasn’t. So the group remains 13 strong uh with the likes of Cameron Worf uh just a few minutes back. Now, uh, you know, how long it’ll take Cameron to bridge up to this group is is to be determined. Um, but at the rate they’re going, if they’re continuing to I mean, through the last timing segment, uh, Cameron’s average rate of speed was nearly 3 kilometers per hour faster than this big group. So, um, it it’s possible Cameron could could bike into it, uh, further disrupting, uh, what’s going on here in the chase group. Yeah. And it’s interesting because it’s the opposite of what we thought or what I thought would happen. I thought chase group one and chase group two would come together and then the field could detonate, but that hasn’t been the case. They’ve just sort of come together like a big snowball and and got in each other’s way and it’s just become clunky and and slowed their progress in the race down. So interesting. No doubt you know a lot of the athletes in that front group knew that they were being caught from behind and potentially slowed their pace to prepare for this and you know it’s we’re in sort of 20 to 30k into loop too. Uh if this continues for much longer I just can see you know Christian Hoganhow riding away and getting a huge lead. again that just sets up an exciting marathon because I believe that Christian Blumenfeld has got a 230 or two low 230 in him. Um and and some of these other athletes I I think I think Magnus Ditlev as well if he doesn’t ride to capacity can run mid 230s or under given you know I guess not withstanding what the what the the Mercury’s going to hit on the run. They are forecasting a 32 degrees Celsius top temperature today. So, of course, conditions impact run times, but at the moment, things couldn’t be playing out better for this man right here on screen.
Well, including his ability to get through these aid stations efficiently, right? I mean, he’s going through the aid station along with the the age group athletes, but we saw him be able to dispens of two bottles, grab two bottles, reload his cages, and move on. Uh when we look back to the chasers, um we might not get them going through that aid station, but not only are they going through the aid station with age groupers are going through as a group of 13. So if your fourth wheel, the bottle that you may be looking to grab will be gone by the time you get it there, add to that the the escalating temperatures. Um again, just greater inefficiency for the chase group. Yeah, I I think there’s no doubt there’s athletes in this chase group who are missing their nutrition and hydration at these aid stations, but that’s not the case for Christian off the front. So, you know, once again, advantage to him, but again, he’s worked to get that advantage. He had a great swim and he took the ball by the proverbial horns, as you like to say, Dee, on that first lap of the bike to create a big gap and and now he’s able to ride steady, ride to his plan, ride to his pacing, keep his core body temperature under control. and all of those things that we know can come back to bite you later in the race if you don’t give them their due diligence early. And um he’s setting himself up really nicely here. I think again he talked about he feels like he’s in the best run shape of his career. So I’m excited to see what kind of a marathon he can lay down here.
Yeah, after doing a heat acclimatization uh block coming off a disappointing run that he had at Iron Man Texas uh where things did not go his way after a very solid ride. uh hopefully hope hoping to write that wrong here today. But so far for Christian Hogenhog uh not only is he excelling uh but this chase group being dreadfully disorganized and a little congested uh is definitely at a disadvantage right now. Yeah, and we’re still back with Chase Group One and and there again, they just they just seem to be in a more congested part of the every time we flash back to this group, there just seems to be more traffic where they are. And um again, that’s not any fault of of Christian Hogen. He he has worked hard to gain every advantage that he’s got out on course today. And even from the little things like you mentioned De just being able to navigate through those aid stations a little better, making sure he’s getting still getting the fluid. Every time we flash to him, he’s got two or three bottles on his bike
as we go back to Daniel Bakagar now. And I mean, he’s he’s having a good race. I mean, we talked about his change of coach last year. We talked about his injury with his back. um his his race in Texas fourth place wasn’t quite on the podium where we’re used to seeing him, but it was certainly a step in the right direction and quite possibly his best Iron Man race since 2023 when he did that 7h hour 34 solo effort at Iron Man Western Australia in Busteren. And it’s great to see him, you know, towards the front of these big races again.
Yeah, you kind of forget. It’s so funny how short our memory is when it comes to sport is definitely a case of what have you done for me lately? And and we we hadn’t talked about Daniel Bakugard, you know, in a little while and and for right or wrong, you tend to forget about it, but it’s great to see him back and he is looking good. We’ll see if he can continue his pursuit towards the front of the race. [Music] We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] This is the Bova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship and this is your race leader Christian Hoganh who has been firmly in the lead of this race since I’m going to say pretty early on on the bike. He had an outstanding swim uh and has continued to capitalize on his bike strength and now sits as you can see based on our GPS data 6 and a half minutes again ahead of a very large chase pack. Craig Alexander, you had said at the beginning 7 minutesish would be a healthy, happy lead for Christian Hoganhog. It’s going to be bigger than that.
Yeah, I think it is. I think you’re right, Dee. I think he’s going to and and the dynamic behind is playing into this. It’s helping him. Uh we see he just seems to be going about his work. It was interesting watching those last shots as he navigated through the little village just on the outskirts of Frankfurt. Couple of little technical sections and he just hasn’t been hindered at all by by anything by age group traffic by um other pro athletes. He’s just he’s sort of, you know, writing his own story out the front here. And I think that’s how he likes to race. He he knows he’s pacing. We’ve seen him just dump water continuously over over his head, his neck, his armpits, his chest. He’s very mindful, keeping his core body temperature down. He’s very mindful of staying fully hydrated, sort of replenishing all all of his electrolytes, his sodium, taking on board his fueling. We saw him chowing down precision bars before or chews and you know these athletes the top men and women in our our sport even racing the Iron Man distance they’re racing at intensity so you know they need to be mindful of keeping up the carbohydrate consumption and we can see Christian’s doing that and this race is playing out beautifully for him I mean he’s he’s going to have a sizable lead so I’m excited I’m excited this sets up um a very interesting marathon but I I just I just can’t imagine that this big group is going to stay together. At some point, someone’s going to try and steal a little march here, even if it’s a minute or two minutes. Um, I just think it’s it’s slowing them down. But not only is it slowing them down, it’s it’s costing them energy. The way it’s it’s start, stop, and clunky, and on the pace, and then off the pace, and trying to navigate through the aid stations, it just it just feels inefficient and clunky.
It It is. And you can see through 138.7 kilometers, not only is Christian’s lead up to that up to and through that magical 7 minute mark, 718. Um, you’ve got Rudy von Berg at the front of that chase group currently. But if you look down, what’s interesting to me on the tracker, it tells you how many spots up and down you’ve that each athlete has moved since the last timing mat. And to look at the movement in the chase group, up three, down two, up four, down seven. These athletes are all over the place and they cannot sort themselves out to the point where you would expect a Christian Blumenfeld to be pretty aggressive and want to stay towards the front of that group uh to try to blow it up and separate it a little bit, but he’s the ninth or tenth guy in that group. so that he just can’t get to the front because the group is too big and it’s going to have to burn too many matches for him to to bridge all the way forward. So, they just can’t get get through it all. Uh optimistic for Rudy von Bberg who’s at the front of it to try to separate himself, but for a lot of the firepower behind, they just can’t get through the congestion. Yeah, as we see Rudy here pushing a big gear and he’s got that little bit of the shoulder roll going, which we we see Rudy have occasionally. I I I just I mean honestly he’s probably in the best position in this group. At least he can ride steady. At least he can ride steady. But yeah, the chopping and changing. It’s noticeable how much slower this group is riding since they all came together. So, um, yeah, and there’s not a lot they can do about it because they get a little bit of open road like this and they try and open things up, but then they hit a technical section or a congested section or or a village and it just the status quo, you know, they just get in each other’s way again and it’s it’s not smooth, it’s not effective, it’s not efficient. So, not only are they just not riding as quickly as Christian off the front, they’re burning probably more energy than he is as well. Um, and let’s not even talk about the mental energy and the stress in a group like this when you can’t get to the aid stations and the mercury starts hitting 30° C. You know, it’s 8 km to the next aid station. You’ve got half a bottle left and and the constant stress of being vigilant and not wanting to get a drafting penalty because people are just choosy swing wide there and hit the apex. Um, taking that corner at speed and yeah, it looks like Rudy’s made a decision. He’s just he’s had enough. He’s had a gutful of this dynamic and he just wants to to get clear.
Well, you can see it the the the sandwich of this chase group. At the front of it, obviously Christian Hogenhog moving really well, average pace through that last segment, 44.15 km per hour. Then at the back end of that group, Cameron Worf continuing to pick away, trying to work his way into this group, just under 44 km an hour, 43.82. He’s alone there. Uh and then in the middle this whole group moving between high 40s to 41 kilometers an hour. So they’re just they’re stuck. Um and then Patrick Langa now 1117 back of of the lead. So Cameron Warf has flown through Patrick Langa and his group of four. Uh but Patrick um you know going to run his way into certainly higher than he is now. Uh but I think his hopes of trying to win this race at 11 minutes back th those lights are dimming. Yeah, potentially. But also, I mean, this group in front’s only a handful of minutes in front still. So, he’s not hemorrhaging time to this group. And interesting, you mentioned Cam Worth. He’s only a minute 20 or a minute 30 off the back of this group. So, you know, potentially we could see him, you know, hitch his wagon to this group as we see Rudy. Rudy’s making a concerted effort here to get off the front. I think it’s a good move. I think, you know, the I guess the common thought is that in a group you save energy, but not in a group that’s accelerating and slowing, accelerating and slowing. And you said it, D, their average speed is 41 km an hour. Each athlete individually would comfortably average 44 or 45 km an hour on these roads on their own. And it’s almost like the group’s an anchor around their neck at the moment. So, I like this move by Rudy. Get clear. See if he can split the group up. at least get in your own rhythm. Um, but yeah, it’s interesting that Cam Worf is still just just chipping his way. That’s what Cam does. He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t, you know, just roll over with his legs in the air. He has a he has a red hot crack cam and I love it. He’s, you know, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he could latch onto the back of this group. And but yeah, Christian H at the front here as opposed to Christian B. We’re normally used to talking about KB on the front, big blue, but not today. And and I’m loving this. I’m I’m loving I hope this gets out to 10 minutes. And I I’m I’m interested to see what kind of marathon he can run with that kind of lead. I think when you have that kind of lead, it gives you the luxury and the ability just you don’t have to set off too quick. You can set your pace and and and just get into your rhythm. Just get into your rhythm. And um you don’t have to win it in the first 10k. In fact, you just want to be holding pace. And I think that’s a luxury that this man has really worked hard to earn today. That’s the luxury that he’s going to get when he hits the marathon.
Also, the advantage that he’s got, yeah, setting his own pace, uh, but he’s forcing the hand of the runners in the chase group, uh, to really lay down an outstanding marathon to chase him down. And in the conditions like that, that they’re running a risk, right? They’re going to have to run the risk of absolutely blowing up uh, in the heat, in the conditions as the mercury continues to rise uh, in order to catch him. And so he’s he’s not only giving himself an outstanding cushion and the ability as we check in on race weather presented by our friends at ROA, 79 degrees Fahrenheit, 26° C and that is only going to continue to rise uh based on predictions as we come back uh here to Rudy Vonberg. Again, the long levers of of Rudy von Berg and the last aerial shots we had, it looked like Rudy was really trying to break away from that group and some of the chasers further back. Christian Blumanfeld was stuck kind of a little bit further back. So, if Rudy catches the moment right, he could he could break away and give himself a bit of a gap as well.
He’s a smart he’s a smart racer. Rudy von Berg, great bike rider, too. So, yeah, you’re right. It looked like he was trying to go for max power the last shot we got and it seems like he settled more into a rhythm here, but I like this move. I mean, that group’s so big that some guys on the back of that group might not even know he’s he slid off the front here. So, as we see him take a quick look back at the very least, he’s giving himself a chance. But, you know, we talk about the race dynamic and and the balance of power in the race or the race momentum. And the longer this bike ride goes on, the more and more that sort of momentum and balance of power shifts shifts towards Christian Hogan how he’s he’s just having a great race and I love it. He hasn’t been intimidated at all by the fact he’s solo off the front from so early. In fact, he’s probably loving it. and enables him to ride his own race, ride his own power. And but yeah, the longer each with each kilometer that passes, he’s just ekking out a bigger lead, a bigger lead, a bigger lead, and the momentum and the balance of power shifts towards him. And Rudy von Berg looking behind himself to see sort of the mess that is ensuing. And it looks from our GPS like he’s got about nearly a 10-sec lead on that chase group. Again, that’s a dynamic number off the GPS. Uh but yeah, Rudy von Berg uh giving himself a little bit of a gap on the chaser. We’ll see if that holds, but it absolutely is growing for Christian Hogenhog at the front of the race. I like how Christian looks. It It’s He’s just got open road ahead of him. um the ability to navigate some of that lapped traffic, a lot more flexibility there. Uh and it is absolutely paying dividends for him. Yeah, he looks great. He his posture, his demeanor on the bike, his facial expression, nothing has really changed over the last couple of hours. We know the temperature is going up, but again, he’s just making sure to cool himself at each opportunity. Looks like he’s on top of his his hydration and his fueling. Um, so yeah, he’s in the box seat right now. And again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record with each kilometer that passes, I think his position just strengthens a little more and a little more. And it does force the others to make some decisions either at the back end of this bike or early in the marathon. Yeah. Yeah, and they’re going to have to take some risks at at the start of the marathon. If if we look to a a Christian Blumenfeld, depending on his run form, a a Gustaf Eden um a Ben Canoot uh with the potential to run, you know, a pretty quick marathon, but they’re going to have to take some chances to do it on a very, very hot day. And at what cost does that come? Uh but Christian Hogenhog certainly uh forcing their hand. It was very interesting. He he missed he missed grabbing some aid at that station just then. He was going through so quickly and he couldn’t get in between some of the amateur athletes. So, but I noticed he still got three bottles on his bike. So, and the aid stations do come quite regularly on course. I mean, these athletes are so experienced. They know to always carry emergency fuel and hydration with them. And I mean, this is just it’s beautiful to watch his cadence, the power. It’s it’s elegant power. It’s almost a paradox. He looks so graceful and you know what we call a silent position. Not a lot of upper body movement, but you know that he’s just putting down so much power through this machine. And as we get a split screen here, and I love these I love these split screens. We’re getting to look at first and second on course. We’ve got Christian Hogan Hog on the on the left and Rudy von Berg on the right. Two of the best bike riders in the field. And but they are separated by close to seven and a half minutes. 80. Yeah, seven and a half minutes is a is a big ask. Uh but again, it’s Iron Man. Anything can happen. I’m trying to look at to your point, Christian Hogenhog uh missed eightid at that last last station. I got a look at his front bottle, which I believe was water, plain water. Um looked to be only about 20% full. Uh I cannot see that rear right bottle, which also appears to be water. I think the left bottle is uh electrolyte and or uh fuel. Uh but he does have two plain water bottles on there, but is that right one empty? Cuz he if it’s just the front bottle for plain water, he’s running pretty low, which isn’t super ideal. Uh still with a decent amount of riding left to do.
No, not ideal. But I’m I’m imagining he may have some salt tablets on board as well that he can he can take with that water to replenish the electrolytes and but yeah, we’ll keep an eye on that. I always get nervous. The split screen shot on the right here, cameraman keeps flashing down to Rudy’s wheels and the last time we saw that happen in Oceanside. It was Christian and he had a flat tire. So, let’s not wish that on any of our athletes. We’ve seen enough mechanicals today between Yonas Shamberg and Kieran Linders to last us the rest of the season. But yeah, interesting. Both boys are similar cadence. I think Christians are slightly higher. Both look great on the bike. You’re you’re right. I mean, Rudy has long legs, doesn’t he? He seems to have long levers, long femurss, and
yeah,
he’s just so powerful. You know, never forget his both his races in Nice at the Iron Man 70.3 Worlds in 2019 and also the Iron Man World Championships a couple of years ago. Yeah, exactly. I was thinking that very same thing. Uh certainly a very strong rider, Rudy von Berg, but I tend to think of this course. I I I love seeing Rudy on a really technical course because that’s where he excels. Not only because of his strength of a rider, but his bike handling is so next level that I literally am licking my chops to see him uh in Nice in September. Uh certainly a bike powerhouse and and uh a technical course really suits him very well. Frankfurt is has some technical aspects to it. Uh but I think he’s we’re only going to see a stronger performance out of Rudy uh come September. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean I think each course has its specific performance requirements for success and that course in Nice has a lot of sort of vertical gain that comes in two two big climbs really the two climbs and then you get up on the maritime Alps and it’s flat but then you’ve got the the long descent in the town. So Rudy is technically a great bike rider. those two races, two world championships in Nice. He’s excelled on the climbing and the descending, but I think he’s also underrated on a flat course. I think he can hold power for a long period of time. That’s why he’s so consistent and tends to get on podiums like in Texas and he just checks a lot of the boxes as we see we get to pan back now and we see that group is still together. Yep. Still
shook things up a little bit. Yeah, he shook things up but wasn’t able to break free. Yeah, he he took a swing at it, but they were able to bridge back. But again, I think an advantage for Rudy von Berg being at the front of it, in control of it, and out of the chaos of it as riders further back certainly uh struggling with. We’ve got Ben Canoot all the way at the back of that group now. Uh but a lot of accordion effect, a lot of jumbling back and forth, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s going to be able necessarily to get away in a significant way. Uh but it doesn’t look like anybody’s falling off the back either and we’ve just got to wait and see if we see Cameron Worf join that group before the end of the bike. Yeah, that that group is just they’re in a holding pattern. They’re just in a holding pattern. It’s they can’t slap it in the big gear like we like we know Magnus loves to do and just ride off the front. Um it’s just chopping and changing. The pace is accelerating and then decreasing. It’s again it’s just not an efficient way to ride. So, not only is their average speed on course about 3 km an hour lower than our leader and also our big chaser Cam Worth, I think it’s just burning a couple of matches, too. So, be interesting to see the last 30 minutes of this bike ride just how much more time they lose to our leader. Well, we’ve got Christian Hogenhog through 154.5 kilometers. So, start your watches. 718 was the gap at the last timing. Matt, our our GPS telling us that that number is increasing both based on the rate of speed of Christian Hogenhog, but also on the chase group’s inability uh to get going. Our GPS telling us that’s almost a minute bigger than it was at the last timing mat. Uh again, Christian Hoganhow getting it all his way here on this Zoot bike course. Yeah, it’s concerning that each time we pan back to the group, there’s a lot of freewheeling going on. I I don’t think it’s going to be too long until Cam Worth attaches himself to the back of that group. And I can’t imagine he’s just going to sit idle on the back of the group. I mean, come hell or high water, he will roll the dice and and just roll through and and attack the front of this group. So maybe Cam Worf is the impetus to break this group up a little bit. Uh and so athletes going to want to be heads up. Uh Christian Blumenfeld, when you see Cameron Worf go by, you’ve got to hitch your cart to that horse and and get going because there’s going to be chaos in the group. No doubt. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of the guys in the front of the group are perfectly positioned for that to happen.
Yeah.
Um but again, I mean, Magnus Ditliff is an amazing bike rider. he hasn’t been able to break free. I’m interested to know if that seat that saddle position we saw if if his seat has dropped going over the cobble section cuz he just he doesn’t look his usual self on the bike here. Um not only his inability to break away from this group which you would bet on every day of the week, but just he’s not even at the front of the group. So I wonder if he’s just banking on a good run as we see Christian go through some aid stations. And again, Dee, that would to answer to your point, you know, I think the aid stations come at regular intervals, so he has been able to top up his fluid there and grab what he needed at that aid station. He did seem to be running low. Seems to have topped up the reserves. And off he goes again. Off he goes again. Again, clear through 157.2 km. Uh 48.56 km/h through that last section. You can see uh the topographical map along the bottom of your screen there. That was a downhill section uh for him. So, picked up a little bit of speed. Uh 48.56 km an hour for Christian Hogenhog. Still waiting for the chase group to come through. Rudy von Berg at the front of that trying to be the aggressor uh to break that group up. We saw him with about a 10-second gap on the group, but the group able to pull him back in. So that group’s still largely intact and we will see if Cameron Warf has been able to join their ranks as well. Yeah, that that’s something that we really need to look out for. But again, the group is so big, even if he does tack on the back of it, it might take 10 km for him to get to the front of it. So interesting dynamic going on here in this chase group as we just see the leader again just getting about his work. No mess, no fuss here. A lot of open road ahead, high average speeds, holding that arrow position just religiously, maximizing everything. His efficiency, his hydration, his nutrition, cadence looks great. As we take another look back to Rudy Vonberg’s wheels, not sure why we’re looking at his wheels, but it’s hard to tell with that shadow if it is a bit soft. He doesn’t seem bothered by it. Uh he doesn’t seem at all fussed, so it’s hard to tell certainly from our vantage point here in studio if that’s just a shadow or if that front wheel is a little bit soft. The cameraman does seem to be wanting to try to tell us something with the camera angle, uh but it’s hard to tell with the shadow. Yeah, you’re right. It was hard to tell. I get nervous though when we we zoom in on that shot as we did with Christian Blumenfeld in Oceanside and also Magnus Ditliff in in St. George. So, take a look at the detail here. One thing that I’ve just noticed, Rudy, uh sorry, this is uh back to uh Christian Hoganhog here, his bib number inside a like a plastic casing or something held down. Uh you see a lot of the other athletes uh just with their bib number sort of flapping in the wind. This goes back to the the statement that no stone is left unturned in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. Uh having that flap out behind you creates a bit of aerodynamic drag. But obviously the bib holder that he’s got that number in, keeping that number nice and firmly against his backside there. So not creating any aerodynamic uh drag there at all. That’s the first time I’d noticed that.
Yeah, it’s interesting, isn’t it? I mean, I’m a dinosaur, but I even remember being in the wind tunnel years ago and them saying that that’s something that can, you know, create some turbulence and not let the wind sort of clear off your back. And I mean, I don’t think we’re too far away from a time where I mean, these athletes have so many numbers on their bodies and on their bikes where we we probably don’t see them wearing bibs on the bike for too much longer. And but yeah, just again, it’s just attention to detail, isn’t it? I mean, we know that these guys and girls, all the top athletes, they do so much testing. They know where there’s some free time and some marginal gains to be made. And it’s just I mean, we saw Christian take some time in T1 to put those calf sleeves on because he knows how much he can save. And again, it’s just an more of the same with him with his his bib number. Yeah. Well, he’s saved about 8 and 1/2 minutes so far with those calf sleeves. So, it must have been worth the 30 seconds it took him to put on. Uh, extraordinary performance from the man in the lead of our race here at the MOVA Iron Man European Championship at Frankfurt. Christian Hogenhog dominating the race. Will he hold on through the marathon? We’ll find out. [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, [Music] Meet Kicker Run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run-free mode. A gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally, just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speed and grade for you. Going to the top.
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Trot, we do the technology, you do the training. Back to the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. I’m DD Griebower alongside Craig Alexander and Christian Hogan Hog is hauling the mail on this Zoot bike course. We are still waiting for the chase group to go through 157.2 km, but right now GPS tells us his lead is somewhere near 8 minutes uh here through the later stages of this zoot bike course. Phenomenal performance and setting himself up with the potential, giving himself every opportunity to take home this title. Uh absolutely. It’s been a spectacular performance so far. He’s all the momentum’s with him. Of course, he’s built up this lead over 8 minutes. I think he looks great. We’ve seen him just pay particular attention to his fueling, his hydration, maintaining that arrow position in the the real sort of high velocity parts of the course, maximizing every detail. And yeah, he’s setting up he set himself up nicely here. I think was it 2021 where he let off the bike here as well, Dee, and held on for second that day. So, um, he’s no stranger to this situation. He knows what it’s like to lead off a bike. Um, as we flash back to Magnus Ditle, I just wonder if if his seat has slipped, and it looks like it has, how that’s going to affect quads. Um, looks like his seat has slipped in height and also the angle the nose is angled right down towards the ground. That
that plays havoc with your quads and your hips. So, I mean, he is a great runner, Magnus Stitliff, but we’re going to have to see how this seat position. And I’m guessing that happened over the coppled section as well because it’s those rougher sections of the course where you tend to have the bike malfunctions. Um, so we need to keep an eye on Magnus and sort of his pacing early in the marathon. And again, we’re back with Daniel Back Garden. He’s just quietly gone about his business. I don’t think he’ll be too displeased with his position in this race, particularly if he can recreate some of his marathon times from, you know, a couple of seasons ago. Dee
Yeah, he is. He’s he’s staying safe. um at the at the front of the the chase group now, at least through the last timing station. A little bit of a adjustment there. Magnus Ditliff had gone to the front of that group, which to me is good news that Magnus had made the move through that group because for a while he was lingering at the back. Uh but again, hard to get their their rank and order um through. But Magnus at the front of that chase group now, which yeah, despite the the challenges with his saddle and and not only is that going to wreak havoc on his his quads, but also I’m worried about his back. Um none of it good news setting up a good marathon for him, but Rudy von Berg sitting second. Daniel Bakagard again in the middle of those two. Uh that group 814 back. uh and Cam Worf not yet able to to catch on to that group, but a couple of athletes getting splintered off the back of it. Um looks like uh Jonas Hoffman has fallen off. Uh Andrea Sasberg has fallen off and William Hirs has fallen off of that group. So, at least they are trimming down a little bit as they make their way back towards Frankfurt and looks to be uh settled into a slightly smaller chase group, but still eight nearly 8 and a half minutes back. Our men’s leader.
Yeah. So, the lead’s continuing to grow 10 to 15 seconds every time check recently. Um yeah, it’s interesting Magnus Ditliff’s position. I mean, I think one of the huge advantages with these new cockpits or front ends that we see is they they cup your forearms as you can see. So, they take a lot of weight of your upper body and a lot of pressure off your lower back. Uh, and as as Magnus comes into screen as we speak and and and I think with that seat angled down the way it is, that changes the dynam dynamic there, it’s going to put a lot of stress through his glutes, his lower back. Yeah.
And and also his quads having to continually slide back in the saddle. It’s hard. Your body gets so used to a certain position and you just get efficient in that position with those joint angles and to change things up even by millimeters as you know Dee I mean bike positions these these athletes at the top level the guys and the girls we see race in this IM Pro series they are absolutely meticulous with their bike setups to the millimeter and little changes change you know can impact you a lot. Oh, 100%. And and to drive that point home to anyone watching at home that it might not be clear for, it’s like riding your bike in a squatting position. You’re just not you’re not supported under those sitbones and you’re basically kind of almost like riding out of the saddle the entire time. That’s the load that’s going through the quads. So, not an ideal situation for for Magnus Ditliv at the moment. And also just wanted to update our viewers uh getting word from the course that Kieran Linders uh who unfortunately had had such an outstanding performance here a year ago. We saw him drop his bottles early uh on the the bike course uh didn’t know if it were the cages too, but certainly lost some nutrition, stopped and went back for it. Uh we’re getting word from the course that he has pulled out of the race. uh tough uh situation for Kieran Linders. Again, not not only in terms of pro series points, but he was an athlete uh who needed a qualifying slot for the for the Iron Man World Championship. So, he’s going to have to regroup and sort that out in in short order. Yeah, devastating news for Kieran. I mean, high level professional sport is so fickle. You you’re riding riding the wave one minute having breakthrough performances and then you know, you come crashing down earth pretty quickly. But he’ll regroup. He’ll have other opportunities to get that covered knee slot as we see Daniel backard again just shoot through our frame there. And you’re right, D. This chase group has thinned out and it was only a matter of time between that sort of yo-yoing concertina effect. You know, when you get distance off the back, having to put those efforts in to try and reattach yourself. And we’ve seen a few athletes get distance off the back of this group. not you know no such problems for this man who just continues to go about in a really just steady methodical way. I mean again it’s one of the advantages of being solo you you ride your own race you ride your own pace you’ve got your own space particularly at this point when you’ve got 15 or 20 minutes left on the bike that chopping and changing and accelerating to get back on the group or to break away from the group. It just burns matches that really you need to be conserving at this point of the race when we see the temperatures nudging up towards 30° C. And you know, it’s going to be a tough marathon for these boys. Got to be a tough marathon for all of them. Looking further back in the field to one of our race favorites, uh, Patrick Langa, uh, who is sitting 13 and a half minutes out of the the lead. Um, only four minutes down from the chase group. So, no doubt we’re going to see him uh start to poke his nose into some higher positions into the marathon, but uh certainly going to be a challenge for him to to claim uh that long sought after win here in uh in Frankfurt as we check in here with Gustaf Eden who is amongst our chasers as well. Uh Craig Yeah, we see him just taking a break from the arrow position. Again, we’re just I think screams loudly that this group is operating a little dysfunctionally. It’s just not flat out foot on the gas the whole way. And it’s just a it’s it’s an awful dynamic to be caught up into. So, um but Christian, let’s hope he can unleash one of those runs that he’s noted for. You know, we were very used to seeing him run mid mid 230s. I think he’s his Iron Man debut in Florida. He ran it at 235 all those years ago. Is we flash back up to our leader Christian Hugan Hogan. Little interesting tidbit, Christian actually won his age group here nine years ago. Dee, he won the male 25 to 29 age group. So, what a what a full circle moment that would be if he’s able to come back and take the title in the European Championship as a as a pro athlete. I love I love stories like that.
Oh, no doubt. And um I I’m sure both honors will be uh memorable for him. I think if I had to choose one of the two, I’ll take overall champion. Uh but uh yeah, a full circle moment indeed. Also uh as we had just mentioned, Patrick Langa and his deficit uh to the front of the race. Uh we’re getting word from our technical officials uh that Patrick Langga uh as well as uh bib number 32 uh who is Dre uh Matthews uh they both failed to remove their swim skins in the transition area back all the way back at Ruby transition one. Both will be assessed a yellow card penalty and they will serve that penalty in T2. So minus one to race favorite uh Patrick Langa going to have even more work cut out for him. And I think uh it is going to be all but impossible for him to take home the win today. But uh another minute uh of work to do for Patrick Langa once he gets to the Hoka Marathon course. Yeah, I guess that’s just news. he didn’t want to hear. But again, rules are rules. He didn’t remove his swim skin in T1, so he’ll be assessed that penalty in T2 and just makes his job a little bit harder. But again, he’s he’s he’s still within striking distance of some of the athletes in this group. So there’s plenty for Patrick, you know, to chase and and plenty of motivation for him out on course, particularly being, you know, a local German here and and a guy who grew up not far from this town. So a lot of motivation still for Patrick out there. on course today. I’m sure he’ll be one of the crowd favorites. But, you know, it’s interesting looking at the dynamic of the front group and the makeup of the front group. You know, at different times in our sport, we’ve seen the US athletes and North Americans do well. We’ve seen the Australians do well. We’ve seen the Germans do well. And, you know, I think it’s very interesting that the Scandinavians, the Norwegians, and the Danes. You know, most races we’re seeing this year and last year, they’re just multiple athletes in the top 10. And it’s I think it it speaks to the nature of triathon just being a truly global sport now and the the championship events moving around and inspiring athletes in different regions. It’s so good to see, you know, athletes from all regions at the front of the big races. One of the one of the storylines that I love not only about that but the camaraderie amongst the the countrymen uh particularly the Norwegians I mean we’ve see uh Christian Blumenfeld Gustaf Eden and Casper Storess all committed to the Iron Man Pro Series for this year and effectively traveling the world together um training and racing and while they are fierce rivals on the course they are training partners oftent times uh certainly Gustaf and Christian uh and even Casper nowadays um and really becoming comrades off the course uh helping each other to the top levels of the sport. Yeah. Well, they say it takes a village. You need a team around you and it is an individual sport, but I think it it makes sense to train with athletes of your level of ability. Um you know, a rising tide floats all boats as they say. So yeah, and there’s a great camaraderie that transfers out onto the course with all these athletes. So it’s it’s great to see, but know it’s again, we just we’re getting to that point in the race now where we need to start asking, well, you know, Christian Hogan how probably wasn’t one of our pre-race favorites. He was certainly an athlete we talked about, but how much will be enough for him today to win this race? I, you know, I think if he can, I think he ran a 245 here last year. If he can improve on that and get in the low 240s, it’s going to take, you know, someone like Christian Blumenfeld running a 234 to catch him, which again is not not beyond the the realms of possibility, but it is, I think, warmer conditions than it was last year when we saw him run a 232. So, still a lot to play for in this race, Dee.
Oh, 100%. This is far from over. It’s always so interesting to me. We spend the bike seems to take so much time and we spend so much time focusing on our leaders on the bike. But by the end of the marathon, it’s like who was leading the bike because there are so many stories left to unfold here at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. We’re watching Christian Hoganh bike his way back into town to conclude the Zoot bike course. [Music] What do you want? Uh,
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I think you mean athletic. It’s not fun. Ask for it. This is where I want to be. [Music] [Music] Take off. [Music] [Applause] Endurance isn’t just about medals. It’s about showing up. Even when your brain says go and your body says no. Showing up means taking care of yourself, skin, and all. Because when you train hard, your skin works hard, too. That’s where Bulldog comes in. With products packed with brilliant natural origin ingredients that help prepare, protect, and recover your skin. No fuss, no nonsense. Bulldog skincare is man’s best friend. Official men’s care products of Iron Man Europe. This is the MOA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship and you are watching Christian Hoganhog who just is moments from T2 have to pull over to the side of the road with a chain issue. Craig, this has been a day of mechanical issues. Yeah, Dee, the drama continues. I mean, this is just crazy. So close. I think under 10 km to go until we see him ride into Ruby T2. And let’s see what happens here. Does he hit some tram lines or a pothole? Something’s caught there. Maybe he’s got a It looks like his chain has bounced and maybe lodged down between the frame.
Yeah, he wasn’t able to recover that. Sometimes, uh, if it drops hard, uh, it can get stuck in there. It looks like he tried to reach down. Don’t try that at home, folks. You might lose a finger. But, uh, tried to rectify it. Pulled over to the side of the road, got it fixed, and his back moving. Uh again, he’s got a seven and a half minute lead on the field, so it’s not going to cost him that much, but we know that every second matters. Uh at the end of this day, it would be tragic to see him lose this race by a handful of seconds because he would owe that to a dropped chain, but he is back moving. Um yeah, that’s a a tough break, but uh he’s back rolling and um we’ll see what happens. Just adds to the drama. We’ve had drama all day on the bike with from, you know, Kieran Linders losing potentially what looked like drink bottles and bottle cages. Yona Shamberg’s whole front end coming off. So, looked like that wasn’t too much of a uh disadvantage there for for Christian. He was able to get moving quite quickly, but again, this is such a heads up ride as they ride it into town here. narrower parts of the course, having to sort of navigate through some of the amateurs and it was just good that Christian was able to sort out whatever problem that was quite quickly and get going again. Again, he is banking on having a good marathon here. Did some heat acclimatization, a heat camp uh in the aftermath of Iron Man Texas where he had a disappointing marathon and looking to improve on that. Uh we know he’s got the potential run uh mid240s. Uh can he take a few minutes off of that and force his chasers with an 8 minute and 15 second gap? Uh again maybe gave up a little bit of that uh with that quick pause on the side of the road uh to adjust the chain. Is it going to be enough? That’s the question. And yeah, it’s interesting that 8:14 time gap back to the chases was that a little bit before Christian had that unfortunate little mechanical there. So, it’s probably closer to 7 and 1 half minutes as you mentioned. And
um every second does count not only for Iron Man Pro Series points, but I think as we see Christian coming into dismount now both freaked down before the dismount line. Very smooth. And look, De’s turnover looks good. I think you can always get a few little tells telltale signs early as they hop off the bike and he looks good. Yeah, absolutely. As we take a look at uh Christian Hoganhog’s first off the bike split on the day presented by our friends at Wahoo Element Bolt 35210. Uh that’s uh pretty outstanding bike split there and I agree. We call this the judgment zone where uh we take a look at his run form coming off the bike. Often times those hip flexors get shortened up uh and not today for Christian Hoganhog. He looks great as he hits the ground with good good foot speed, good bounce in his step, rolling that bike all the way into uh transition. He will rack the bike and head his way into Ruvie transition, grab that run bag. Uh take that helmet off, get that run gear on, and be on his way. As we look back to the rest of the field and start to preview this Hoka run course, certainly uh we know that uh Christian Blumenfeld and Patrick Langa capable of throwing down some great marathon times. Giannis Hoffman also capable of a great marathon. Who else in this group uh the Chase group is capable of running down an 8 and a half minute deficit? Well, I think the the big name that stands out is Christian Blumenfeld. There’s there’s some athletes who have some really fast standalone run PBS but have yet to do it off the bike. Jonas Hoffman does have a lot of run pedigree. Patrick Langer, of course, but he’s a bit further back and we’ll have to serve his penalty in in T2 as we see Christian running out here. Um, you know, we talk about efficient bike and and swimming techniques, and we we do the same in running, but you know, what’s most important is how fast you cover the ground. So, you know, let’s see what the pacing splits are early here and how they compare back to some of our other athletes in that chase group. To me, Christian H passes the eyeball test at the moment. He’s ticking along that he’s a little stiff and sore getting off after a what was that, Dy? A 352 bike split. Oh my goodness. I mean, yeah, me too.
These guys these guys are incredible. They they just keep raising the bar and um that was great to see. But yeah, there doesn’t seem to be any signs of distress on his face. I love how he spent very little time in T2. Just grabbed everything that he needed, got moving, and now we’ll he’ll get himself sorted on the run. you’ll get the get the hat and sunnies on. Nutrition.
He he could have had he could have had a snack and a pedicure in T2 and still been in and out of there before the chasers got there. He did such an outstanding performance uh on the bike. Earned has earned himself depending on what that mechanical cost him a seven and a half to eight minute lead on the rest of the field and to your point so efficient through transition. Um, everything that you can do while moving, do it. He had everything tucked in that hat. Uh, watch, nutrition, etc. Did all of it while he was on the move, uh, continuing, uh, his pursuit of this European title here today? He did it as an age group. Can he do it as a pro? And I think, Dy, that speaks to where his head’s at and, you know, his mentality and a good mindset. I think he knows he needs every second of this lead.
So, Um, again, you can you can learn a lot from these athletes just by observing their posture and their intent through transition. And he did not waste a single moment there, which to me says that he he’s worked hard to build up this lead. And he wants to, you know, maximize every single second of it. And and I love that we can see him still getting himself sorted nutritionally, maybe taking some salt tablets here. Um, yeah, he’s taking something some sort of nutrition. I think it’ll be salt tablet. hit sort of start replenishing some of those losses. It’s it’s going to be a hot day. We’ve been talking about it
all day. The the forecast is for the temperature to hit 30 plus degrees C on this marathon run course. There is a little bit of shade, but there’s also some exposed sections on this course. So, this will be a hot marathon. Well, for Christian Hogenhog, it’s eyes forward to the Hookup Marathon course. for us. Eyes back to the conclusion of the zoot bike course where we’re hearing Cam Worf has joined the chase group. He he made his way up to the back of that large chase group back at 169 km. So he will ride into town uh with them if not through them. Also word that at the front of the chase group that Magnus Ditlev and Daniel Beckagard have jumped clear uh of the rest of the folks. And right now we’re we’re at a standstill here. Okay. The first one in the beginning and the second one now.
Okay. Can you communicate? I will. But again, it’s
and I’m not even sure it’s my coach.
Who is it?
Two two guys. They told me, “Hey, I’m I’m the coach.” So,
okay. So, listening this, it sounds like
he’s getting a penalty for outside assistance. Apparently, someone’s coach was on course according to the official there. The drama continues, Dee. The drama just continues. It looks like this will be a stop and go, the equivalent of a yellow card. Uh we’ve got the technical official watching his watch, so it looks to be a one minute penalty. And off he goes again. You heard what the official said to him. What were the exact words? I was I was talking over it. it was some sort of coaching or outside assistance um that he confirmed it was one of Christian’s entourage his coach or and so yeah he was assessed a one minute stop go penalty so the rules are the rules the athletes know the rules as do their support staff and I’m I’m sure Christian will be filthy at his entourage if if that is the case but just the uh the drama continues here this has had so many twists and turns this race so far and I feel there’s more to come. It’s just it’s never ending. We knew this race was going to be fireworks from the from the start just based on the caliber of athlete and and the start list, but it’s it’s the drama outside of the racing between the the the mechanical malfunctions um and the penalties and the it just it’s it’s never ending. It’s surprising to me a little bit given the caliber of athlete uh that the technical issues which always happen but the ones that have happened seem to be unusual in nature uh and and certainly an athlete like Christian Hogenhog and his staff should know uh the rules on outside assistance so yeah he’s got to put it out of his mind again be a goldfish have a short memory and sink himself back into the marathon I liked his presence of mind where he stopped his watch uh so his pacing uh will be accurate and he’s just stuck right back in Yeah, and look, the officials are just doing their job and they’re doing a great job. Apparently, Patrick Lunga had a similar penalty assessed a few years ago in this very race and on this very course. So, the officials are consistent if nothing else. And as an athlete, that’s all you want. Um, you know, the rules and you need to abide by them. So, Christian just needs to get his head back in the game here. And I think he didn’t he didn’t seem flustered. He just he took the penalty and got on with business. As we see, it looks like Magnus Ditliov and Daniel Bakagard have stolen a little march off the off the group here, which is I don’t mind. It’s a nice little tactical move getting their own space into T2. Yeah, absolutely. As we watch them uh dismount the bike here, checking what that gap will be. Magnus Ditliv, the first to dismount. Uh and he his unofficial bike split 35905. He sits 750 back. So that quick chain stop only cost uh about 25 seconds uh for Christian Hoganhow. Daniel Bakagard uh team Denmark off in first, second, and third place here into the Ruby transition zone with Christian Hogenhog obviously out running already. Magnus Ditv in second, Daniel Bakagard in third. Yeah, the three Danes off the front of this race and they know each other’s game. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well. So, um, nice little tactical move at the end of the bike. We saw Cat Matthews do it in Hamburg a month ago to Laura Phillip. Just And look at this. That’s Cameron Worf, I think, at the front of the rest of that chase group. So, Cameron caught up to the group and biked absolutely through it uh in the closing kilometers. So Cameron Worf, I think off the bike in about fifth place there. Yep, exactly fifth place. So outstanding performance from Cameron Worf did it all on his own, moving his way through. Uh the rest of the Chasers, uh Casper Storz, Cameron Worf, Gustaf Eden, Rudy Vonberg, Casper Steppnak, Ben Canute at 854, Leonard Arnold, Christian Blumenfeld, and Johannes Vogle. Uh so that is quite the chase group. We will see uh a lot of action here in the Ruby transition zone. Yeah, interesting that Daniel and Magnus were able to get a minute at the end of that ride in the last handful of kilometers. It’s still the best part of nine minutes to the majority from the majority of this group to our leader. Although we did see Christian serve his one minute penalty on the run course. So closer to 8 minutes and some great runners in this group. Dee I think we’ll learn a little bit at the you know the the first couple of timing splits out on courses. Certainly the first lap we’ll learn a little bit about what athletes intentions are with their pacing and and if they choose to particularly the someone like Christian Blumenfeld is he just going to go for broke and go for the win here. I think we’ll also know who in that group may have overbiked. Uh obviously large group dynamics. Uh if anybody overcooked themselves on the bike, that certainly is going to rear its ugly head in the opening kilometers uh of this Hoka run course as well. As we’re back with our leader, Christian Hogen Hog, and he seems to have shaken off that little indiscretion and he’s getting back to his work. He’s got the the lead lead bike rider with him. Now, keep in mind he’s just gone through that uh opening time segment there uh on the tracker at 1.8K, but that will be inclusive of the time he uh spent standing still. So, uh take that one with a grain of salt. It is not reflective of his overall pace thus far. Yeah, it was interesting to see had the the race suit zipped all the way down. The athletes are definitely feeling the heat here today and this heat is going to play a big part in the marathon as we see Daniel Bakagar head out on course. Looking good there. Nice and fluid. No worse for wear. Again, always sort of tough to tell, but uh he’s found his run posture pretty well. Sometimes athletes can be a little bent over with those shortened uh hip flexors from a long hard bike ride, but uh he looks to have found his form and and upright and moving moving well moving forward.
Yeah, he’s got a nice rhythm. Nice rhythm going. Nice leg turnover and again he’s got the he’s got the race kit unzipped as well. So the heat is going to have its say in this race for sure. Um, like you say, Dee, the the really good triathon runners, they they get upright quickly and they get access into full hip extension straight away. And Daniel looks like he’s found a nice rhythm early. Great to see him at the front end of big races again. It’s been a minute, but he uh we certainly know his pedigree. Yeah, it was a name that was sort of the top of all topics of conversation for a period there and went through a bout of of injury but uh has fought his way back. I think anytime you go through a long stint of injury like that and I think Gustaf Eden we can put sort of in the same category there um these guys back themselves and and they believe in their abilities but that becomes difficult to do when um you’re just sort of faced with frustration after frustration and it becomes a long period of of of injury. uh a little bit of that self-doubt can can creep in and we’ve actually seen both Gustaf um and Daniel have uh coaching changes uh through that period of time and sometimes that can just be uh a fresh start on things even for a seasoned athlete as we’re seeing Yannis Vogle here. It’s his it’s his Iron Man debut today, but he comes in with good form having clocked up his first ever pro victory earlier in the year at Iron Man 70.3 Valencia. So he’s having a great race so far and and moments ago we saw William Hirs coming off the bike. So one of our early leaders Dee one of the first men out of the water. He just trailed off that front group towards the last 40 km and they continue to stream in off of the zoot bike through the Ruby transition onto the Hoka run course. the Thundering Herd uh making their way from bike to run and we will see certainly a change in race dynamics. No more the group dynamic. Now it’s every man for himself out there uh with each athlete uh setting their own pace in pursuit of the finish line as we look at Magnus Ditlev here uh making his way out on the run. Not the bike he we expected from him caught up in group dynamics. Caught up potentially uh with the saddle issue. It looks like he was a little nosed down and and the seat post slipped a little bit uh as well. So, not the bike we expected from him, but he is off and running as well. Yeah, he’s got the long loping stride and little bit of a forward lean. Nice posture. Nice posture. So, and he’ll be methodical with his pacing, too. He I think he’ll be immune to people launching attacks early in this run. I think Magnus knows his best run. He’s a big diesel engine in the run. his best run will be just to run four really steady, even paced laps here. And uh I I I love that move that he and Daniel made. You know, just stealing a minute off the group means they can get into their own run, their own rhythm. And it’s a great it’s a great strategy. As I mentioned before, Cat Matthews used it in Hamburg a month ago and took a minute or actually it was about 30 seconds off Laura Phillip and um and that was one of the great races DD that we’ve seen. You know, it was it was an iron war where they ran 30 seconds apart for 30 odd kilometers and but it was a great it was a great strategy by Cat and I think we’ve seen some of the boys use it today. I don’t mind it at all if you’re a strong biker and just stealing that minute and having a clear T2 and then setting your own agenda early in the marathon. And it also forces it forces a pace uh from some of the chasers, right, who might have biked in the group. And and if you can get that minute and force some of the guys to perhaps panic a little bit at the start of the marathon to to try to get that back right out of the gate, uh again, with conditions being what they are, uh it could be enough to to blow some of your competitors up as Magnus rounds that corner, looks over uh his shoulder there. I think Magnus no doubt uh remembering back to uh the Iron Man World Championship where a rough first uh 10 kilometers or so on the marathon after kind of over biking a little bit there at the end and and was able to manage it. Um put put the blinders on to to the competitors around him and run his way back onto the podium. So, uh good memories there as we check in with Ben Canoot who is in pursuit of a world championship slot for himself. Uh great runner as we take a quick peek down at the Ruby transition times uh with Christian Hoganhow our one of our fastest transition. We saw that firsthand. Christian Blumenfeld second fastest transition with Cameron Worf rounding out the top three for our fastest transition times. Yeah. Well, we saw Christian Hogen’s transition. He certainly didn’t waste any time and given that he had to serve a penalty shortly after that was probably a great decision. It interesting to see the different techniques and the different styles here. Dee, you know, we we had Magnus Ditlev on screen before. Big tall man, longer loping stride. Here we are again with Magnus as opposed to Ben Canoot, shorter man, shorter, choppier stride. So again, we have we have this idea in our mind of what a textbook efficient running technique looks like. But really the only thing that matters is what how effective it is, what pace you can cover the ground and how you can sustain that pace as the kilometers roll on. And the really good triathon runners in 70.3 racing in Iron Man, they hold pace in the second half of the run. So um this is a long run, four laps to do. And you know, I love a fourlap course because we get to gauge their pace regularly and and how they are tracking lap to lap. As we flash back to our leader here, Christian Hogan Hogan. He he still seems to be ticking along nicely. Nice leg turnover. Checking his pace, checking his heart rate. So, yeah, interested to get some early splits and and mindful of the fact D, you’re 100% correct. Christian’s first split is going to be a little tainted by that one minute standown penalty. Yeah, absolutely. Uh as we check early pacing again, it’s it’s deceiving. Uh so we’ll have to wait for uh a couple for it to shake out. And and honestly, for the entire field, you kind of don’t want to judge too much off the first run slit or two. Uh different athletes will settle into pace at at at different rates. Um, some may, you know, hit it hard, uh, to set that foot tempo and and be out, you know, super aggressive. Others may choose to build into those first couple of kilometers. Honestly, when we talk about Christian Hogenhog and that 60-second standown penalty, you never want to give time away, right? But it actually for the lead that he had, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to stand down for 60 seconds and sort of let that heart rate come down before you start in on that marathon. Um, I don’t see it being catastrophic for him and and could, given the conditions on the day, be a little bit of an advantage that it just caused him a moment of pause, a forced moment of pause due to a penalty, certainly you’re not going to choose to do that. Uh, but if it brings the heart rate down a little bit at the start of the marathon, not a terrible thing. I love your glass half full mentality, De. I mean, honestly, I I’m that manic. I wouldn’t have I would have hated to stand there for a minute, but I mean, you’re right. You got to see the silver lining in every situation. I just think he’s such a methodical and disciplined athlete that he’s not going to get his pacing wrong at the start. He’s a kind of athlete who will set out at his go-to pace. Interestingly, I mean, I think you raised a great point. Some of these early splits can be deceptive, but if you’re someone like a Christian Blumenfeld and you want to run a 232, you have to be on it from the first step. You have to be on the pace from the very first timing split. So, we’ll keep an eye on Christian
and his early splits as we flash back up to Magnus here. Sorry, Rudy.
Oh, that’s Rudy. Yeah, that’s Rudy.
Yeah.
Yeah, they look very similar, right? The stature is the same. You’ve got, you know, the long legs and the the longer loping stride. But yeah, this is Rudy Vonberg again. The the most discounted man in professional triathlon today. a guy that nobody talks much about going into these bigger races. Uh but a guy who seems to always find his way onto the podium. So Rudy von Berg uh makes his home in Boulder, Colorado. Also, uh spends a lot of time in in France. He actually uh came over to Europe uh after I think St. Georgia was uh did a a training camp on the course in Nice uh both to adjust to the time zone over here in Europe and and get a good training block in and and made his way up to uh Frankfurt for the race and will head back to Nice, I believe, when this is over and and do his preparations for for the World Championship. Uh his family has a home right there on the course or not far from uh pretty convenient setup for him uh as he looks to uh the next big goal for for Nice. Yeah, I should have known by the distinctive markings on his kit. It was Rudy von Bberg, but I was fooled by the the height, the loing stride, and the slight forward lean. But, um, yeah, Rudy’s I mean, he’s I wouldn’t say he’s ever discounted, but he doesn’t get picked for the win rarely, but he just with just amazing regularity ends up on the podium at big races. So, he his consistency and his level cannot be discounted. as we’re back now with our men’s leader and I don’t know if he was high-fiving the crowd or waving or doing something there but um we see his leg turnover not not a lot has changed you know for the first 3 km for this man in the run and we can see him taking on board his nutrition there getting a gel in or one of his shoes and I mean it’s it’s one thing these athletes they’re just so on top of their hydration and nutrition requirements in all the distance races and in all the different climates of course your requirements particularly around hydration and electrolyte depletion change as the as the climate changes as we come back and we’re now with Casper Steepnak who again he’s just had his we saw a lot of him early he was very consistent he was in that front swim group and he he’s he’s consistently a front pack swimmer and he rode really well with chase group one and tucked in when the groups came together so now we see him out on out on the run course and he’s certainly an athlete we need to watch as well. He had a a seventh place finish here last year in a 10th in I man Texas earlier this season. So definitely a man who can push for a top five if he has a great day. Yeah. And Casper Stempnak uh one of the athletes who unfortunately even with a a strong performance at Iron Man Texas was on the outside uh looking in uh to the to the World Championship qualification. So that is uh definitely somewhere in the back of his mind. uh probably not at the forefront right now as much as just settling into pace here uh for the marathon, but he is an athlete that needs a world championship qualifying slot. So, uh right now looking pretty good. Yeah, he’s looking really good. I’m loving the sound of the super shoes slapping on the on the pavement. You can hear them slapping there and it’s it’s almost rhythmical. And uh so yeah, Casper, he he definitely needs that Iron Man World Championships qualification. He looks like he’s sort of on course for it so far because a lot of the men ahead have already
got that ticket punched as we move forward to Cam Worth here.
Cam Cam Worf the runner, right? Cam said he would. But to Cam’s credit, he looks like a runner. Uh this guy has worked tirelessly um for a long time in the sport known uh for just being a powerhouse on the bike. I don’t think his swim necessarily has come around the way he might like, but boy, he’s done a lot of work on the run and and it shows. I mean, he looks significantly better. Um, he doesn’t look like a biker trying to run and um yeah, full credit to Cam Worf.
No, he’s he’s got a really nice efficient running technique. I mean, he’s been training in Endor where he’s based with some of the best runners in the sport. Matthew Hower from Australia who’s leading the WTCS series. Hayden Wild is I think one of Cam’s regular training partners notwithstanding Hayden’s on the comeback from a a nasty bike crash he suffered in Japan. But no, I I love I love Cam. But I laughed as you did when in that sound bite where he talked about himself as a runner and and I think that’s his mindset. He’s a great athlete. Represented Australia at the Olympic Games for rowing. He’s ridden on the Pro Tour for years. raced grand tours, raced some of the classics, and in his mind, he is a runner, and I think you’ve got to believe it for it to manifest. And he will give a great account of himself as we move forward in the field to Gustaf Eden here. So, I mean, Gustaf’s had a quite a nice start to this run. He he certainly doesn’t look as fluid and as fluid as he used to look a couple of years ago, but again, we talked about his his 12 months of, you know, just injury struggles, the loss of his mom, the emotional upheaval, and when you’re away from top level training and racing, it it takes an equal amount of time to get back to it. And I’m just loving this man adds to every single race that he’s in. His personality, his aggressiveness, and it’s great to see him up the front of the European Championships today. And let’s hope he can lay down a sub 240 run split that, you know, became part of his signature, you know, prior to his injury and his long layoff. I mean, it was just almost death taxes and Gustaf and running a sub240 marathon with three givens in life.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it it that’s awesome as he moves his way past Daniel Bakugard here. And I think the thing about Gustaf Eden, uh, no one necessarily wants to race against him, but I think he’s got the respect of his competitors, and I think almost every guy out there will cheer for him and is happy to see him back uh, looking at the top of the sport once again. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] You know, and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] What do you want?
Uh, you know what’s that uh really good non-alcoholic beer I keep hearing about?
Do you have that really great non-alcoholic beer that I keep seeing? Do you have a non-alcoholic beer that actually
actually tastes good? It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s not funny. Ask for it. My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Bright Leg. Aspire for the ultimate finish line reward and by Nirvana enhanced athlete event experience powered by Nirvana with Dee Grease Bower and you’re watching the Monova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men and Dee we’re here on the Hoka run course we’ve got our leader Christian Hogenhog on the left and on the right we’ve got the gentle giant from Denmark Mark Magnus Ditlev. And I love what I’m seeing from Magnus. He looks so relaxed. Very relaxed, very fluid. Again, we heard uh in our visit with Magnus on our Fighting Chance series presented by Hoka that he is coming off an altitude camp where he said uh it can do a little damage to the ego where you’re just not able to produce uh the numbers that you might at sea level. Uh but certainly good for the physiology and he looks to be primed and uh putting in a a great performance here. He’s got his work to do because uh his countryman uh Christian Hogenhog put together such an outstanding bike performance. Magnus lagged a little bit on the bike, but uh Magnus running very very well now, sitting uh 655 back of our leader and and running very very well. Uh Magnus, one of our faster fastest movers uh on course right now through the last timing segment. Granted, it’s early stages. Uh but Magnus moving really well as we take a look uh at uh uh Christian Blumenfeld now picking his way through the field. Yeah, and he’s just pulled up on the shoulder of his countryman Casper Storis. And interestingly, Dee, these two gentlemen posted just ridiculously fast run splits just 3 weeks ago. And Iron Man 70.3 Axon Province in the Iron Man Pro Series. I think Christian was a 10650 and Casper was a 10710. And they’re actually chatting to each other. You can hear them chatting, discussing the pace. And uh this is a power group right here. So um yeah, two of the best runners in the field. So it’s interesting they’re swapping the lead here. We saw Christian on the front and now Casper’s on the front. This is certainly a little partnership of convenience or an allegiance that’s formed between these two guys and they’re two of the fastest movers on course right now. Yeah. You know, one of the things I noticed uh actually during his uh fighting chance uh profile that we saw a moment ago and if you missed it, uh make sure to get on the Iron Man YouTube channel uh to take in that episode. But Christian Blumenfeld, again, you don’t body type doesn’t matter, right? It’s it’s it’s who gets to the finish line first. But but Christian Blumenfeld has been he’s got like a a huge massive chest if you ever see him in person. Um just the way his rib cage is is shaped. But to me he looked leaner than he’s looked in the past. Um I don’t know if that’s by design. I know in the past uh when he’s tried to uh slim down it’s actually detracted from his uh power on the bike. And so he’s always been very careful to to maintain uh his weight in a certain range. But to me, he looks he looks trimmer than I’ve seen him in the past and and he’s running extraordinarily well. Yeah. What’s interesting, isn’t it? I mean, it’s it’s always fraugh with danger. We see an official here coming up to have a chat with Magnus Gitliff. I’m not sure. I think has has Magnus been assessed a penalty? Let’s go down to the ambience. See if we can hear [Music] Red cardification. Disqualification. What the are you talking about? You can’t disqualify me. Wow. Wow. Keep running, Magnus. Keep running. Let’s sort this out later. I just not sure what’s going on here, but uh didn’t really hear what was said there, D. I’m not sure if you caught it, but it wasn’t a it wasn’t a yellow card like a one minute stand out. It was definitely the red.
It was It was a red card and I heard the official say disqualification, but I did not hear the reason given. Um certainly Magnus isn’t taking it lying down and he’s continuing to run. I I again the athlete can keep going. You can protest it. Ah, okay. I’m hearing right now that he was assessed a yellow card, but he didn’t stop. And so now he’s been assessed a red card and will be disqualified for failing to honor the yellow card stopand go penalty. Okay. Do we have any idea what he was assessed the yellow card for?
We’re waiting to hear from our technical officials what that was for. Um,
am I disqualified or not? We can see him asking if he’s disqualified.
I I want the official to get up next to our camera so we can hear. This is crazy work for an athlete. I don’t know what’s going through his head right now, but uh he’s still ticking along nicely. Yeah, just we just need to get uh some word from down on the course what actually has transpired here because it’s very hard to comment when we haven’t got the full story. But I guess it makes sense if there was an earlier penalty assessment that wasn’t honored. That’s when the red card comes into play. Sure. But I don’t know what the yellow card was for. We didn’t hear I mean we know that Patrick Langa got a yellow card for not putting removing the swim skin back in T1. He served that penalty in T2. Uh we saw Christian Hogenow with a yellow card for outside assistance. I don’t know what Magnus was assessed the yellow card for, but we do know that he has been shown a red card in the wake of that for not honoring the penalty and stopping down uh for for the yellow card. So, still waiting uh to get word from the course. Obviously, it’s it’s playing on Magnus’ mind uh quite a bit. He’s asked the official, “Am I disqualified or not?” I’m not sure he got a clear answer. Obviously, he did not because he’s still running. Yeah, this is crazy stuff, but I’m sure we’ll find out more. I love that he’s still running. You’ve just got to keep running until further notice. I mean, he’s running well. He’s not just running. He’s running well and he’s taking out some time from our leader. Um, so given whatever pro whatever problems he suffered on the bike with, as we look back, we can clearly see the red card being shown there and we heard the official say disqualification. So, Um, yeah, I’m not sure. We need to get some word from down of course to exactly what’s going on here. But given all the troubles he had on the bike with his bike seat up here Magnus asking the official if he’s made his mind up yet. This is crazy work. I love it. But he’s just got to keep ticking along. He’s got to get back in his own head, back in his own pace, and keep ticking along. I mean, he’s making inroads in the lead here. Here’s here’s here’s my question and and I’m asking this sort of generally to to our technical officials that might be listening. I’m I’m trying to be careful here because I want to see if the official is going to say anything to him. But is the technical official required to respond? Magnus keeps minutes. [Applause] [Applause] I’m not sure the technical official is required to answer. He’s shown him the red card,
right? So, does he have to give him justification or confirmation? The red card’s already been shown.
So, Magnus can choose to keep going and protest it in the aftermath, but that’s running a risk because he’s running a marathon without knowing. But the technical official, he’s asked several times now, and the official hasn’t responded as to whether or not he’s made up his mind yet. And he’s not going to get an answer from the official.
No. Well, he should. I mean, the the official should at the very least confirm what his decision is because it looks like Magnus is asking, is that a definite red card or not? So maybe he doesn’t have to justify his decision right now, but at least he should clarify or confirm it because you’re right, he’s got another 30 odd kilometers to run here. And I mean, we need to work out or he needs to work out whether that’s going to all be in vain. But there’s crazy scenes here. I mean, we we saw a penalty assessor to Christian Hogan Hog early in the run and it looked like that was for some sort of pacing or outside assistance, but there’s people on this course everywhere. There’s there’s people running along getting content. There’s people filming. There’s people on electric scooters. I mean, it’s just I’m not sure. I mean, clearly if it’s one of your support staff or your coaching staff, that’s a big no no. And these athletes know that as we just see Magnus come out of the turnaround there as Casper and Christian Blumenfeld, who are the two big movers on course coming into that turnaround. So, I think it’s going to be not long before we have a group of three here running in second, third, and fourth position chasing this man who through all that drama, we’ve just sort of neglected our leader. He’s still got he’s still got six minutes. He’s still got six minutes. Uh he is uh running at a pace that’s about 15 seconds per kilometer slower. So mathematically it’s going to be tight for him to hold on to this. Uh a lot to be determined. Uh but right now Magnus Ditlev Casper Stesus and Christian Blumenfeld all running in and around 3 and a half minute kilometers. Uh the action will continue here in Frankfurt. [Music] We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] This is the Minoma Mova Iron Man Frankfurt drama. European World Championship. Uh, drama unfolding at a more rapid pace than our athletes are moving out there. I’m Dee Griezbower. Craig Alexander, bring us up to speed as to the last incident of drama. Well, I Yeah, it’s there’s a little confusion on course. It appears that Magnus was assessed a yellow card, which apparently he then disregarded. So, he was assessed a red card, which is disqualification. But I can’t imagine knowing Magnus that he would disregard a penalty. So we we just need confirmation as to what is happening. And and while we wait for that, let’s get back to the racing. I mean, we’re here with Gustaf Eden who looks good. Gustaf’s moving well. He has been distanced a little bit from his two countrymen who to me look like the best runners on course. We’re through eight kilometers now. So we’re about a fifth of the way through this marathon. You know, it’s it’s hard to start doing the maths, DD, on how much time Christian Hogen Hag has lost. I I think, you know, halfway through the second towards the end of the second lap, we can start doing the maths on what he’s losing per kilometer. There’s no question that Christian Blumenfeld was always going to come out of T2 like he’d been shot out of a cannon. I mean, in his mind, he can win every race that he does. So, he’s going to start this marathon and try as we see our leader just try and get the crowd fired up and give him a little lift there. I love that. I think that shows a lot. That that says a lot, Dee, about where his head’s at and how he’s feeling.
Yeah, I think he’s really enjoying the lead that he’s got for as long as he’s got it. Uh and and he’s trying to get this crowd uh behind him. Um he’s running he’s running well. I don’t think he’s running fast enough necessarily to hold the lead, but it’s it’s too early to tell. So, Christian Hogenhog, our men’s leader, through the first lap here on the Hoka Marathon course. Um, the guys are reeling him in, but he still looks well and obviously he’s uh got the presence of mind. He’s engaging with the crowd. His nutrition um must be on point. Uh he there is no reason to to sound alarm bells uh on behalf of Christian Hogenhog at this point and and yeah I mean he’s got nearly a six-minute lead. Uh but the guys behind him are fired up running really really strong. Magnus Ditliff potentially fueled by anger uh because he’s facing an uncertain penalty at the moment. Uh Christian Blumenfeld and Casper Shness uh the the country mates uh running very very well. gapped uh Gustaf Eden, the the the triumvirate of the uh Norwegians by a little bit. Uh but to I agree with you, Craig, uh Blumenfeld and Stor look best on course at the moment. And um I think time will tell uh as to whether or not the paces that Hogan Hog is is turning in uh will be enough to to hold on for the lead. Again, we we have the weather to contend with and the heat um certainly getting getting higher. the the mercury rising. Uh but all of these athletes fueled by these great crowds which we see now flooding down to the main river uh alongside to cheer these athletes on. Yeah, I agree D. I think it’s too early to call. He’s definitely losing time to the faster men on course and and this is one of those men, Gustaf Eden. But I think you know what what Christian Hogenhog is doing is is just running at his pace and running his race. So he’s keeping his pacing, his I guess his strategy in the front of his mind and he’s just sticking to that and he’d be getting splits. He knows where these other athletes are on course and he’s through one lap now. So he’s through you know 10 and a half kilometers and I think we’ll get more of an idea you know towards the end of this next lap. But it it does seem like these boys are steadily chipping away at his lead. It looks like about 10 seconds and if in 10 to 12 seconds a kilometer but again we’ll just keep an eye on it as it comes down. Definitely Christian Blumenfeld and Casper Stone are the two big movers on course. Yeah, and they seem to be they they seem to be buddied up um running at least at the last time we saw them uh shoulder-to-shoulder uh enjoying that camaraderie and and working together uh to try to get to the front of this race. Um Magnus Ditlev at last check continuing to run uh really really well. Uh perhaps a little bit of an adrenaline shot there uh with the situation going on um penalty-wise for for Magnus Div, but uh Magnus continuing to run extremely well uh in second place. And um yeah, chased by Blumenfeld, Storis, and Gustaf Eden, team Norway. Yeah, and I mean Magnus had a minute or the best part of a minute lead on on Christian and Casper off the bike. So they’ve eroded about 50 seconds of that, almost all of it now. But yeah, Magnus is still one of the fastest on course as well. Um, so yeah, Magnus definitely still one of the fastest on course. So we’ll keep an eye on how that transpires, that situation with him. But just as we fast forward up here, it looks like we’re back up with Christian and and Casper and Christian. I mean, he doesn’t muck around. Christian does he? I mean, these two men ran shoulderto-shoulder at Iron Man 70.3 Axon Province just a few weeks ago. And so that’s got to give Casper confidence that, you know, he can match it and go toe-to-toe with, you know, one of the best runners in our sport. But again, DD, that was over the 21.1 km, not the 42.2. So, there’s a difference. As we know, Christian definitely has the experience over the longer distance. Um, but it’s good to see Casper up there sort of nipping at his countryman’s heels. And also Gustaf Eden, he’s only about 35 seconds behind these two men. And I don’t think Gustaf had the pop in his run that we’ve normally seen, but he’s still moving well. And let’s hope he can really work his way into this marathon. Well, yeah. And and we saw at least right before the conclusion of lap one that uh behind Gustaf Eden was Yonas Hoffman and at least through that segment uh appeared to not be putting the moves in that we would expect from somebody with the uh run resume of Yonas Hoffman. Also, Daniel Bakagard uh further back appearing to start to struggle. Um again, some of the paces of these guys um slowing ever so slightly could be a factor of the heat or just settling into pace. Uh but Daniel Bakagard uh slowing a bit and um yeah, so we’ll see how things shake out as we make our way into uh the second loop. But I I love the camera angle and I hope we get back to it momentarily of um Christian Blumenfeld and Casper Storis running together because to your point earlier, Craig, uh it doesn’t matter how you cover the ground, it’s who who covers it faster and the difference in run style between uh Casper Storis and and Christian Blumenfeld just looking like he’s in a fullblown sprint uh full-on striding with a huge arm drive, huge leg kick. Uh but Casper Storis running with much less motion in his body, but uh matching pace. I think it’s an interesting uh Here we go. Here we have it. Uh interesting comparison uh between the relatively still run form of Casper Storess and then you fast forward ahead to Christian Blumenfeld who looks like he’s running a 100 meter dash.
Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, Christian’s run form and technique definitely looks more powerful. Looks like it’s more suited to changing pace and accelerating. But both are beautiful. Both have great leg turnover. They, you know, they’re they’re on the ground very little. Their stance phase is is minuscule compared to their flight phase. It’s everything’s forward momentum with those two boys. And they look great. And yeah, it’s interesting how Christian’s just he just doesn’t want Casper really on his shoulder at all. It’s just squeezing the squeezing the lemon here a little bit. And he’s opened up a little bit of a gap as they maneuver their way through that aid station. And again, look, look, we just see Christian accelerate there, or or maybe Casper slowed down to grab some more aid, but it’s just an interesting dynamic. You don’t want to be losing your momentum through those aid stations. And it it just seemed like Christian held his speed a little better there. Yeah, it looked like Casper almost paused momentarily. I don’t know if he misgraded a cup uh and and dropped it to the ground, but he did for ever so slightly pause, but as we know, those seconds add up. Um, and it’s super helpful to just be right up on the shoulder. And to your point, Christian doesn’t seem to want him there and and and is trying to surge to maintain that gap, but it’s so much easier to pace when you can just set your sights and run your tempo and hear the footfalls of the athlete in front of you and almost use that as the metronome to set your own pace. Uh as we come back to Patrick Langa, who is running incredibly well, looks great as Patrick Langa always does. Uh he’s got a lot of work cut out for him. He was uh some 15 and a half minutes back after serving the one minute penalty for that swimkin violation all the way back in T1. Had to serve that penalty in T2. So he’s got his work cut out for him. But uh flying through uh this Hoka marathon course. Yeah, talk about metronomic. I mean he’s just that’s poetry. I mean just beautiful technique and he has got his work cut out. I don’t I mean barring an absolute explosion at the front of this race, I don’t think Patrick can win it, but I’m certainly interested to see what kind of marathon he can run here and and how many of these athletes in front he can pick off cuz I’m I’m tipping it’s going to be quite a few of them. And yeah, it’s just interesting the dynamic between these two. Christian is looking back over his shoulder like every hundred meters and I mean we still got 30k to run here so it’s as if he doesn’t want Casper there and you know oh hang on hang on cramping
cramping we’ve seen this
we’ve seen this with you we’ve seen this with Christian a few times and usually it’s been when he’s changed bike positions or changed format of racing changed from a road bike to a TT bike I don’t really think it’s been a nutritional deficiency so we’ll have to keep an eye on that. Um, yeah, it was interesting. There was something that was worrying him as we see Casper now taking a look over his shoulder and he just needs to continue with his work. Casper.
Yeah. The interesting thing that I’ve noticed when Christian has cramped, at least in the past, I’ve always seen it either in the quads or the adductors, uh, this looked like he was reaching down and grabbing his calf. Um, not that that matters. If you’re cramping, you’re cramping. Um, but it it seems to be a different spot. Um, I I’ve seen um I’ve seen him cramp again in the hamstrings. grabbed the hamstrings, the adductors, uh the quads, but never sort of in the low leg. Uh so curious where that’s coming from. Uh again, we we spoke to him and heard in pre-race interviews that he feels like he really has um nailed the the nutrition part of it. We saw him quite ill here a year ago. Um and again, at the Iron Man World Championship in Hawaii, uh throwing up quite a lot. Uh he he attributed that not to nutrition necessarily, but to a throat issue. uh where he was getting some swelling in his throat. He’s he felt like he was on the right side of that. He’s back running well and and and striding really well. So maybe just a temporary thing. Could have just been adjusting a calf sleeve there or adjusting the shoe. Um but it doesn’t appear to be something that is lingering for him at least at the moment.
Yeah, I was just going to suggest that potentially adjusting his timing chip, but when he bent over initially, it it definitely wasn’t a hamstring cramp. So, um you could just tell by the way he his posture and the way he had his knee bent, but um yeah, I mean he’s back into stride pretty quickly and of of all the athletes we’ve seen, you know, suffer misadventure and still get back into their work quite quickly. He’s at the top of that list. So, uh you know, in the past when I’ve seen him cramp up, it’s because of crazy race scheduling like, you know, changing from a a road bike and and WTCS racing to a time trial bike and and and having issues with that. We saw that at T100 Milwaukee a couple of years ago and um so we’ve seen him have issues but it looks like he’s back into his work and he didn’t waste any time getting back up on Casper Storis’ shoulder there. Yeah, absolutely. And as we uh continue to follow this exciting professional race, just want to uh check in uh with our try dot athlete spotlight. Of course, that’s Matthew Fullerton. Uh we had Matthew’s predictive uh time in the swim at 11948. Looked like a little bit of a rough swim. Uh he’s a little behind the paces right now. His actual swim 12720, but he is on to the bike course now and his predicted bike leg is 61323. So hopefully he can make up a little bit of that time. uh he lost in the swim, but uh you can follow along uh Matthew Fullerton’s progress uh versus his predicted times. And of course, at the conclusion of the race, Iron Man and Trid dot will post his finish time along with his predicted times on their social media pages. So, good luck to Matthew. Incredibly scenic run course along the river main here and just spectator friendly. I mean, I’m sure it’s a lift for these athletes to be in and amongst the crowd and and quite a bit of shelter on this course, too. So, there’s there’s some shaded sections as we’re here with our men’s leader. And yeah, I mean, again, it just I don’t know, Dee to the naked eye, he’s passing the eye test. I don’t think he’s too much has changed in his stride length, his turnover. Certainly, he hasn’t held the pace of those men behind him since the start, but whatever pace he’s got, he seems to be holding it. Yeah, he’s holding it and he’s forcing the guys behind him to to to run aggressively to to chase him down. I mean, he had a nearly eight minute eight. Again, it was a little um dodgy there because he dropped his chain and then had to serve a one minute penalty for outside eight in the very opening stages of of the the Hoka marathon course, but uh nearly we’ll call it a roughly eight minute lead. Um so he he is forcing the hand of the guys behind him. And here we have uh Magnus Ditlev who is still still running. So we haven’t gotten determination. That technical official I think is still riding along with him. Uh so we don’t know uh if you’re just tuning in. Uh Magnus Ditlev was issued a yellow card. We believe it was for littering outside an aid station. We’re still getting confirmation on that. He he didn’t serve the stopand go penalty. It would have been a minute standing down for a yellow card. He didn’t serve it. Kept running. So the technical official rode up next to him, showed him a red card, told him he was disqualified. Um he seemed frustrated by that and confused by that. Um but he’s still out there running. Yeah, he’s still out there running. And you know what? I’m loving this strategy by Christian on the right here just to to take a mental break and just sit on Casper’s shoulder for a little while. I don’t think you have to be the one forcing the pace if you’ve got a willing ally out there on course. So, not sure what that was, Dee. When he was bending over, it looked like he was adjusting either a shoe um or a timing chip around his ankle, but yeah, I mean, at the last timing check, Magnus had 22 seconds on on Christian and Casper, and it’s still 20 22 seconds. So, you know, Magnus is having a great run here and uh be interesting to see what transpires as we get word from from the officials, from course what’s happening. But, he seems to be just in a nice rhythm. And again, we saw this from Magnus last year in Kona when he faded towards the end of the bike and we wondered what was happening and was at the end of his day and even post race he talked about sitting in T2 and wondering if he could head out on the run and he ended up having the third or fourth quickest run of the day and actually running up into into second spot. So, we know this man’s a fighter and we know he’s quality and he’s in a great position right now eating into his countryman Christian Hugenhow’s lead. It’s down to five minutes. And it was hard to gauge Christian’s lead off the bike because he did have what we thought was eight and a half or 9 minutes. Then he had the mechanicals that probably cost him maybe 45 seconds unconfirmed. And then he he had the one minute standown as well. So it could have been like a seven minute lead rather than nine. And so he’s lost 2 minutes in that first lap, which would mean it’s if you do the maths, I mean, yeah, it’s it’s going to be a closely run thing if everyone if the status quo remains and everyone can hold their pace.
Yeah. It would be it would be sort of a heartbreaking tragedy for Christian Hogenhog if it if it came down to either that one minute uh stopand go penalty or uh the chain derailment the mechanical there in the in the literally the last kilometer of the bike. But all of our athletes today seem to be having their their dramas out on course. We’ve got Magnus with an uncertain penalty. Um we’ve had athletes uh with mechanical issues losing arrow bars, dropping nutrition. Um, so everyone is facing their their challenges out there. Today we had Patrick Lango with a one minute stopand go penalty for a swimkin violation in T1. Uh, so everyone uh seems to be having their own challenges out there outside of the competition of the race. And interestingly, you mentioned Patrick Langer. I mean, just getting a split. He’s at the end of the first lap, he was still 1540 down. So, he’s made up no time really. I mean, he served his penalty and he’s probably nullified that, but he’s not moving as fast as these boys. So, uh, but again, he’s a fighter. He’s a threetime and defending Iron Man world champion, Patrick Lang, and we know this is his hometown race. So, he won’t give up. And right now though, we’re with the two Norwegians who I guess on form, you’d have to say carry the best run form into this race after those really quick run times they posted in Axon Province in the last round of the Iron Man Pro Series. Dee and yeah, you’re right. You talked about their contrasting slightly contrasting techniques. No less no less effective though. They’re both really effective runners and both highly efficient as well. and the advantage they have going for them right now. They are sitting at now 15 seconds back of Magnus Ditliv. Uh and given the nature of this course and particularly the early stages of this course before some of our age group athletes on this looped course come out and join the party here on the the ROA sorry the Hoka marathon course. Uh they have eyes on Magnus Ditlev. So they are the hunters right now uh with Magnus Ditlev being the hunted and I think having eyes on and being able to slowly reel him in and hunt him down is is definitely an advantage later on. And we saw this a little bit uh in Hamburg as well. When you get mixed up with the age group athletes, it’s harder for your chasers to pick you out of the crowd to spot you uh the the more crowded the run course gets out there. But but right now uh advantage uh Storis and Blumenfeld uh being able to hunt down Magnus Ditlev with eyes on uh his back slowly reeling him in and we see him look over his shoulder there now for the first time uh to see what that gap is and see his competitors closing in.
Yeah. And I think there’s not a lot of discrepancy between the pace that he’s running compared to the two chases. So I think he’ll he will know they’re coming. We saw him take a little look over his shoulder there. people on course would be telling him where they are and I mean we may have a little power group of three shortly but just looking at the splits not knowing exactly what Christian Hogen’s lead was off the bike it looks like he lost two and a half minutes on that first lap so if that’s the case he was probably going to need a 10-minute lead and he had close to nine but again those two little indiscretions the stop and go and the um the little mechanical cost him a couple of minutes so but again he’s still in the lead so until further notice He’s the man to beat. And I’m just loving the work here from Magnus. You know, again, we talk about how we get certain athletes, we pigeon hole them and say, “Well, this guy’s an Uber biker and this guy’s a these guys and girls at the top level are just awesome triathletes across the board. They have no real weaknesses.” And sometimes when you don’t get to unleash your bike power for whatever reason, the dynamics of the group, a seat post that slips, uh, you know, a seat that that angles down, maybe you have plenty of energy and plenty of matches left to burn on the run. So loving this from Magnus so far and Christian Hogan continuing at the front of the race enjoying his time in the spotlight. It has been well earned without outstanding performance as we have the next generation seeing how long he can hold pace with our race leader. We’ll see if he can do it all the way to the finish line here at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, [Applause] [Music] neat kicker run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run-f free mode, a gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally, just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speed and grade for you. Kicker Run by Wahoo. It’s time to run free. [Music] Here’s Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential, her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trid Dot, Elizabeth gets faster, faster, and what does she have to do?
I just opened Trid Dot and did my workout. Trot. We do the technology. You do the training. My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship is brought to you by Hyper Ice. Keep moving better than ever. and by Precision Fuel and Hydration. Personalize your race hydration with Precision Fuel and Hydration. I’m Craig Alexander with DD Grease Power and you’re watching the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships for Men, race 11 of the 2025 Iron Man Pro Series. And Dee, we’ve just had word that the head referee is conferring with the other referees, including the one who assessed the penalty to Magnus, and we’ll have confirmation shortly as to exactly what’s going on with that situation. So, we’ll keep everyone updated as we find out more. And doesn’t seem to be it’s affecting us at this moment more than it seems to be affecting Magnus. Magnus continuing uh his laser focus on the task ahead. Uh you can see there in the background his two closest chasers in Casper Storis and Christian Blumenfeld uh trying to reel him in. Uh the gap was about 20 seconds down to 15. Uh it’s a second or two here and there, but uh Magnus still running running strong, but the guys behind him with eyes on uh no doubt uh pursuing the hunt. Yeah, and I mean these long shots are always deceptive, but that looks like it’s about a 15-second lead. So, it’s sort of holding steady around there. So, Magnus is running amazingly well. Whatever is happening on course is certainly he’s been able to put it aside and just get back to the task at hand, which is chasing this man, his countryman Christian Hogenhag, who again, did he’s just had a great race today. Can’t speak holly enough of just, you know, his intent from the minute the gun went off. He got off the beach quick. got in that select little front group, was able to hold on through the Aussie exit of the swim. Um, showed composure, took his time through Ruby T1, putting his calf sleeves on, and then just unleashed a really impressive historic, I want to say, bike ride on this course at 352. Um, some of these splits are just getting mindboggling, but that afforded him like an 8 to 9 minute lead. Some of that was eroded uh between a little mechanical on his run in to T2 and and also a one minute stop go penalty. But Dei still seems to be moving well. We see him doing all the same things we saw him doing, you know, on lap one, taking in his his salt tablets, taking in his his precision shoes, checking his heart rate, checking his pace. Um and he looks good. He looks good. He is losing time, but he’s holding pace. And I think, you know, he’s such a meticulous and methodical athlete. He knows what sort of fitness he brings into this race and what kind of marathon pace he can hold. And I think he’s just determined to to dial down and drill down on that.
Yeah. And if you consider the fact that many will will look at his sort of the the tools in his tool belt and say that um his run is his weakest discipline. Uh he did say pre-race uh in some of his pre-race commentary that he was running uh the best he ever had. Uh he put in a big uh heat block after I iron man Texas. Um and and I think uh he is ready to rid himself of that. Um run is my weakest discipline. He’s he’s taken a a note from Cam Worf’s book and saying, “Hey, I’m a I’m a three sport athlete. Uh I don’t have a weakness.” And right now he is running very very strong and looks very very well. Yeah. And and you know we talked we talk about it often and and I heard you mention it earlier that you know the top males and females in our sport are just versatile and wellrounded. That’s why they are the top athletes. And whilst comparatively speaking if we’re comparing Christian Hogan Hog’s run to Christian Blumenfelt well yeah there’s a difference there. But this man’s a world class athlete and he’s leading one of the most competitive Iron Man fields we’ve seen outside of the World Championships and um you know we’re getting a split screen shot here and jeez every time Magnus Dit there comes up on screen. He just looks more and more relaxed. He looks he looks like he’s just loping along there. And I mean he’s a big tall man but I think he’s got a just a beautifully efficient and relaxed running running style.
Yeah. which for for a a taller athlete isn’t as easy, I’m going to say, to pull off because of the loping nature of of his run style. It’s not easy to make that look as effortless uh as Magnus is making it look. And yeah, I mean, full credit to him to look so calm and relaxed, given the pressure that he’s under. Uh, not only given race circumstances um, from from a penalty perspective, but also from the fact that uh, he’s got two incredible runners uh, breathing down his neck trying to chase him down and he’s taking it all, no pun intended, in stride and and looks wonderful. Uh, Christian Hogenhog, just to to back that point up, um, you know, he ended up third in the Iron Man Pro Series. uh last year uh but ironically just was on the outside looking in after Iron Man uh Texas in terms of qualifying slots. So uh your first place man out on course uh well on his way to securing his spot to uh race uh with his fellow competitors in Nice in September. Little bit of an update, Dee. We just got word from the head referee that Magnus Ditliff’s red card has in fact been rescended. So apparently they’re just trying to communicate that to him out on course. Uh I’m glad he kept running. It was the smart thing to do, but you know, under the circumstances and the pressure and the scrutiny, um who knows what was going through his mind, but he seems to I mean he’s such a calm character, such a great temperament for a world-class athlete. He just stays in his own head, stays in the zone, and he looks absolutely fantastic out on course here. just a slight slight forward lean. You know, he’s making it hard for these two men behind him to to bridge that gap that, you know, they’ve been eyeballing him 100 m up the road, 150 m up the road now for the best part of a whole run lap. And you know, he’s just and you know what, as they come into this turn at this end of the course, they will get a he will get a good visual on them as will this man. He’ll get a a visual on all them other athletes chasing him. And again, the word that comes to mind is composed, methodical, just taking a split on his watch.
Yeah.
Checking the pacing, checking the heart rate, checking all the boxes. So, um, loving loving what we’re seeing from Christian Hoganhog today.
Well, that’s that’s what I liked seeing and and you made the point um he again he went around that turn um took a split on his watch, which indicates to me the presence of mind, right? I mean, he’s he’s still getting splits. Uh you go around that turn, you check your watch. Uh you can see the the athletes running the opposite direction. Uh get timing updates on what his gap is, how it is changing lap after lap after lap. Uh and the fact that he is this deep into the race and still has that presence of mind. Uh very positive signs for Christian Hogen. It’s going to be interesting this dynamic we’re going to see with the three men behind him when I think it’s inevitable at some point that Casper and Christian Christian B they get up on on Magnus’s shoulder and you know that certainly is a power running group those three together. They’re the fastest on course. Um I think Gustaf Feeding at last check was about a minute behind so yeah he’s still moving well. to too good stuff but but a minute behind this this power group and yeah I just it’s great to see the evolution of athletes throughout the seasons throughout the years and I think Magnus Ditliff probably thinks that if he’s to step up from you know a podium position at the world championships to the top step of the podium the one thing that can help him do that is just slice you know a handful of minutes off his off his marathon run split and without compromising anything off bike ride. I mean, as as as one of the top athletes in the sport, that’s you know, you you don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul. So, it’s nice to see uh you know, Magnus Ditliv’s evolution and to take a leaf out of Cam Worth’s book. He’s become a runner.
Yeah. Uh as has Christian Hogenhog. I mean, working on that run as well. Um putting time in into that weakness. Um, and what I’m envisioning, and I’m fast forwarding because I’m just getting so excited. I’m literally up out of my seat here, uh, in in studio, is the likelihood that that Stor Blumenfeld bridged to Ditliff, who then all three bridged to Hogenhog all in the last 10k of this run. Well, that would certainly make an exciting race for us. Maybe not so much for for Christian Hogen Hog, but um yeah, I mean it’s a distinct possibility, isn’t it? But you’re right. I mean, even that side on shot we got of Christian H a minute ago, he looked great. Still got full range of hip extension, a lot of lot of forward drive, good knee lift, great turnover, and um this dynamic is fascinating to me. Athletes who know each other well have trained together and just sharing the workload in the run. It looked like on that first lap, I don’t know if it was a plan, but Christian just was ever so slowly inching forward out to 9 m, 10 m and and looking back and and then he had that little little pit stop and now Casper’s taking the lead and both men look fantastic to be honest, but um yeah, it’s just an interesting dynamic. I think it’s it must be reassuring to have a a good friend and a training partner with you on course in such a big race.
Yeah, I I can’t tell. And just knowing how talented Christian Blumenfeld is and how strong his arsenal is out on a race course, I kind of feel like he’s almost playing with Storess like a a cat with a ball of yarn. Um although that that’s not giving enough respect to Casper Stor uh certainly who has all of the potential and just hasn’t had the results that that Christian Blumenfeld has yet. Um, but I look at Blumenfeld and and such a gamer. I kind of feel like there’s more in the Blumenfeld tank. Yeah. Or Christians. Christian is an amazing as you see. Magnus make the turn that Christian Hogan How made recently. And then the of course right there in his grill the two Norwegian boys KB and Casper Stor. So yeah, I mean Christian Blumenfeld, he is a gamer. I mean, he’s won the biggest races in our sport. I mean, he’s done things that are unheard of in our sport. I mean, most athletes step up from shorter distance and and you know, athletes who have made and who have had great short course careers step up and have great long course careers. It makes sense, but not very often you see athletes go the other direction, you know, and come down in distance or bounce around between the distances in the same month or in the same racing block. Like we’ve we’ve seen Christian Blumenfeld race the Iron Man World Championships in Kona. Three weeks where he took third, thank you very much. Three weeks later win the Iron Man 70.3 World Championships in St. George, Utah. and then a week after that go to his hometown of Bergen and race a sprint distance WTCS race where he got rolled for the win in a sprint finish and took second place. You you never see athletes go down in distance in that short space of time. So I think it’s unheralded what Christian Blumfelt’s done in our sport. Um and so with that would come a confidence and maybe he’s really confident. But you know what
what we do know about Casper Stormness is that only three weeks ago he was pretty much in the same ballpark as Christian Blumenfeld in that run. I mean they both ran world leading times over the half marathon. So physically we know we over 21.1K he can match him. The question is has Casper Stonis learned enough with his Iron Man Texas result earlier this year. Can he translate that into the full distance? So that’s what I’m excited to watch over the next 45 minutes to an hour. No doubt. And and again, I don’t want to I don’t want to be disrespectful to Casper Storing the resume and the pedigree of Christian Blumenfeld. It’s hard to imagine um that Casper Stor would get would get the better of him. Um but like I said, his time has been coming for an awful long time. So today could be his time. [Music] What do you want?
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It’s athletic. You’re holding it.
You mean athletic? You’re looking at it.
I think you mean athletic. It’s that fun. Ask for it. [Music] [Music] Is You are endurance isn’t just about medals. It’s about showing up. Even when your brain says go and your body says no. Showing up means taking care of yourself, skin, and all. Because when you train hard, your skin works hard, too. That’s where Bulldog comes in. With products packed with brilliant natural origin ingredients that help prepare, protect, and recover your skin. No fuss, no nonsense. Bulldog skincare is man’s best friend. Official men’s care products of Iron Man Europe. You’re watching the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships for Men. I’m Craig Alexander and I’m joined by Dei Grease Bower and Dee. Well, you called it, you predicted it. It’s it’s it’s been a long time coming though, but we have we have three of the best triathletes in the world over the Iron Man distance now shoulderto-shoulder as we approach halfway of this run. Yeah, we do. And and while it’s not good news, again, I’m going to be glass half full. It’s just how I’m feeling today, Craig. Um it’s not good news for Magnus. Nobody likes to be caught um not just by a competitor but by two competitors and two competitors of this uh caliber. Uh but a little bit of a relief almost for Magnus that you can like I said it’s helpful to have someone to run with to pace off of. Uh we’ve seen Casper and and Christian Blumenfeld um do it for a majority of this run. Sort of use each other to lift each other’s game. And if Magnus can just sort of settle into the back of this group and and hang out for a little while and and use it to his advantage, again, just follow the footfalls, stare at between the shoulder blades of the guys in front of him, um, and just sort of let momentum take over. It can be a little relief of setting the pace on your own. I think he will be relieved. I think he’s dying to show us his his run ability. Um, we know he’s run a 234 and challenged Roth before. So, um, he has got that pedigree. Typically, I I I think he would probably feel like, you know, Christian might run anywhere from five to six minutes out of him, even more in a in an Iron Man marathon. And, you know, Whitey had a a minute head start on Christian, it’s taken him half the run course to catch that. So, um, whilst he’s probably not relieved that they caught him, I don’t think he’d be in any way put off or, um, discouraged by this because I mean, these are two of the best runners over this distance in the sport, you know? I mean, and and KB is, I think, is one of the best runners we’ve seen in the sport. He I mean when he won that Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, he outran two gentlemen in Alex Y and Hayden Wald who I think are the two best pure runners we’ve ever seen in our sport. So you know that’s that’s the kind of pedigree run pedigree that Christian has. And you know it’s taken Christian 21 and a half kilometers to catch to catch Magnus today. So I don’t think Magnus will at all be discouraged by this. In fact, I think he’ll be lifted by his run performance so far and the fact that
he’s had that penalty rescended and he’s back in the race. Yeah, I mean that’s that’s probably the greatest relief of all is is to know that he is still in the race and that his efforts are very relevant uh to the cause. Uh but they all three now are in pursuit of this man Christian Hoganh who has completed two loops of this fourloop Hoka marathon course and still looking just extraordinarily well. We see the crowds building out on the course, not only to support our professional athletes, but a lot of our age group athletes will start making their way out onto the Hoka run course as well. And this Frankfurt course renowned um for for the adoring fans, uh these German fans who are just such huge fans of the sport. As we come back to this was the the pass um of the the two uh Storis and Blumenfeld over uh Magnus Ditle and the three of them then collectively going through an aid station. Um but all in pursuit of of this man right here. Uh again starting our watches since C uh since Christian H uh through two laps now uh seeing what the deficit is through the halfway point of this marathon uh and start to assess and and surmise whether or not Christian Hogen will be able to hold on. Yeah, it’s really interesting. I think we can start crunching the numbers now. I mean, given that it was roughly 8 minutes that Christian Hogenhog had off the bike, it’s now half. So, it’s it’s taken two laps, but they’ve halved it. So, at this rate, you would imagine that if the status quo remains and everyone runs at the same pace, which probably won’t happen, that the pass will come very, very late in this marathon as we get our eyes back on Gustaf Eden. And, you know, Gustaf’s having a great race. He’s he’s just hovering around 50 seconds 55 seconds behind that power trio as well. So, you know, he seems to be holding pace now. He’s found his rhythm and he’s got his cute little run cap on there keeping the sun out of his eyes. But I love this man. He his his pacing is legendary. His ability to pace a run. Um and some of the runs split three races and I man have been amazing. So, it’s great to see him. He seems to be holding pace and all men are on, you know, well under 240. Iron Man marathon pace at halfway. So I think even Christian Hogan is on about 238 239 pace and of course we do expect to see some slowing. That’s that’s what we typically see. But I want to say that the modern day athletes Dee the the slowing is not as pronounced as it used to be with you know their sort of attention to nutrition and the better nutritional products available and the super shoes the cushioning that they sort of afford an athletes legs I want to say that the last 5 years we haven’t seen these you know marathons the second half really you know the pace just fall off a cliff it just doesn’t happen that much.
Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. I think that the cushioning in the shoes um helps preserve some of some of the the durability of the legs. Uh you don’t get that deep ache quite as quickly as you might have uh back when we were running in literally racing flats back in the day, not that long ago. So, the technology uh certainly enabling it um a lot of these athletes to to do better. Again, the nutrition being a huge factor as well um in in athletes ability to to really fuel uh particularly the bike with massive amounts of carbohydrates uh given how well these sports fueling products are are developed now um enabling athletes to take in you know so many grams of carbohydrates per hour. So they’re starting these marathons uh less depleted than they would have uh in years past. one camera angle I got and when we haven’t quite seen it uh I think Magnus Ditlev was falling off the back um real quickly and Gustaf Eden again he’s holding steady there there to pick up the scraps if anyone does fall off the pace um but we’re seeing uh a little bit of a surge or a little bit of a slowing of Magnus did lift so and Blumenfeld moving away ever so slightly and it was just a really quick camera angle um but now it looks like Blumenfeld is this the Is this the lead? No,
these are laps. I’m getting myself confused.
Yeah, couple of lap couple of the early age group athletes heading out on the run course and um getting to run with the leaders for a little bit, which is which must be a lot of fun. But, you know, I it looks like Magnus has sort of that elastic band has started to stretch and I mean I
I’ve got a lot of faith in Gustaf Eden’s pacing.
Yeah, I I think he I think he rarely gets it wrong. I mean, not that these two men on screen get it wrong, but you know, I think, you know, with the excitement and hearing the deficit, did they go out try and shut the gap down quickly? I think one thing we know about Gustaf is, and we’ve seen him do this, I remember him clearly doing it in the 2019 70.3 Iron Man World Championships in Nice. when he went headto-head with Alistister Brownley, he just stuck to his pacing early in the run. When Alistister made a pass and Gustaf stuck to his pacing and was able to maintain his pace for longer in the race and he and he won that race. So, I I do have a lot of confidence in Gustaf Eden’s ability to pace one of these marathons. I just wonder where his fitness is at um after that big break last year, but it seems he’s holding strong just 40 or 50 seconds back. So he’d only be 250 m back de. So he on the long streets he’d be getting his eyeballs on these two gentlemen. And here’s the thing too, Craig. I think for for Gustaf Eden, if you maybe not in his heart of hearts and and every true athlete comes in thinking that they can win this race, but I think if you asked Gustaf honestly like what would be a win for you here at Iron Man Frankfurt, I think a top five finish in this field in particular is going to make him really happy and really encouraged that his progress back towards the Gustaf Eden of old uh is is well and truly underway. Um, yes, he would want for more, but it it’s even just sitting here in fifth place, I think today is a win for Gustaf Eden, and we’re not done uh seeing him move up uh potentially as well.
No, I I agree. I mean, I think before the race, he may have told himself he would be happy with a top five given recent past performance, but given the way the race is unfolding now and halfway into the marathon, I mean, he’s a champion. He’s won some of the biggest races in our sport and I think he would have his heart set on a little more than a top five given the way things are playing out. So, um, you know, confidence is a funny thing. It can leave you momentarily, but that champion’s mindset doesn’t leave and we’re we’re at the business end of this race now and I think his form’s holding strong today. And so, I think he would have his heart set on a little more than just a top five as we as we speak. Well, as as you as you get, you tend to want more. uh the the greed of an athlete. Um but yeah, I I think it’s great uh to see Gustaf back uh making real strides uh towards the front of races, factoring in disturbing races and uh so kudos to to Gustaf Eden. Uh but more kudos to to this man on screen who is holding super strong uh in the lead at 23.1 kilometers. Uh timing through lap two. Uh we didn’t check that gap. 406. Uh so again that two minutes per lap that you had talked about that math uh holding steady. Uh we’ll see if it holds through the second half which is again where we see some of the some of the cracks start to form uh particularly with temperatures uh factoring in the way we anticipate them to factor in today. Uh temperatures above 30 uh degrees Celsius expected uh through the latter portions of this marathon certainly could play a role in in pacing degradation through the second half of the marathon.
Come on.
Yeah. No, I agree. It’s it’s really interesting this third lap. I think we’ll learn a lot. Um you know, every athlete has little telltale signs in their technique when they start just starting to come off the pace and off the boil a little bit. So, we’ll keep an eye out for those. But yeah, Christian H still looks great. He still looks good. I mean, he’s holding a pace that as with mentioned that time is steadily and consistently coming down, but he’s still holding his pace. So, he’s giving the best version of himself out here today on this marathon, of course. But, no, I agree 100%, Dee. I think as the temperature sars and, you know, we get deep into this third lap and then the fourth lap, it’s it’s who can hold pace the best really. That that’ll determine our podium spots and the order of that podium. And if we check back, I’m going to check back a couple of splits um to see here uh right before the halfway point behind Gustaf Eden, we have uh Yonas Hoffman, Cameron Worf sitting in seventh place. Uh, Bakagard is in eighth, Casper Steppenak in ninth, Rudy von Berg sitting in 10th place at 1056 back. And, uh, Arnold uh, sitting in 11th place, he has slipped one position, he is 1153 back. Uh, moving even further uh, back the field, Patrick Langga at yes through 18.5 km, still at 1533 back. So, just not making the the inroads. um you know that we would expect for Patrick to make and you know may fight his way into the top 10 depending on the sec how the second half of his marathon goes but uh probably a disappointing day for Patrick Langa. Oh no doubt it’ll be terribly disappointing and it just goes to show how fickle racing is at the highest level in this Iron Man Pro Series. You know your chances are sometimes on a knife’s edge. You need to log five great results over the course of 12 months. As we see here, maybe a little crack starting to appear in the uh Casper Storus armor as Christian again just squeezes the pace a little bit or is it Casper coming off the pace? We’ll have to we’ll have to check back on the splits on that. But both men still look good. Um he just it’s it’s just business as usual for this guy, isn’t it? He’s just on the chase. He wants to win another title. I mean, his mantel piece at home must be grin forced with with steel because he’s got that many titles on it. But the motivation and the hunger to add more is just is so impressive. And but you know what? Again, Casper Storus is not he’s not laying down. He’s just going to hold that pace back there. And you know, a name you mentioned earlier, Cam Worth. Let’s let’s dip our cap to Cam Worth, the runner. He is he’s in seventh spot. And he fought his way back from eight minutes down out of the water deed. Just give that some thought. Eight minutes. You know, by the time he hit T1, the lead the lead athletes are 6K up the road on the bike. I mean, that’s that’s it’s incredible staying power and mental toughness by Camworth. So, hats off to him. He’s his run has improved as you mentioned, and he’s just chipping away at it back there in the in the top 10. Uh, and not only eight like eight minutes down out of the swim, but but chipping his way back in against athletes like Magnus Ditliff, Cas Casper Spores, Christian Blumenfeld, like that’s no small task. Uh, because those are some pretty talented athletes as we come back uh to Gustaf Eden. And what I liked there and and I think Gustaf just did the same thing as they come up onto this foot bridge again crossing over the river, this looped course. uh all eyes going forward and uh right to the opposite side of the river uh to assess those time gaps, see what they can see. Uh again for for Gustaf, he’s going to be able to ID those those bikes. Again, you see him looking right, eyes veering right, seeing what he can see, what those time gaps are. Can I get eyes on them? Can I start to reel them in? And that that indicates to me the fight that’s still left in Gustaf Eden.
Yeah. No, I I agree. um everything about his body language and his posture signaling his intentions to move forward in this race.
And that’s that’s that’s Magnus right in front of him. So he’s got Magnus right in front of him. That’s Magnus right there if I’m not mistaken. He’s moving on up Gustaf and he you’re right when he was crossing the bridge he we saw him take a peek ride. He I mean he’s been no more than 50 seconds behind his two countrymen. So it’s about 250 270 meters on the road. That’s definitely not a a race defining gap at any any stage of the race, let alone, you know, with with 15 or 18 km still to run. So, um, as we see Magnus here chasing some shade on this run course and Gustaf chasing Magnus’s shadow, um, getting right on the shoulder there and Gustaf’s moving well, DD, I have a lot of faith in this man’s ability to pace a marathon. And how much faith do you have at this point as all of Norway tuning in to see if maybe we may end up with a Norwegian podium? Oh gosh, I don’t want to. I mean, let’s that that’s a that’s a big call, Ellie. I mean, let’s Christian H still has a bit of a lead. It’s not Look, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. It depends how much Christian Hogan How comes off his pace. Sure.
Yeah. I I I really feel that the three me the three Norwegians chasing him will hold pace really well and will pace this well particularly this man Gustaf Eden. So if you know at halfway into the run Christian H still did have four minutes which was about half the lead he had at the start and if he can hold pace um you know we’re going to get we’re going to get a handicapper’s dream. They’re going to hit the they’re all going to hit the carpet at the same time.
Yeah.
Um is that is that is that hoping for too much? But I mean look at Gustaf. He just the further this race goes on, I think the better he looks. And again, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I have a lot of faith in this man’s ability to pace a marathon. Well, and again, he just look at how relaxed he looks. Uh it’s almost a smile on his face, and we know that the conditions down on course are not comfortable. Uh but yeah, looks super relaxed, super poised uh and in control. And again, the fact that he is searching the course ahead of him uh for athletes to reel in, I think is a super positive sign. Yeah, it speaks to his intentions, that’s for sure. And he certainly got more pop in his step than he had on the first lap. And this is great to see. Again, hearing the ambient sounds of the footfalls there on the pavement. Just the the breathing. Uh definitely working hard but not out of control. Continuing to check that pace and of course the incredible crowd support. Yeah.
Yeah. Exactly what I was going to say. Great support for these athletes on course and it gives them all a lift. Everyone in the field from the leading professional right down to all the age group athletes. They love the crowd support as we see Gustaf make the 180° turn and down this little ramp back down onto the banks of the the river main. And I mean he can see his two countrymen ahead. They’re 50 seconds up this path. So he looks good. He looks good, Gustaf. He looks good. He’s moving on up.
Yeah, moving on up. He has gone uh through Magnus Ditliff. Magnus tried to stay on his shoulder a moment there, but uh a little too much. Uh obviously still a long way to run and Magnus uh has to stay encouraged and and stay in it. Uh with conditions anything can happen out there. Uh but yeah, Gustaf inserted himself now into fourth place and he’s about a minute um behind uh his two countrymen and just inside of five minutes outside of the lead. Again with the action coming here from the Hoka run course. It’s Christian Hoganhog, Christian Blumenfeld, Casper Storis, Gustaf Eden, and Magnus Ditlev. Your top five men here at Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men. Meet Kicker Run from Wahoo. A revolutionary indoor running experience where you just run and your feet set the pace. We call it run free mode. A gamechanging technology that allows you to change speeds naturally just like you do outdoors. You can even let popular training apps control the speeding grade for you. Kicker Run by Wahoo. It’s time to run free. [Music] [Music] You know, and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s Thanks. [Music] This is the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men with Craig Alexander. I’m Dee Griezbower in studio and this is Christian Blumenfeld. Uh looking very very strong. Uh he is in pursuit of Christian Hoganhog up the road. He has distanced himself ever so slightly from his countrymen Casper Storis and Gustaf Eden behind that. Can Christian Blumenfelt run down Christian Hogenhog? The Battle of the Christians. Craig,
is that a loaded question? I think the uh I think the answer at this stage looks like a resounding yes. I mean, this man is just he’s just amazing. He’s just incredible. Any course, any conditions. Um you were right. He I don’t want to say he was toying with Casper Storis, but you called it. You said about 30 minutes ago that you felt he could ease away and it looks like he’s just done that. Um again, Casper Storis is still holding good pace out on course, but he just hasn’t been able to match the pace of more decorated countrymen and and now the only person left in Christian B’s sights is Christian H. Yeah. And again, doing math like you know, jock math crunching here. So at 25 and a halfk we will be halfway through the third loop of this Hoka run course. And if again if we look at 2 minutes per lap um can Christian Hogenhog hold on? It’s it it literally is like clockwork right now in terms of the pacing for these guys. But I’m seeing Christian Blumenfeld splits kind of accelerating. I mean, it’s one data point, so it’s hard to draw a conclusion there. Uh, but Christian Blumenfeld does appear to be accelerating. I think Christian Blumenfeld can do it.
Yeah. You know what? It’s, you alluded to this quite a bit earlier, Dee, when you said that, you know, some of the men who are getting off the bike eight or nine minutes down would have to be a little erratic with their pacing would have to be maybe take a chance, roll the dice a little bit, whereas Christian Hogan Hog wouldn’t have to do that. he could just dial up a pace and and be like a metronome and and I think he’s doing that. I mean, we saw the time come down quite drastically at one point and it looked like it was a definite yes for the catch, but he seems to be holding strong, you know, Christian H. And if there is a catch, it’s going to come on the fourth lap and it’s going to come on the back half of the fourth lap. So, u yeah, still a lot of this race to play out. I’m just, you know, we talked about how when you have such a big lead off the bike, you have that luxury of setting your own agenda, setting your own pace, being really mindful about nutrition, hydration, and those little things that in the moment don’t seem important, but really, if you don’t pay attention to them, can really come back to bite you on the backside later in the race. And I think Christian Hogan Hog has done a good job of paying attention to those little details. And he’s he’s running a pretty even pace marathon. So he’s giving himself every chance. I’ll say that. Well, and you said it as well, Craig, in that the the the one who’s going to win this race is the one who’s going to slow down the least on the marathon. And right now we are seeing the likes of Magnus Ditlev pace slowing from 3 and a halfks to 345ks. Um Jonas Hoffman sort of same situation has faded a little bit from 335s to 345s but so far it’s Gustaf Eden who seems to be almost picking up his pace a little bit. Casper Stor is holding steady um Christian Hogenhog holding steady though at a slightly slower pace and Christian Blumenfeld who again almost seems to be picking up the pace not significantly but a few seconds per K. So the the pacing is really becoming the the critical part uh of this Hoka marathon course here and it’s going to be the difference in the podium.
Yeah. And this is really the part of the race I love the number crunching and you’re right I think Christian Blumenfeld has just ratcheted his pace up ever so slightly even if it’s only two and 3 seconds a kilometer but we know that you know over 10 or 15 km that makes a difference. So, he’s he’s definitely without question got his heart set on the win here. And I think he believes he can do it. And I mean, we’d be crazy not to believe in this man. I mean, we’ve seen him do some just outrageous things on a triathlon course. And yeah, this is just more of the same from him. But again, Christian Hogen Hog is just he’s he’s the one who’s made this race really. He’s the one who got in that front swim group. He’s the one who took the race up the road on the bike, you know, on our Zoot bike course. And and he just said about his business in such a workmanlike fashion on on the on the marathon course. And he’s making it very very difficult for the chasers because he’s not giving an inch. He is not coming off his pace. He’s holding his pace. His pace is holding very steady. And you know what? That was the best card he had to play and he’s playing it perfectly. Well, you said it you said it all the way back uh at the the exit of the swim uh that the story was Christian Hoganhog and how well he swam. Uh I think you know again pre-race when we had heard it in the fighting chance that uh we thought Magnus Ditliv um thought he was going to have some some uh camaraderie with his countryman Christian Hogenhog on the bike, but Christian swam just so darn well uh to attach himself to the back of that uh front swim pack and then capitalized almost immediately on the bike going to the front and and charging hard but still within himself uh to earn that kind of gap and and that That move was really set up in the swim uh to minimize the work that he had to do on the bike to overtake the lead and be in control almost from the start. Yeah. And again, it’s just it’s the evolution of a world class athlete. And we see the top men and women in our sport not reinvent themselves but add different tools to the tool belt as you said before DDM. You know, for Christian Hogen Hog to come out of the swim with the leaders, that’s something we haven’t seen. and he’s able to launch his attack now from the front of the race rather than from behind. And I think that changes the dynamic completely as we’re still here with Christian Blumenfeld and just I mean look at that Dee look it’s just it’s beautiful to watch. It’s slide forward lean. Unbelievable posture, incredible core strength and hip strength, the knee drive, everything. It’s just the turnover. It’s it’s it’s great to watch. I mean, let’s not forget we’re coming up to the 30 km mark of this marathon on the Hoka run course here. And yeah, talk about a fighting chance. He’s giving himself a fighting chance to take home another title.
It absolutely is. It’s the power of the stride and and the sustained turnover. Uh he’s looking behind. He he really does need to be looking in front um to to what’s ahead because what’s ahead is absolutely possible but he continues to uh extend his lead over over the guys behind him. And you know what to me that Dee that speaks to the fact that he still feels his main competition is behind. He thinks Gustafi and Casper Storis he’s thinking I know the pedigree and the quality of these men and I’ve trained with them. I know what they’re capable of as we see. Oo, is this our men’s leader taking a little taking a little break and taking a having a little walk through the aid station there just to get some water on. I mean, it’s the right it’s the right call. It’s getting hot out there. And now he’s looking behind him, which to me is not not a great sign.
I think that’s Casperis. Actually, I can’t My eyesight’s failing me. That looks like Casperis to me. So yeah, it’s not a great sign, but whoever it is has got back into stride really quickly. Great turnover and you’re back to their work. So I mean you don’t want to waste any second, do you don’t want to be walking through aid stations when you can run or jog through them. But you put the time you need it there and I’m pretty sure that is who is that? I would like to make a public service announcement to the professional men of the sport to please add some color to your kit. The white tops and black pants is messing us up in the booth. It did us to us this. It did this to us last time as well. It’s really hard to differentiate these guys when they’re all out there in the same kits. Yeah, that’s that’s Stor. Sorry, that is Stor. I think
that’s that’s what I thought. I think I I read the Pinerella branding on his uh one of these. Yeah, interesting that he he took a little time out there to cool off. But again, if you have to spend it a few seconds to save yourself a few minutes as as we see the the temperature hitting 30° C. Um, you know, it’s a hot day. It’s kind of worrying how he’s looking back so so much before they’ve even got to the end of the third lap. He seems to be looking back over his shoulder and maybe he’s looking for Gustaf Eden. Maybe he’s looking for his countrymen. Um, again, we just know Gustaf will pace this thing pretty well, I think. So, um, maybe in his exuberance to hang with Chris. Wow, look at that. I mean, look at that contrast in techniques right there.
Yeah.
And and look at Christian’s face, too. It’s just relaxed, mouth closed. Um, not no stress or strain showing. I mean, this is a man who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve or his emotions on his face when he races. When we’ve seen him really in, you know, hurt himself in races, but he looks he looks comfortable to me, Dee. I don’t know. He looks comfortable to me still.
Yeah, I’m starting to see a little bit of effort there again as we saw race weather uh presented by our friends at Roko. We are at 30° C now. So, uh again, that mercury rising. Uh this will be, you know, it’s not getting any cooler out there. It’s only going to get hotter through uh the final lap of this Hoka marathon course. And yeah, to me, Christian doesn’t look badly and he’s a man who certainly knows how to hurt out there on the course, but I’m starting to see the conditions on the day on Christian Blumenfeld’s face. Just looking back through the top 10 here, Dee and I, you know, there’s a nice little battle unfolding for some of the the minor placings in the top 10, Cam Worth in seventh. Uh he’s he’s got about 20 odd seconds on Casper Steepnak who’s in eighth and and and just another 15 seconds back to Rudy Vonberg. So, you know, we talk about this Iron Man Pro series and and what it does and that, you know, the story lines within the race, the race within the race, and you know, the way that our points are allocated, 5,000 points to our race winner today, and every second you are behind the race leader is a second. So, you if if you have designs on finishing and getting a high finish at the end of the season in the Iron Man Pro Series, you need to fight for every second out on course. And we’re seeing the top 10 men do that today. Yeah. And I think we saw last year at the end of the Iron Man Pro Series how, you know, those seconds do add up over the course of a season. Uh and what doesn’t seem like a big deal, what what might tempt you in the moment to say, “Okay, I’m I’m safe here in this place. I don’t need to push the pace.” But at the end of the year, uh that can be a difference in a place or two in the overall point series, which is significant amount of money uh at the end of the day. And so athletes, you know, they’re locked in battle here. Uh but they’ve got to keep that in mind if they’re, you know, in pursuit of the the overall Iron Man Pro Series.
No, absolutely. If you want to finish high up and and we know there’s significant financial rewards for doing that and the prestige of being the Iron Man Pro Series champion, you do need every second. Uh even if you have your heart set on a victory or a podium and that it’s not playing out that way, you have to fight. You have to fight. And that’s what we’re seeing with some of the minor placings here. Cam Worf is one of the athletes who is currently in the top 10 of the Iron Man Pro Series. So, he’s fighting for every point he can get. As we see Christian cruising through an aid station here, grabbing his precision hydration, grabbing some ice, grabbing some water, maybe a bit of Coca-Cola as well, a bit of flat coke, get that sugar into the bloodstream and keep the energy levels high as he continues to chase.
He continues to chase. 29.2 2 kilometers and it’s 2 minutes 19 seconds. So that math is really holding up at that 2 minutes per lap and and this could very well come down to a red carpet sprint. Craig, well, let’s hope so. Not for their sake, but for ours, but uh as we take a look at our precision fuel and hydration run performance stats for Christian Blumenfeld, uh really locked into that three and a half minute K pace. We’ve seen it at 332. We’ve seen it at 326. Uh but really consistent running from Christian Blumenfeld here through 29.2 km average pace again. Three and a half minute KS through that last segment. Yeah, it really is just high quality running, isn’t it? And I love this side on shot just of his posture and his technique from the hips down, everything. He just looks amazing. He’s got the the cap on backwards. just getting into his work and he would he would know exactly what the splits are and he’d be doing the math. He’d be crunching the numbers for sure as would Christian Hogenhog on the front. So both these men are locked in not only a physical battle but a mental battle here crunching the numbers with their heart rate in the high 100s. So interesting just to watch Gustaf Eden. I mean clearly know we saw Christian Blumerfelt looking back and we wondered why he was looking back. And then we saw Casper Storis do the same thing. I think they’re looking for Gustaf. I think they’re looking for their countrymen. I think they know his quality. Um so it’ be very interesting to see whether Yeah. I mean looking back now Gustaf is only 30 seconds behind Casper Storis. So um this podium is not set by any stretch of the imagination. Absolutely. Yeah. I was saying it looks like Gustaf Eden again his pace a little bit slower than we saw the last uh timing split but Casper Stor has faded even more which may explain that backwards look. I think when you’re worried uh about what’s coming that’s just an indicator that the hurt is starting um hurt is starting to to sink in. Uh, but Christian Blumenfeld right now, if Christian Hogenhog can hold pace, I think the only one that can catch him is Christian Blumenfeld. And even then, it’s going to be really, really close. Um, Christian Hogenhog doing um a good amount of work. And now, you know, third and fourth place in Casper Storis and Gustaf Eden have faded in pace to almost the same pace as Hogenhog. And so, Hogan Hog holds a 4minute lead and four and a half minute lead over third and fourth. So again, if you project that and things hold the way they’re holding right now, Christian Blumenfeld the only one with a real chance to catch Christian Hogan Hog.
Oh, absolutely. I agree. I think it’s between the two Christians. And I think it’s been that way ever since this man Caspis sort of dropped off his pace by 15 seconds a kilometer and dropped off Christian Blumenfeld’s shoulder. And you know, again, we see him looking back, which clearly shows where his head’s at. He’s not thinking the race up the road. He’s thinking trying to lock down that third podium position and hold off his country man Gustaf Eden as we see Christian Hogenhole going across the bridge here and yeah again he’s just executing a really disciplined race isn’t he? I mean he knew what his marathon pacing capabilities were and he’s really just stuck to them. Um I think he’s not showing too much stress and strain on his face. It is a hot day. They are coming to the end of the third lap. Just over 10 km to go and this is a race in two now between the two Christians. Yeah, and Christian Hogan gets said and we heard it in our fighting chance series from our friends at Hoka, he really has done uh a lot of work on his his running. Uh he did a heat camp to prepare himself. Um again for the potential heat here. Um he suffered in the marathon at Iron Man Texas and finished a little bit on the outside looking in in terms of picking up a qualifying spot. uh really shored up that work he did in the heat. Uh which is just going to make you a stronger runner. Uh and that is definitely paying dividends today for our men’s leader Christian Hogenhog here at the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men right now. Christian Blumenfeld the only one in the field with a chance to catch our men’s leader with one lap to go. We’re not here to sell you on this life. You already chose it. No shortcuts, no hype, just work. Same as you. Built to outlast, endure. 40 years in and we’re just getting warmed up. Welcome to the Ohana. [Music] [Music] Thank My Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Champion ionship is brought to you by Athletic Brewing. Brew without compromise and by Trot. Better training results in less time with fewer injuries. And here we are with our men’s third place. Uh this is Casper Storis who is trying to hold off his fellow countrymen uh Gustaf Eden. At the front of the race it is Christian Hogenhog who has had an absolutely outstanding performance today. Uh and Christian Blumenfeld who is now 1 minute 45 seconds back. Craig. Yeah absolutely. I mean I think we asked ourselves right at the top of the show who was going to win this race and it’s taken the best part of seven hours but we’ve now got an answer. We’re starting We’re starting to figure it out. We’re pretty quick that way.
We’re starting to figure it out. It’s only taken seven hours, but it’s a race between the Christians. And given that last time split with one lap to go and looking at the differential and pace between the two men at the front of this race, it looks like Christian Bloomfeld is going to make a pass if everything holds the same as it has done the last half an hour or so. And it’s been a courageous fight by Christian Hogen Hog. And I mean, I hate to say it, but that little mechanical and the one minute stop and go has come has come into play here because, you know, starting lap four and seeing a minute 45 as opposed to 345 is a just a completely different ball game. But you can only play what’s what’s in front of you. And that’s what this man Christian Blumenfeld has done. And he just looks amazing. He looks immaculate. He looks spectacular. He’s picking his way through the spectators, the age group athletes. He’s on his last lap deed and it looks like he’s running his way towards an Iron Man European Championship title.
Yeah. And and again, you never know the reality versus what we’re seeing and hypothesizing about, but to me, Christian Blumenfeld just has executed a very calculated race. It’s almost like he knows what’s going to happen before it happens and and he sets his pace accordingly. Uh we we didn’t see him be the aggressor on the bike and he could have been. Um we didn’t see him make big moves, but he did just enough to keep himself in contention to do what we think he’s going to be able to do here at the finish. He didn’t take the lead as early as he had uh a year ago at this race and and the run result might not be sort of the same. Uh but a very calculated and precise execution from Christian Blumenfeld that very well may and given current maths uh land him the win here today. Yeah, I think part of his greatness is not only the physical ability but the the mental toughness and the tactical astuteness. I mean he’s been in a lot of big time racing situations. He’s seen a lot of outcomes and I think he understands and he’s very self-aware. He understands his own ability and that of his competitors very very well. So um again it seems like he’s played the right card at the right time. He did show some patience on that bike ride when it looked like some of the other big players in that chase group were getting a little impatient and maybe burning a a match or two too many. It just seems like that Christian Blumenfeld plays always seems to play the right card at the right time. And um but I I just want to give a lot of credit to this man. I mean he’s made this race what it’s been. right from just a great career best swim. Um it was an elite field particularly of swimmers that assembled here for the Monova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships and he was able to get himself in that select little group of seven or eight athletes and yeah just launched his attack from a much better place in the race than normal where he’s further back out of the water and really that set the table for everything we’ve seen since 100%. And and while it seems a a for not a foregone conclusion but mathematically likely that Christian Blumenfeld will catch him uh before the finish here today. I I don’t think Christian Hogenhog has any reason to hang his head um to to be this close to Christian Blumenfeld uh in a championship level event uh I think is an extraordinary performance uh from uh Christian Hogen Hog. Absolutely. Uh, of course he’s going to want to take the win and maybe he’s got a maybe he’s got a trick up his sleeve uh against Christian Blumenfeld. That’s a it’s a pretty tough You got to have a pretty deep bag of tricks to to pull uh to pull it out on Christian Blumenfeld uh wi with this kind of performance. But uh what an outstanding performance from Christian Hogenhog today and and every reason to celebrate uh and continue the fight forward uh towards the Iron Man World Championship in in France.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he just keeps leveling up, doesn’t he? He finished third in the Iron Man Pro Series last year, and he’s had some Iron Man victories, but this will, I think, be the most significant performance of his career. Uh, win or lose here. Um, it looks like the gap’s down to about a minute 20, so it’s about at the pace Christian Bees running, that’s about 400 meters. So, um, this has been a hell of a fight by both these men and just a great race. I mean, there’s been so many twists and turns and a little bit of drama, some mechanicals. Uh, it’s just been a great race to witness. And hats off to both these men for delivering such an entertaining performance. And you talk about, you know, Christian Hogan Hogan and and leveling up his game and we look at his, yes, overall third place finish uh in the Iron Man Pro Series uh a year ago and he did it off consistency. Um, ninth at the Iron Man World Championship, fourth at Iron Man Victoria, um, fifth, sorry, fifth at Iron Man Victoria, fourth here uh, at Iron Man Frankfurt. Uh, but not really the the top step, not really the podium performances. So, to level up, uh, and be getting podium performances, I think speaks volumes again of the effort that he’s put in um, in in improving his game. Particularly, I think we’ve got a note in the swim. uh whether that was a one-off, but whatever he did today, he needs to repeat it again and again and again. We had expected a massive swim pack. Um to your point, Craig, about the the quality of the the field here today, particularly in the water. And for Christian Hogenhog to insert his name amongst that group of athletes, I think is outstanding. Uh just going to come up a little bit short on this man, uh Christian Blumenfeld, but many a man has fallen to the man on screen right now. Yeah, almost every man has and I mean I think it was just it spoke to Christian Hogan Hog’s just intention at the start. He was aggressive at the start of that race when the gun went off. Got in quick um even through the Aussie exit. He was dangling on the back of the front group but but got on that group again and um just set his race up beautifully. You talk about consistency. Well, this man’s a picture of consistency. You know, he won Iron Man 70.3 Axon Province a few weeks ago. He won Iron Man Texas earlier this year. He was leading Iron Man 70.3 Oceanside before he suffered a a flat tire and still ran a 107. And that’s what it takes to win the Iron Man Pro Series. I mean, we saw that last year with Gregory Barnaby and also with Cat Matthews. I mean, Cat Matthews was an athlete who not only was consistent, she she took it another level, she was consistent at the championship races. She got two silver medals at the world titles. as we see Christian Hogen Hog here making the turn and he’s going to see right up in his grill very shortly uh the big shadow of Christian Blumenfeld. So, but you know what? And we are starting to see a bit of wear and tear, aren’t we? Like
the cheeks are puffing. There’s there’s a bit of
there’s a bit of wear and then There you go. They’ve just crossed paths and
Christian B he’s taken a time split. You can see the run turn here and uh you can see he’s well on the way to taking the lead in this race. But to win the Iron Man Pro Series, DD, to your point, it takes consistency. And I think it takes consistency in the championship races as well. Whether it be the World Champs or the the regional championships, you need to get on that podium and be pressing for the win if you have serious designs on being the Iron Man Pro Series champion at the end of the season. Well, and that’s that speaks to again, we just want to hammer home the point of how difficult that is to do to raise your game to that level. Consistency throughout the entire season. There was a time uh where athletes would maybe peak twice in a season. Once to secure a slot to the world championship and once again at the World Championship. guess they would race multiple times, but really with their focus on those kind of one or two races and some athletes who could qualify with with ease to the world championship with really put all of their eggs in that World Championship basket. Uh but in order to win this pro series, you need to raise your game again and again and again and again, race after race throughout the entire season and then as we’re seeing in now season two of the Iron Man Pro Series, year over year over year. uh and that is extremely difficult to do in this competitive environment. So those who do it well, who can race well, you know, at the races and then again repeat it at the world championship events, uh it’s a lesson in durability. It’s a lesson in race savvy and and going as hard as you need to to perform on those days and no more because you’ve got to put it in your pocket for the next race. You’ve got to be mindful that if you’re winning the race that maybe you you know it’s it’s a debate, right? Because if you give it your all because every second matters, but then it takes a couple of seconds away from the next race. You know, those are calculated decisions that you’ve got to make and it it’s it’s a really gifted and talented athlete that can make those calculations and execute to that level throughout the course of the season. Yeah. And I think a lot of athletes are able to perform at a very high world class level occasionally. Very few are able to replicate it time and again every time they step out of course. And you look through the history books of our sport again and again it’s shown that only a few athletes can do that. I do think the man pro series I mean there’s greater depth in our sport than there’s ever been across all distances. But I just think season on season these athletes do need to be mindful of their of their schedules as we see an athlete or a spectator actually walk across the course there with a bike as Christian Bees charging down the ramp at about 305 per kilometer pace. So the spectators better uh stay off to the side or they might get a little haircut here. But yeah, I mean it’s a good point DD and I think it talks about managing yourself and managing a career not just a season. If you want to keep backing up for this man year after year, you have to manage not only a 12 month period, but you have to take a a snapshot from a a greater vantage point than that. And um because this kind of highle racing can wear you down.
Yeah. No, absolutely. No doubt. And uh just a quick note because we haven’t touched on it in uh a minute, but Casper Stor looks to have secured at least for now. I’ll hedge that, of course, uh, as I’m, uh, pro at doing. Uh, seems to have secured third place. Gustaf Eden has fallen off the pace a little bit through that last little bit of lap three. Uh, and Casper Storis now sitting where that gap had come down to about 30 seconds. It’s back up uh, to about a minute 15 seconds. So, right now, it doesn’t look like um, Gustaf is is delivering the goods here in the final lap. uh but certainly made a run for it, but Casper Sworn is sitting securely right now in third place. Yeah, it’s a shame for Gustaf. I emotionally I so wanted to see him do well, but it is what it is. He he has got his pacing wrong here. We saw Casper Storis go through a flat period and he’s regrouped and bounced back and and what we can see at the front of the race here is the closest the two Christians have been since they were standing on the start line together about 7 hours ago. So, um, this has been a phenomenal race. This has been just one hell of a race, but what we’re going to see here is a pass as one of the greatest triathletes on the men’s side of the sport that we’ve seen. Just takes the lead from just a gallant, courageous performance from Christian Hogen Hog. And I think a real step up in his career trajectory. But what can we say about this mande? Christian Blumenfeld just continues to just produce time again. He just continues to produce.
No acknowledgement there as he makes the pass. I’m sure there will be great acknowledgement at the finish line. Uh but Christian Blumenfeld has uh unfinished business. Going to get himself to the finish line before he acknowledges the outstanding performance of his competitor there. Uh goes around the corner, gives him a gives him a look to make sure that uh he’s not going to try to do anything silly like go with him. Oh, wouldn’t that be great? No, I think that had all the hallmarks of just a just a definitive pass, didn’t it? I mean, Christian H has been getting the time gaps, been getting the splits, preparing for this moment. I think he’s he’s a smart guy. He’s been doing the maths, too, just like we have and just like Christian B has. And we thought it would come lateish in this fourth lap, and it it has. It’s come about halfway through the fourth lap and we get a nice little action replay here. No acknowledgement at all. The boys don’t play nice like the girls. The girls the girls tend to acknowledge each other and a little bit of camaraderie, maybe a fist bump or or something, but there was nothing there. Just a little glance over from Christian Hogenhog to to his namesake and he got he got absolutely nothing back. But I guess it’s it’s all business at at this stage of the day and this stage of the race. And I mean, it’s got to be as as rightful as as it maybe should be. I I thought perhaps uh Christian B would give a little bit of acknowledgement for the for the level of racing that uh Christian H uh has has shown all day long. But uh to your point, uh they can do that afterwards. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll um tell a few war stories at the at the after party after the awards tomorrow night and maybe even share one of these great German beers that we hear about. So, and they will have earned it, that’s for sure. But yeah, just again, look at it’s just business as usual. Another championship race, another another title coming and just still taking care of business though. running through the aid stations, getting the water, getting the nutrition, getting the fueling right, and technique still looks A1 to me. It still looks great. I mean, to your point, Dee, there is and there have been signs of wear and tear. I mean, there always are. Every athlete has their little telltale signs, but he looks great. I mean, he still looks great.
Yeah, it’s kind of annoying, isn’t it? It’s It’s annoying, but it’s great. It’s great to watch. I mean, it’s great to watch. It is great for the sport. It’s it’s it’s athletes like it’s athletes like Christian Blumenfeld that are causing Christian Hogen to raise his game. Uh and to really realize for athletes like Cameron Worf to realize I can’t be, you know, I certainly can’t be a one-trick pony. I can’t even be a two trick pony. I’ve got to be the complete package. Uh and that’s what we see from Christian Blumenfeld. We know, you know, Christian like he’s not going to be he’s not going to be your lead swimmer in in a race of this caliber, but he’s got the capability to hold on to the back of the lead pack. Perhaps front, second pack, depending on the field. We know he’s got the guns on the bike to be able to go if he needs to. If race dynamics dictate that, hey, you’ve got to go, he could go. And and look at the way he’s running and some of the blistering run splits that he’s put out. He is the complete package really without a weakness and just showing the other athletes that hey guys if if you want to beat me this is the game that you’ve got to play and this is the level you’ve got to play not at one not at two but at all three sports. Yeah absolutely. I think again it just speaks to the depth um the evolution of the sport. I mean the there was a time there where you talked about a sub 240 marathon being dominant and having the quickest split by minutes. Now it’s it’s low 230s. And I mean, let’s look at this.
Let’s look at a month ago when the women ran sub 240.
100%. I mean, both men’s and women’s side of the sport. I mean, that was one of the battles for the ages, the Iron Man European Championships in Hamburg. For the ladies, we saw what I think was like a just every bit as good as any iron war we’ve ever seen. Um, you know, two women really push each other to a 238 and 240 marathon splits and and I mean I mean we can project here, can’t we? That I mean Christian’s going to do another sub 7 hour 30 Iron Man time and it’s I mean 7 hour 40 used to be considered not that long ago, you know, yeah, historic and now it’s just run-of-the-mill. Um, so yeah, all these athletes and and I just love what the Iron Man Pro Series has done. we just get to watch them so many more times in a season. Um, not just one or two of them, but you know, on the men’s and women’s side of the sport, we get to see greater depth in every event. And, and I think that’s what’s creating these situations and these narratives where the the bar just keeps getting raised. You just can’t show up at an Iron Man Pro Series race with even an A minus game or even an A game. You need your A+ game.
Yeah. if you certainly if if you want to excel and that’s where we talked about you know the people that really contend for the Iron Man Pro Series uh is the ability to show up not only at these big races throughout the pro series but then again at the World Championship events and you know avoid the catastrophe, avoid the mechanicals, avoid uh the unusual penalties and the reversal therein and and and things like that to stay dramaree throughout you know mult multiple races across a season. And to your point earlier, one has to wonder like you’re not only managing a year, you’re trying to manage a career and while we see these candles burning so brightly, will we see them burn for the same duration? uh how possible is it to maintain this level of racing um for more than a few years before it starts to to take its toll um you know on the body on the psyche on on all of it.
No, it’s it’s a great point. I mean it will bring into question longevity. I mean, we’re used to seeing athletes have 15 year careers, but I think when you’re, you know, sparking the ignition this often and this hard, um, it does bring all that into question. But again, we can only sit back and enjoy it while we see it. I mean, I’ve just, every time there’s a race on over any distance really, the whole sport, it’s just, it’s just been swept up in this wave of awesome performances, men’s and women’s side of the sport. And it’s been great to as as a fan of the sport and as a spectator as we all are, it’s just great to watch. Oh, it’s amazing to watch and and you know, as spectators, yeah, we we grow attached to these athletes and uh become super fans and um you know, sing the praises of and and can’t wait to follow. We follow them on social media. We feel like we know them. We watch them on their YouTube channels and in their interviews. Um and so you want them to stay around for a long time. But just around the bend, there’s another superstar in the making. Um, and again, we, you know, Christian Hogenhog, this this may be the start of his era uh coming on as as one of our superstars uh for the next couple of years as he ups his game around the board. Uh, will we see Gustaf Eden come back uh to that complete package? Um, but yeah, the the turnover is inevitable and we we grow so attached to these athletes and become super fans and cheering them on. Uh but around the corner there’s just another new one just dying for us to get to know them as well. So uh the evolution of the sport but right now Christian Blumenfeld in the lead of the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men. [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Here’s Elizabeth in the middle of the perfect workout for her. To create it, we analyzed her biometrics and genetics, her recovery rate, injury risk, and aerobic potential, her recent training sessions, the temperature, humidity, and elevation, the demands of her next race, and billions of data points from athletes just like her. With Trid Dot, Elizabeth gets faster faster. And what does she have to do? I just opened Trid dot and did my workout.
Tr do we do the technology, you do the training. Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. for men. I’m Dee Griezbower in studio alongside Craig Alexander and you are watching Christian Blumenfeld in the lead. And Craig, my question to you, predictive times with just about 5 kilometers to go for Christian Blumenfeld brings him to a 2302 marathon. Now, we’ve seen the 2:30 uh marathon uh time breached uh just this year at Iron Man Brazil with a blistering I think it was 226 uh outstanding. We saw Matt Hansen at Iron Man cans run 230 2302. Um wouldn’t it be great to see another two sub 230 marathon particularly in hot conditions like we’ve got out there today?
It would be impressive to see a sub 230 in this caliber of field. build. I mean, yes, we did see Manuel Messias in Iron Man Brazil run a 22652, I think it was, and Matt Hansen just an outstanding run a couple of weeks ago, and Iron Man cans with a 230. Um, and you know, they’re all great runs. I mean, we’re splitting hairs here. But I I think if if Christian can run under 230 in this caliber of field in a championship race, that would take the cake. And, you know, he would know that he’s on pace for that. I expect him to go nuclear these last 4K. And really, it looks like he’s not he’s not coming off the throttle of the accelerator at all here. I think he knows a sub 230 marathon is in play and I think he really wants that on his resume. No doubt. And uh Christian uh Hogenhog uh running strong in second place at last time check. Casper Stor was a full two and a half minutes back uh with Gustaf Eden another two and a half minutes back of that. And then uh Jonas Hoffman uh at 7 minutes down. So that’s another two minutes behind Gustaf Eden. So uh things spreading out a little bit here for our men in the closing kilometers. Uh but what a battle it’s been all day long with lots of excitement, great racing, and a healthy dose of drama along the way.
And how good to see hometown hero Patrick Langer get up into the top 10 late in this marathon. We knew he wouldn’t quit. But yeah, it’s been an incredible race. So many twists and turns. Dei mechanicals, little bit of drama on the run course. I think all things that are great ingredients that make to a really entertaining race. And um full credit to this man, Christian Hogen Hog, who’s just he’s really set the table for a great race today. He he was the carrot up the road that all the other big favorites had to chase. And looks like only one of the big favorites has been able to catch him. And that’s Christian Blumenfeld and he’s on his way to an Iron Man European Championship. So yeah, an already stacked resume that Christian Blumfeld, the KB has and we expect to see performances like this, but it’s still surprising every time Dee. It’s still surprising every time because I mean we saw a 232 marathon here last year and we wondered whether he would do that 10 days off an Olympic Games performance and granted it was cooler conditions last year. probably lent itself more to fast. He just raised the bar. Absolutely. And looking a little bit further down at splits through 35 kilometers. Gustaf Eden, as I said, settled into fourth place with uh Yonas Hoffman uh two minutes back of that. Behind that, Rudy von Berg has made the pass on Magnus Ditliff, uh, who is fading a little bit. Uh, and behind Magnus is Cameron Worf, who at the moment is running about 10 seconds perk, faster than Magnus Ditliv, and is about uh, a minute or so back. So, Cameron Worf, uh, if Magnus Ditlive doesn’t find another gear and kind of hold it together, there’s the potential that Cameron Worf could run his way past Magnus into seventh place even. I’m uh but Christian Blumenfeld uh running super strong at the front of this race again in pursuit of that potentially sub 230 marathon. Again, knowing that every second counts, uh why not take a couple of seconds off uh your current pacing uh and make your way sub 230 uh get another couple of seconds, another couple of points in the bank overall in this pro series. But Christian Blumenfeld again starting to see the conditions of the day on his face. Um this this to me doesn’t look like fatigue. This looks like heat a little bit. our temperatures here. We knew the weather was going to be a player in our race today and absolutely it has been. Uh temperatures now in excess of 30° Celsius starting to take their toll um on the the face of but not in the performance of our men’s leader on his way to a European championship defending once again uh here in Frankfurt at Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men. Christian Blumenfeld uh pulling the double on European Championship duty again last year. I think it came as a a surprise uh coming just 10 days off of his performance at the Olympic Games. Perhaps a little undercooked on his Iron Man specific training and mileage uh yet pulled a rabbit out of the hat uh befitting of his incredible talent. Uh this year not so much of a surprise. Christian Blumenfeld uh running strong on his way towards the finish line. Craig, remarkable performance here today and super race. Incredible performance and we can still see he’s he’s checking his pace. He’s checking all the data, all the metrics, and I think he definitely has a time in his head or an idea that he wants to run. And I think it’s 230. I think he wants to break the 230 barrier here today. And it looks like he’s it’s going to be close. If he can hold pace, it looks like he’s going to be close. I think, you know, under 3K to go now, I think he can give that final push. We know this man can hurt himself. We’ve seen it on countless occasions. And I think it wasn’t just about the win for him here today. It clearly is. I mean, he’s made the pass several minutes ago. Now he’s pushing on. He’s pushing on to a fast marathon time. I think he wants to break that magical 2 hour 30 marathon time. Yeah, it’s a nice it’s a nice uh feather certainly in the cap. Uh 232 was an outstanding performance uh a year ago and now sub 230, but a couple of Ks left to go to see if he can get it done. Great scenes here at the Romaberg. Obviously, this historic and very famous finish area for the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Champs. And we’re only a handful of minutes away, Dee from seeing Christian come up here and it it’s going to be a sub 7 hour 30 total time. The question is, can he break that magical 2 hour 30 marathon barrier? again the added motivation here at the end of the race. Uh I think you take what you can get. He’s clearly in control and knows he’s going to win this race and every second matters here uh across uh the Iron Man Pro Series. And uh the the drive within the man is significant. And so you take those motivations to keep uh pushing forward even when it hurts, even when you know you’ve got the win uh in your hands. Uh always there’s more to give. Yeah, I think most of these top athletes, they just it’s inherent. It’s intrinsic. They they like to push themselves. They have their own benchmarks and barriers that they want to set. um as we see Christian Hogen Hog make that final turn now and what a performance, what a race from this man as well. Let’s not forget he’s the one who really set this whole scenario up. The the great chase out of T2 and he’s given himself every chance today. So he’ll finish on the podium in the Iron Man European Championships, but he’s also reignited his his Iron Man Pro Series ambitions need. Gosh. And just, you know, consider the fact that that pass was made uh for the lead from Christian Blumenfeld just a half a lap ago. Already put a minute 35 into Christian Hoganhog. Uh not anything against Christian Hogenhog. His pace has slowed a little bit. Uh Christian Blumenfeld just drilling the final kilometers here to see if he can get under that two and a half hour marathon time. Yeah, that’s clearly his target and his goal and I think that’s been the target the whole time. So, um, he’s set himself, you know, a challenge today and it’s it’s just been great to watch the whole run, the way he’s executed, but also, I mean, in the dying stages of the run, as you mentioned, De, the way he just continues to push himself, you know, to greater heights, greater and greater heights. It’s just a journey of continuous improvement for this man. And Christian Hogenhog with absolutely a breakthrough performance from from him. We saw a lot of consistency out of Christian Hogenhog last year in the Iron Man Pro Series, coming away uh with a third place overall in the series. Uh but definitely showing signs of leveling up his game uh to stand on a podium in a race uh of this caliber field. uh speaks to the future and the potential for Christian Hogenhog throughout not only the balance of this season and the rest of the Iron Man Pro Series for 2025 uh but for the World Championship and for seasons yet to come. Yeah, he’s um he’s had a great race and and we also got glimpses there of Casperis and again he went through a significant bad patch maybe 40 minutes ago, but he’s come good. He’s rotted the ship and looks like he’s on on target for that final spot on the podium here today and a great performance and and again think a career best Iron Man performance honest today.
Yeah, Casper Stor uh with a great performance. Uh we knew you there’s been a lot of buzz about Casper Storis and uh perhaps his countrymen even ribbing him a little bit that he’s uh he’s the third man on a twoman Norwegian team. But uh he’s shown good today. Uh definitely uh signs of his potential. Uh again, he had a rough go at the end of last year, I believe. He had to pull out of the 70.3 World Championship uh with last minute illness, I think it was. And a lot of people disappointed to see him not uh be able to be in the mix there, but uh showing his his colors today. Um and very much uh a part of that strong Norwegian contingent. these guys all committed to the Iron Man Pro Series and they’re traveling the world and and training uh together between races and showing up at the races uh again in pursuit of individual per goals uh but as team Norway uh and proudly displaying that Norwegian flag and of course Gustaf Eden uh with a great performance today. Uh he’s been a little inconsistent coming back from uh injury uh a year ago and showing signs of greatness early in the season, landing on the podium at Iron Man 70.3 Oceanside. Uh faltered a little bit at Iron Man Texas. Uh was 13th there, but uh a solid performance from Gustaf Eden today. We know an athlete of his caliber longs for more, but a really really solid performance uh and a top five position uh for Gustaf Eden. And again, some race dynamics happening uh behind uh Yonas Hoffman secure in fifth place. Rudy von Berg has moved past Magnus Ditv now sitting in sixth. Cameron Worf fighting hard in eighth to see if he too can get past Magnus Ditv uh before the end of uh of this race. And Patrick Langa uh as we mentioned briefly has fought his way into the top 10. He’s in ninth running extremely well. And if Magnus Ditlev continues to falter any further, Patrick Langanger might have might might have the real estate uh to get by Magnus Ditlev as well. But we will celebrate uh our men’s leader right now, Christian Blumenfeld as he makes his way over the main river uh for the final time today at Nova Iron Man Frankfurt uh Iron Man European Championship for Men. taking a little sneak peek over his shoulder there, KB. Um, but yeah, this is a done deal. Now, I guess the question is overall course record, what run split he’s going to lay down. We see him turning the hat around, making sure he’s sponsor correct. Nice work. Very professional by KB. And yeah, there’s been definitely been some movement in the in the rest of the top 10. D, I think the the fast pace early has definitely created a few casualties. Yeah, we thought we thought it would happen uh given especially given the conditions on the day. Uh knew that the heat would be a factor and sort of the certainly the level of competition uh and how aggressive these athletes were, how fast these athletes were uh on the bike. Uh that definitely there would be some shrapnel coming out uh through the marathon. Uh so a lot of movement uh behind our podium athletes who have been absolutely astonishing today as we take an overhead look at this legendary uh finish line, the stadium setting here. The crazy uh fanatic German fans waiting to welcome the Iron Man Europe European champion across the line. As the course record time slips by there, Dee, I think it’s it’s not going to be a course record today, but it’s definitely going to be a marathon run course record, I think, and and a new PB for Christian as he’s I don’t know if that was a smile or a grimace, but he did take one last check of the watch. That’s right. Pushing his way all the way to the finish. not going to celebrate this one until he gets across the line. That uh 230 marathon barrier looking to be broken from Christian Blumenfeld. He’s not going to leave anything to chance. Craig, no, I think he’s going to run out every last meter of this course. I think it’s a cross between a smile and a grimace. But again, he’s I mean, these top professional athletes, they’re so highly motivated. And again, of course, he wanted to win this race, but I think he had some personal ambitions under that as he salutes the crowd. Look at him loving it, lapping up this adoration of a really just fanatical and knowledgeable German triathlon community and crowd here. And that’s definitely a smile. So, he’s weathered he’s weathered a few storms today, KB, but he’s he’s come out on top and he’s just again he’s going to set a new PB for a marathon and a new course record, marathon course record here. him, you know, pocket the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European title. So, it’s been a all in a day’s work for this man. And he’s uh he’s fist pumping and it’s good to see that an athlete uh who’s been Olympic champion, he’s been Iron Man World Champion, he’s been 70.3 world champion. uh that a performance uh is always appreciated and uh it just goes to show how how difficult it is. Um it’s not easy to repeat time and time again uh performing at this level of competition. Uh and there’s an awful lot of gratitude for uh Christian Blumenfeld for the performance he’s been able uh to put in today. We have seen him struggle on race courses. We saw him struggle at the Iron Man World Championship in October uh last fall. Uh but back in form here and as Christian Blumenfeld takes one last look over the shoulder. He enters the finish line stadium acknowledging the crowd not slowing for it as he makes his way to the red carpet around the bend taking a couple of high fives still wanting to secure that sub 230 marathon time. It is from Norway entering the Finnish stadium onto the red carpet. Christian Blumenfeld, your Minova, Iron Man Frankfurt, European Champion. Here he comes, Christian Blumenfeld. What a phenomenal performance by this man across the board. Not not too far from the front out of the water. Played his cards on the bike. The cards he was dealt as we see him getting congratulated by Scott Daroo there. And just another feather in this man’s cap. I’m going to be interested to see what that final run split was, but I it’s I’m tipping it was a touch under Dei.
Now, I’m I’m seeing unofficially. We’ll wait for it to be official. Here we go. A touch above 23059. So, not under the 230 barrier for Christian Blumenfelt on this day, but a guy’s got to have goals. He certainly does. The Wahoo Element rival runs split 230 and 59. That is just still eye watering. What a performance. I mean, it hurt him. We can see that it hurt him as we on the other side of our screen, we see Christian Hogenhau coming through. He’s well under a kilometer to go and what a fight. What a fight this man’s came up. He held pace right up DD as you mentioned until KB passed him and then he dropped off pace. But he held strong right until that moment and he put up one hell of a fight today. This has been a worthy worthy European championship. And by observation, for as easy as Christian Blumenfeld makes it look, looking at him trying to get up off the carpet there, uh, tells a very, very different story. Uh, they make it look so easy. Uh, but it really, really is just it takes a little bit of your soul. Yeah, it looks easy on the outside, doesn’t it? that they’re often in turmoil on the inside and that’s part of the skill of trying to be efficient and as we see Christian Hogen Hog make that right hand turn into the Roman B onto the red carpet now what a performance by this man he’s going to take second place in the myova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships just a wonderful wonderful well-rounded performance by this man a career’s best race as he takes some time to high-five the crowd I’m sure he’ll be over the moon dee with this performance. It’s definitely a step up and I want to say a career best race for Christian H. Absolutely uh phenomenal swim. Set himself up to really dominate uh that bike and ran super strong. Was disappointed with his performance uh in the run at Iron Man Texas. Went back, did some heat work. Uh and boy did it pay dividends today for our runnerup at my Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Well, they might have chatted out on course, but they’re certainly having a bit of a chinwag now. I mean, just congratulating. Christian walks over and and gives a little congratulatory tap tap on the chest to Christian Hogen Hog. What a what a performance. What a race. I mean, hot conditions. Not what you classify as super fast conditions, Dee, particularly for that marathon, but we’ve seen some Well, obviously the Christian Bee’s time, 230 and 59 seconds. That’s that’s lightning fast as we see Casper Storis now making that right hand turn into the Ramberg and again a career best Iron Man performance for him backing up his fifth place finish at the Iron Man North American Championships in Texas in April. He’s going to bag himself third place finish at the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships. Congratulations Casper Stones from Norway. On to the red carpet for Casper Stor. He will round out our men’s podium at Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Oh, straight into the bucket. Head goes into the bucket. Best way to bring the core body temperature down. What a race. Look at these. These athletes have given their all today. challenging conditions and I want to say that’s going to be a a pretty slick marathon Iron Man marathon split for Casper Storus as well. Probably 235.
Yeah, 2352 unofficially here at the finish for Casp Casper Storus. He certainly flirted with disaster there for a bit during the marathon. We thought, uhoh, bit of a rough patch. would Gustaf Eden be able to catch him? But, uh, he bounced back, resurrected, and, uh, landed himself in the third spot on that podium. Uh, so his countryman, Gustaf Eden, uh, will have to settle for fourth, and we will await Gustaf Eden at the finish line. A great performance from him. I know he’ll want more. Uh, but not enough for the podium today. Your men’s podium from Norway. Christian Blumenfeld in first, Christian Hogan Hog, uh the Danish athlete in second, and Casper Storis from Norway in third. And again, Craig, we we cheered for Gustav, hoped maybe he’d land himself on the podium, but full credit to the men ahead of him. They were just too good. Uh get these men in the shade. We know the mercury is rising down there, and these men have given it. They are all uh trying to bring those core body temperatures down. Uh when you race that hard, that fast in these conditions, it’s bound to leave a mark.
Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, they’ve left it all out there today and it’s just incredibly high level of racing for the end of June. Um again, I think just the Iron Man Pro Series has been a catalyst for for this season long narrative where we just get these incredible races, you know, at regular intervals throughout the season. And then we saw it in Hamburg four weeks ago with the the women’s European Championship and then we’ve seen it again today. So um you know some lightning fast times just again I mean a mind-blowing performance by KB a 230 59 marathon but he needed it and he needed something special something out of the box because I mean that’s just I guess the bar that Christian Hogen Hog had set. He’d set those men quite a challenge coming out of T2 and as it turned out Christian Blumenfelt was up for the challenge and as was Casper Storis. I mean a great performance by him. I mean in the end he’s he’s just a tick under four minutes behind our men’s winner today and as we saw with this race last year extremely extremely competitive racing. I think last year it was a 15minute spread across the across the top 10 and I mean so far in our podium it’s been just under four minutes and and we know Gustaf and there’s a few others still to come. So, just very competitive racing again and um it’s great to see these men leave it all out there and Christian Blumenfeld bags himself five 5,000 points for the Iron Man Pro Series which we know is his his season or one of his season goals. Um so he’s well on track with that apart from a blemish on the record at Iron Man 70.3 Ocean so where he got a flat tire. I mean he’s just topped the podium in every other race. Yeah. well on his way to uh being extremely competitive, possibly taking home that uh Iron Man Pro Series this year would be very exciting. Lots of uh added cash uh bragging rights for sure. Um but befits the the talent of the athlete as we welcome Gustaf Eden uh out of team Norway to the finish line. Fourth place for Gustaf Eden. And how good’s that? It’s so great to see this man back at the front of big races. You mentioned the challenges he’s had over the last 18 months. And you know, my heart wanted so desperately for him to do well today and he did. [Music] Beyond the finish lines, our commitment goes the extra mile. We are the Iron Man Foundation. We’ve given back more than $55 million to support our mission of leaving a positive impact throughout race communities. Without our amazing athletes, volunteers, and givers, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Together, let’s continue this journey of impact. Join the Iron Man Foundation and be a part of something extraordinary. I want to be [Music] [Music] you know and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] We are here at the finish line of the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men. The race, Craig, has been decided. Your champion is Christian Blumenfeld from Norway. It was a day of outstanding racing and just a little bit of drama. Yeah, Dei, there was more than a little bit of drama. I mean, we were we were so excited for this one. I think it delivered delivered on all fronts.
Let’s head it down to the hyper recovery zone and Paul K
European Championship. An incredible defense of your title. You are twotime Iron Man European champion. You’re reigning North American champion as well. Christian Blumenfeld. For those watching, they maybe thought it was easy, but you said the last 90 minutes on the bike were not easy at all.
Oh, that’s that was a brutal one. Uh not the best swim. got out like after like on the first lap I was there in the second group and uh I just had to trust my sort of that it would come together again on the bike and uh I think I had maybe 20 or 30 seconds of Mongnus and I knew that uh he would be surging on from the early on on the bike so I just had to be really aware of him and it was basically a bit of Kevin Mouse there on the first lap or 100k with him there and Patrick there. So, I had to sort of play my card right because uh if if I would have went to the front, Magnus would have put the hammer down and like searched. So, I always had to like fold a little bit back uh in order to be able to answer his uh attacks. And then uh lost a bottle of 160 g. So, um tried to compensate by having a little bit of extra gels, but the last 90 minutes was Here we are with a recap of the finish of Christian Blumenfeld. Total time uh 7:25 57. What a legendary performance. A little bit shy of that 2:30 marathon barrier. Uh but boy did he leave it all out there today on the course. Craig. Yeah, it was interesting just to hear KB’s thoughts about the race. It was very tactical on the bike as as we summised just from sort of the changes in pace and but he did what all champions do. He found a way in the end and he he slightly missed his course record and he he just missed breaking that magical 230 marathon barrier, but he did break his own run course record and just another incredible performance that he can add to his resume. And of course now uh during that interview, Yonas Hoffman made his way across the finish line in fifth place. His unofficial marathon time 23919 for 7:355 uh total time on the day. Yeah, great race by Yonas Hoffman. Well, here we are back with Christian. I know you were talking us through how you went on the bike, swim, bike, and run, but uh we we we had a bit of a technical issue. I just want to talk about that run a little bit. I mean, an incredible defense of your title. It looked very very patient. It didn’t look like you were going fast, but do you know that you ran at 23059 in this heat after that bike?
Yeah, I would say I’m super pleased with that. I saw it on the watch, but uh yeah, I was just I was struggling so much on the last part of the bike. like I had to be a little bit careful especially on the first uh two laps on the run just to get those calories in and I was just trying to get those Morton gels down and uh also had like a bottle with me out of transition and uh uh I thought that Magnus would run slower in the beginning but he was also doing like 330 pace so and as well Christian Hogen up front uh I was did or I was assuming that he would sort of fell apart a bit more because he was riding so strong. Uh I think he did like seven five or six minute quicker bike than what I did and uh yeah he was really responding there on that third lap. So I had to really dig deep in order to catch him.
So congratulations North American champion, European champion. Everything is perfect going to Nice.
Oh we’re heading for world championship. The tough one.
There we go. Christian Blumenfeld, our Minova, Iron Man Frankfurt European Champion, Sub27 that he did last year with a 725 something. He’s been congratulated by a brilliant second place. This young man from Denmark, the Danish Dynamite as we called him. He’s had a second year before. But let me bet you this second place feels even better than that last one.
Yeah. Yeah. Incredible. like uh I feel like I made the race and I ended up in a Scandinavian sandwich and uh yesterday Blumenfeld told me that uh you always named the burger after the meat, not after the bun. So uh yeah, I think I impacted the race and I really just love tough racing and I I hope I made it hard for everyone. Yeah,
you certainly did. you in front for so long, but that second place feels almost like a victory.
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Like I knew I was in the best sh I’ve ever been in in all three disciplines actually. So I was just really excited to see where I was stacking up against the best in the world to see how close or how far I was. So to come second to to Bloomfeld who is maybe the best longdistance athletes ever is is amazing. Yeah. Tuga, thank you so much. What a brilliant race from Christian Hugenau leading almost the entire race. He talks about the Scandinavian sandwich. Well, here is the side of that hamburger. Casper Donis. Wow. I I I I remember in the video before the race in Fighting Chance, you said like if everything goes right, I have a chance of winning it. But a third on this day on this court in this field this feels amazing. Yeah, I’m just relieved to finish the race. I was uh having a really bad uh time at around 40, no 30 24ks. So good. I saw good gaining time and I were just ah is it here my third place is going to end. But uh yeah, I managed to dig deep and got a good patch again and the last 4K I don’t remember. Well, I’m going to remind you those last 4Ks saw you come up the Remov claim third position in our Manova Iron Man Frankfurt, the European Championship. Congratulations, Casper Storis. And it’s back to you, crew, in the studio. Thanks so much, Paul K. Memorable words from a memorable race here at MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men. Back down to the finish line, we had Rudy Vonberg finish in sixth place. Patrick Langa run ran his way into seventh. Magnus Ditlev held on for eighth. Cameron Worf uh in ninth. So, so far those are our athletes uh across the line here at MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. And here we have local legend and fan favorite Patrick Langga making his way across the finish line. A tough swim for him. Lost some time. Sorry, a good swim for him. Lost some time on the bike. Uh suffered a penalty with a swimkin violation, but fought his way back into the top 10, finishing seventh overall on the day. This is the MOVA Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for men. [Music] [Music] [Music] You know, and we know the thing about challenging yourself is you’re always looking for what’s next. [Music] This is the Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship for Men. What a day of racing it’s been. I’m Dee Griezbower in studio with Craig Alexander and we witnessed one of the strongest fields we’ve seen in men’s iron man racing outside of the World Championship and what a show they put on. We’re going to go down for our podium celebration to celebrate these tremendous athletes, all of the racers today. Uh we’ve seen legendary performances, breakthrough performances, drama, penalties, mechanicals. Uh, this race truly had it all. As we get ready to celebrate our men’s podium, take a minute to thank all of our awesome volunteers out on the course, the fans that spurred these athletes on all day and thank the athletes for their inspiring performances. We certainly enjoyed watching it and we look forward uh to the rest of the racing throughout this Iron Man Pro Series. Let’s take it down to the podium for our top three finishers at today’s Iron Man European Championship. And here we go with our podium celebration. Craig in third place today. Dei in our Iron Manova Frankfurt European Championship for Men representing Norway in a time of 7 hours 29 minutes and 48 seconds is Casper Storz. Great breakthrough performance for Casper today. And in second place, a very memorable performance from the Danish athlete Christian Hogenhow, who swam 4805, biked 35210, and ran 24243 for a breakthrough perodium podium performance from Christian Hogan. And our men’s champion today, Dee, in the Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championships with a swim of 4918, a bike of 4 hours and 32 seconds and a phenomenal run of 2 hours 30 and 59 seconds representing Norway. No surprises today. Our champion is Christian Blumenfeld. What a performance. And with so many great athletes on the start list today, I think Craig, we had our fair mix of surprises um and expectations met between all of our athletes today.
Yeah, absolutely. We I mean I I guess KB was one of the pre-race favorites as was Casper Stornet and and and Christian Hogen Hog was a guy who’s been mentioned often. We we got to a podium probably not the way we thought we’d get there. There was some twists and turns, a lot of drama, some mechanicals as you mentioned um and some breakthrough or surprising performances, but all in all, I think you know a great race uh a worthy champion, a worthy European champion and also worthy second and third place finishes on our podium. and I think just wets our whistle for what’s to come with World Championship uh season fast approaching. Uh great to take a look as we recap our overall top 10 uh athletes again. Christian Blumenfeld, Christian Hogenhog, Casper Storis, Gustaf Eden, Yonas Hoffman, Rudy Vonber, Patrick Lunger, Magnus Ditliff, Cameron Worf, and rounding out our top 10, Paul Schusta. Again, all of our athletes with their challenges on the day, not only from the caliber of field, the conditions on the day. Let’s take a look at the Pro Series standings after this. Manova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. Christian Blumenfeld stands at top uh our men’s leaderboard, moving up four spots. Cameron Worf moves up into second place. Casper Storis moves up seven spots, and Gustaf Eden rockets 10 spots into the fourth place position. Paul Schuster from Germany also goes up five spots to into fifth spot. Ben Hamilton, who was leading the series before this race, drops down to sixth spot. Rudy vonberg from the US up into seventh spot. He goes up 11th spots. Magnus Ditliff also a big improve today, up 12 spots into eighth overall. Dominic Suia up 13 spots into ninth spot overall on the IPS series rankings. and Yiannis Hoffman up 16 spots to round out our top 10 in the male pro series standings for season 2025 today. Dee
and we can see there in the right hand column the the number of races that each athlete has uh amassed as we recap our women’s standings. Obviously our women didn’t race today. They raced in Hamburg uh quite some time ago. Uh but we had have Annne Reichman leading the series. Jackie Herring after her win at Iron Man cans uh a couple of weeks ago moved up 15 spots uh into third place. Uh and Lahi Vilms with her performance at Iron Man cans, the other big mover uh in our professional women’s standings for the 2025 IPS moved up 43 spots uh into the top 10. Thanks for watching my Nova Iron Man Frankfurt European Championship. You can watch on demand replays of all Iron Man Pro Series broadcasts exclusively in the US and Canada. Sign up for Outside Play, Outside Plus today. Globally, you can watch the Pro Series. You can watch at proseries.ironman.com, iron manchai YouTube channel, or any of our global distributors. For Craig Alexander, I’m Dee Griebb. We’ll see you for the next Iron Man Pro Series race, Iron Man 70.3 Swansea, on Sunday, July 13th at 6:30 a.m. British time, 1:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] This copyrighted broadcast of World Triathon Corporation may not be retransmitted, reproduced, rebroadcast, or otherwise distributed or used in any form without Express written consent of World Triathon Corporation. [Music]