Pro Race Replay | 2025 IRONMAN World Championship, Nice, Men’s Edition

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Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Welcome to the 2025 Iron Man World Championship. Nice France. Today, professional and amateur men from around the world will descend upon the cozour here in the south of France. We are tackling a historic course, an epic competition. I’m Michael Lovado joined by DD Grieb here in studio. Craig Alexander and Fraser Cartail will be out in the field as well as Matt Leedo. The team today super excited to bring live Iron Man World Championship racing after a long 11 month weight. Dee, I can’t wait to get started. I can’t wait to get started. It’s been a great week here in Nice. Uh today’s Iron Man World Championship is bringing together almost 60 of the world’s top professional male triathletes. Of course, the women will be racing in October in Hawaii, but we’ve got rising stars, we’ve got veterans, uh we’ve got nearly 6,000 Iron Man Pro Series points on the line, and we have a $375,000 professional prize purse with the winner taking home $125,000. And like that, DD, the 2025 Iron Man World Championship is underway with an entire group of men strung out side to side from buoy to buoy. These men, it looked like white water, but that is what we came here to see. One pack off to the right already, Dean. Two points forming two arrowheads and one already in the middle. This is no one wanting to give up a single inch from the get- go. No, this swim going to be such an important part. Strategically, it’s often said you’re not going to win this race in the swim, but you certainly can lose it. And that will be the fact for a lot of our competitors today. I see the yellow cap, I’m assuming that is going to be Jamie Riddle. Uh, no surprises there, out to a very, very fast start. The light blue cap on his feet uh is likely the cap of Martin Van Real. two likely suspects to be at the front of this Roka Swim. That’s right. And if you saw that other yellow to the other side, Christian Hogenhow rocking that yellow cap, but DD just looking down, oh my word, two incredible packs with a straight line followed by a whole bunch. Nobody wants to get dropped here. And let’s remember that for Christian Hogenhag, it was that swim that was so key for him uh at Iron Man Frankfurt. He came out at the very tail end of that lead swim pack. That was a huge benefit for him. he was able to dart to the front of the bike and really take control of the race from there. So looking to repeat that again. I think a lot of people surprised uh by the strength of his swim. I see the hot pink cap down there of Finn Gross Free uh also of Germany. Uh also to recap, it sounds like Magnus Ditliff had a rough start. Uh swam into the side of a kayak which uh that line, you know, those kayakers there to hold the start. Uh, so he got off to a bit of a rough start and I thought I saw Rudy von Berg uh kind of in that single file line as well. So that would be a great start for him as we have a little bit of teamwork going on here with Jamie Riddle uh coming to a complete stop rolling onto his back uh letting Andrea Sisber uh take some polls. Well, how about that? He got into his back, looked way back to see every where everyone was, and then he actually did exactly say, got into third place, and then he’s edging out that fourth place swimmer, pushing him a little bit to the side. Yeah, I I just counted swimmers while you were chatting there. And uh at I count Sam Lelo as seventh. There you go. Those guys uh giving us the insight. Very curious. And a lot of other curiosity here at the uh studio desk. We must know what’s going on. And we’re going to throw it on down to Craig and Fraser. What have you guys got going on down there? Please do share. [Music] Michael, big big news down here in the last 2 minutes. We saw Sam Lelo, who was in about eighth or ninth spot on Antonio Bonito Lopez’s feet, literally pull to the inside of the course, stopped swimming, momentarily started moving back towards shore, and he’s back swimming now. He’s up and swimming. He’s actually on Christian Hugenhal’s feet, but he’s 100 m behind where he was a couple of minutes ago and came to a dead stop for about I don’t know 30 to 60 seconds. I’ve got to say for about the 3 or 4 minutes leading up to that moment, he kept dropping the feet of Bonito Lopez. Obviously, when you’re very comfortable, that doesn’t happen. He he fought for the first half of the of the swim course to stay on those feet and stay in touch with that front group, but in an instant, he just pulled to the inside of the course and stopped. I mean, we’ve we’ve seen him swim a lot, right? I mean, I I I most recently watched him swim in Leeds and he put on a clinic. He swam non- wets suit when everybody else had a wet suit on. That’s how good he can be. So, this is very very uncharacteristic of a swimmer of of Sam’s capabilities. So, you know, he’s battling. It’s great to see he’s back on Christian’s feet. You never know. He’s maybe just I don’t know. Well, we don’t know, but he’s hopefully going to manage to reather and regroup and just settle in. Thank you so much, Craig. Thank you, Fraser. That was what we were wondering about. We heard something about Sam Leo. Very interesting. And of course, we may not know the exact reason for the stop until after the race, but we do know that he’s back in and fighting. So, very interesting. It could be a number of things. Could it be a a cramp? Could it be just feeling terrible, a bit of a panic attack or some sort of asthma attack? I mean, we’ve seen it all, Dee. And we just don’t know. We have seen it all. Just certainly unusual. And it just, we had said it before and we’ll say it again. We thought we knew how this might play out. Uh and it already we are 32 minutes and 33 seconds into this men’s Iron Man World Championship and it is nothing like we expected. Uh certainly some notable names that we expected to be at the front. Yona Shamberg, Jamie Riddle, Andrea Salvisber, uh Martin Van Real, but absent that group, obviously Sam Ladello. Uh, and that changes a lot of the dynamics of this race, I think, especially knowing that we’ve got Rudy Vonberg, um, and Christian Blumenfeld, uh, certainly in contention with that lead pack as well. So, uh, things already spicy. There’s Van Real there, uh, in the blue cap and the red and white sleeves. Great position, the athlete that’s lost his cap and Jamie Riddle there with the South African flag on his sleeves and the yellow cap. Orange being Yonas Shamberg and Andrea Salisburg at the front. And so Salesburg appears it will be the leader out. Of course, they have to make their way up sort of that rocky uh beach. It has been carpeted to make it a little bit easier for the athletes, but right now appearing that Andrea Solasburg will be our race leader out of the Broken Swim course. And also appearing that we are nearly three minutes in front of the course record um that Markquart also sort of shared with Braden Curry. Braden Curry came out of the water same time last year 47 46 or so that’s that’s impressive. These guys well uh well below that 2 and a half minutes below that by time they come under that Iron Man arch indicating the end of the Roka swim course. But here we go. Solid ground for Salvisburg first. gingerly at first and now powering up the hill, taking off the swim skin and stopping the clock there. We’ll get official results, but note that a probable obvious course record as they run into this long transition. Dee [Applause] absolutely. Let’s take a look at our men’s swim split presented by Wahoo Element Rival. It is Andrea Salvisburg at 4511. Michael, that is for a nonwets suit swim. very very fast swimming and and all of the talk about should he be on his back? Can he who is he looking for when we’re referencing Riddle, it did not matter. The pace was on and that is evident now with this finish time. Incredible result there as you now watch these athletes do what they do best. Really just get through it. Transition is not for taking your time or for resting. You are getting change of clothes and getting onto the bike. And if I had to bet that is Yonas Shawnberg who is sprinting through transition. Andrea Salasberg was second but some of the other ones in that lead pack. Finn Gre Thalman Yan Stman in that group. Antonio Bonito Lopez Wilhim Hirs uh Matias Ciserelli Casper Storis with a very good swim. Kieran Linders amongst uh that group as well. The lead group 12 large. And then it is another 35 seconds to Casper Steepniaak. Rudy von Berg with Christian Blumenfeld. Matthew Markwhart at a minute back. Magnus Ditlev also in that group. Oh my gosh, that chase group is powerful. Well, it it’s it’s really kind of incredible because that break after the first uh first 12 uh realistically only about 40 seconds, Stevie. So, as you start to string it out, it does become that minute. But, and how much of that can be made up in this really long transition area as well? M much of it. Yeah, great question. And I I do believe quite a bit of it can. So I think most of our contenders here, I don’t think anyone has realized yet that they are missing Sam Lelo as we watch Christian Hoganhow come out of the water there. That’s who you’re looking at on camera um in with pulled off that yellow cap. So at one point we had said laid low had fallen back to him. But let’s just see. We’re watching I think that was Gustaf Eden. I saw the green cap fly by. Check your tracker. But that’s who I’m seeing if I still reference these colored swim caps. And again, we look to the start of the bike for our next split. But yes, uh you can see uh Marquart as well. We talked about him having the uh the course record 4611. He’s still under that time he did before. So really great effort and great swim conditions here as we watch first onto the bike. There is the rest of that second chase pack coming in. Rudy von, you can see him there. I see Jason West in that group as well. And there’s Magnus Ditliv in the white jersey there right on camera. Actually, everybody’s wearing white in that shot. I was going to say these pro men in their white white uh white race kits with the black shorts uh making it tough for us to ID some of them. Uh but again, I’m looking at the swim exit. And again, the tracker’s a little bit slow to update, but still don’t know what that gap is to Sam Ladello as we have our third pack coming through. Looks like 1 minute and 59 seconds for Sam Laidlo, a pre-race favorite. Way off his pace. There’s Gustaf Eden on the left with the blue sleeve as you look at some of these other contenders. Patrick Langa in the gold cap right there. A few men back and there is Sam Lelo way beyond where he would normally be. Look at Sam Lelo’s body language. I see absolutely no intent in him whatsoever. Yeah, he’s dejected. You can see that he’s I mean, there it is. This is something happened to him where it wasn’t just a bad swim to stop and then regroup and get in it. I mean, he’s going through the motions now, but he does not look determined. DD, you know, and you hate to see that. You wonder if what plagued him in the swim is actually still plaguing him if he is going to get beyond it. It’s it’s it’s so early on for him to be battling whatever it is he’s battling and have to get through the rest of this Iron Man World Championship uh with the weight of that. But I would say his body language running through transition tells me whatever it is, it’s not getting better. Uh he he seems sort of deflated. There goes Eden. There goes Langa. Uh two Iron Man world champions heading out together. Past champions uh leaving. So great to see those two. Another good little uh alliance. Even though it’s unspoken and not anything that will probably stick, but having that company, as you said before, is really useful. the folks still waiting trying to figure out exactly where Sam Lelo is. Athletes streaming out of T1 and onto this Zoot bike course. And I tell you what, here comes Sam Lelo. Uh cameras on him. Everybody saying, “Wow, that is a surprise.” We’re all equally surprised. Yeah, I was going to say we are getting word from our spotters down the course that his issue is some cramping in his back. Uh that is what sort of caused him to pull up so abruptly during the swim. Uh he did leave uh T1 as you can see he is on the bike. Whether or not that back issue is going to plague him on the bike. I mean that’s that’s that’s a tough one to get over uh when you’re facing a bike course that’s this challenging. Well and and and interestingly enough the referencing from our spotters that it was lower a lower back stretch that he did. So trying to loosen up. I mean, it can get us all. And I think that really one of the worst things again to speculate a little bit when you start to have the taper and the body slows way down out of this massive load of training and you sit around a lot more. Um, it can be when stuff does happen, you start to tighten up. But, and let’s take a look and see who took advantage of that transition area as we take a look at our fastest T1 splits provided by our friends at Ruby. Our fastest three men, Cameron Maine at 240, uh, Sarzella at 241, and Yonas Hoffman at 243. Well, this lead group of five right now. Shawnberg uh, put in a little bit of a gap to the to the next four chasers, which include Martin Vanreal, Jamie Riddle, Andrea Salvisber, and Yan Stman. So, uh, that is the group. And then there’s about a 30 second gap to Wilheim Hirs and Antonio Bonito Lopez. So, a little bit of separation. There will be some shuffling about uh in the positions here as some of the superstar swimmers who maybe aren’t as strong on the bike yield to some of the stronger cyclists coming from behind. All looking uh to establish their position as they get to the first of what will be very very many climbs. But these first two couple of climbs are really really punchy uh and put some sting into the legs for sure. There you go. And you can see that. Look at Jamie Riddle. And we watch Martin Van Real come by with the Red Bull helmet and the red and white striped sleeves. Van Real passing Riddle and then moving on to capture some more. Um, but this is a punchy, steep climb out of the saddle, really grinding it. And of course, uh, as we take a look at today’s Zoot bike course, today’s course takes athletes along a technical loop into the mountains with over 2400 meters of elevation gain. They’re going to face extended climbs, sweeping descents, winding switchbacks, testing both their climbing power, which we’re seeing now as uh we see them sort of grinding up these uh these climbs here. It’s going to test both their cycling power as well as their bike handling skills. Dei, this race is heating up. Even from a hot level, it’s getting hotter. And I think that what we were talking about a minute ago, when you look over and you’re an athlete not expecting to see Sam Lelo next to you, you see him next to you and you start to think, “Wow, I’m really excelling.” You’re not sure. Maybe you’re not aware that he’s had a little bit of an off swim or an issue, some sort of stop, almost a a stop and regression before he got back on course. Folks, if you were not here during the swim, uh Sam Laidlo, the man who won this race two years ago on this very course, definitely struggling and we saw him stretching in transition, struggling with maybe a low back before he got back on the bike and is trying to get back where he belonged. Uh quite a move by Sam Lelo and he’s back. He’s he is back and it it kind of makes you wonder a big what if had he had he done the swim we know he’s capable of would that move have put him now in front of these guys two three minutes or with them but nonetheless you’re watching a cool image there of Jamie Riddle from South Africa Iron Man World Championship rookie today um as we come back to another great shot of the high-tech bikes these athletes are pushing down the road disc brakes uh there was a time when you had to really be sort of mindful of the rim, the braking service you had at a race like this due to the nature of the descents and the braking requirements, but now these bikes with the disc brakes and incredible aerodynamics. Obviously, this has been a nice evolution in our sport driven by some of the brands like Bentum and others that have really been the cutting edge and pushing folks forward as you come in here and we’ve talked about this athlete Karen Linders uh from Great Britain. Just through often throughout the the the day he keeps surfacing this young man. Yeah, he is uh currently sitting in 19th place. He is in that second chase group. Um not amongst the lead chase group, but uh hanging steady there uh within the top 20. Yes, sir. And then we’ve got I didn’t call you sir. Just Yes, sir. Generally speaking, sorry about that. As we come Yes, sir. As we come back to watching a rubber band there close up, it’s always fun to see Patrick Lang obviously use that. for those of you that aren’t uh dialed on this equipment uh maneuver. He had the the shoes strapped to the bike and the the rubber bands which snap off the frame. They keep the pedals uh or sorry the the shoes upright on the pedals there so you can get in and do a nice transition. Nice hard turn there. Uh getting yourselves going up that switchback. Di this is proper mountain riding here at its finest in the hills of the Maritime Alps. Wow. here. Look at this move. Nick Thompson rolling past Christian Blumenfeld. We talked about how he was not one to just sit in. He’s really taking the bull by the horns here. And the uh the Aussie just looks great. He talked about how excited he was this morning when he woke up and his friends from Australia were here to to watch him race and he gave him a little a little kick in the pants in a good way. So there he goes. Those are really good friends by the way. Let’s just let’s just mention that cuz not only did they travel all the way over, but they surprised and it’s hard to keep a surprise cuz you’re so excited. All you want to do is tell, you know, tell your buddies that you’re coming. But yes, super cool to have that and then this is your chase pack. You just saw it. Maybe that answers a bit of our question as well. If Nick Thompson is now at the front pushing, maybe he felt like, guys, we’re getting splits back. We lost time. What are we doing? Let’s go. Yeah. Like assuming they’re getting splits back. I mean, that’s the one tough thing about this course is that you’re not getting that much information, right? Some of these villages pretty remote, tough to get to for support crews, etc., etc. Not a lot of roads, not a lot of interstates to bring you uh out to this section of the course. So, uh they may not through this section be getting a ton of feedback. Um but yeah, I mean something certainly has lit a fire under Nick Thompson. And that, my friends, is Jamie Riddle off the course, but back on immediately around that bin, you saw him fly off course and immediately get back on. So, you see someone that um needs to sort of overcorrect, goes flying off course, loses, and then is that fast to get back. I still can’t quite believe how quickly he was able to get off course and come back on. But folks, I can’t even tell. There he goes. He’s giving you a little display of relief. We have Martin Van Real holding that 26 second margin over the two very intimidating pursuers behind him in Sam Lelo and Christian Blumenfeld. This man holding strong throughout, very technical in nature, especially for an Iron Man race where we don’t see a lot of this around the global circuit. But watching these switchbacks, the hard 180s, you’re more reminiscent of a tour to France race as Nick Thompson makes a move in out of one of the turns and gets told off in a section uh by he was getting told off by Casper Storz there. And this the slalom course meant to slow them down, but really giving a little bit extra challenge to these athletes to test their uh skill as they are aboard the ste bombing down the hill. Dy. Well, my guess here is that that is a no pass zone. And I think Storus probably thought that was a pretty cheap move perhaps passing right before the no pass zone. Thought it was sort of a cheap maneuver. But uh yeah, athletes making their way. Obviously that slalom meant to slow the athletes down before that sweeping sharp uh lefthand turn there across that narrow bridge section. Uh so yeah, a little words exchanged. Uh temper starting to flare in the later stages of this zoot bike course here. Um Martin Van Real continuing at the front. But to your point, Michael, across that last timing, Matt, only about 30 seconds uh back at 129K. That’s a little bit old data between him, San Low, and Christian Blumenfeld. And there what you’re seeing too is at the tippy top of the Corsugul climb and then the little dip a little bit more climb and then you bomb down the other side of Corsugul and folks it is serious at this point. Martin uh Van Real still holding that lead out of the saddle and managing really well. I I still see in or out of the saddle in or out of the arrow bars that rhythm in the upper body still there. Martin Van Real really impressive today just now spending so much time at the front of course being there early the bulk of the day with his uh then riding partners but now Solo Di just really owning it at the front and uh it’s been impressive to watch. So kudos as we watch Blumenfeld try and eliminate that gap laid low as well. These two guys, what a story here. Something we didn’t anticipate representing the front of the race in fine fashion. DD he just continues to hold that 30ish well now 18sec 18 to 22 second lead right now over Sam Lelo and Christian Blumenfeld. See how I keep shrinking it down but I say he’s maintaining it. The the truth is this guy is really just matching these two powerhouses behind him. Not not well because he’s a powerhouse. But here’s what we’re seeing Dee. We’re not seeing what I initially thought was inevitable, which was just to get swallowed up at the top of the climb, at the top of that plateau. That has not happened. We were well into the downhill. While there is still some elevation change in front of us, he has done an exceptional job of just getting out and staying away. This man, Sam Lelo, still gunning for him, though. He absolutely is. And and full credit to Martin Van Real because for how well Sam Lelo knows this course. Martin Van Real doing just a brilliant job of doing just that. Oh, I said it. Staying away. He’s not away anymore. He’s about to get caught. He’s got a big fat target on his back. It’s been there all along, but now it is flashing red and Sam Ladello sees him right there. And I can’t tell you how much the people at Nice down in the town are going to go nuts if Sam Lelo, who looked so broken and so forlorn when he left Nice earlier this morning, rides in to T2 in the lead. You’re spot on, DD. And and I I will say this as well. He must be so grateful that whatever it was that stopped him in the swim and nearly turned him back was overcome that he got in front of it that he maintained the belief because he was at the lowest of lows in this race and now he’s at the front. We almost can’t emphasize how rare that is. For an athlete of his caliber to literally stop dead, sort of dog paddle, side paddle off the course, cause us all to wonder, is he is he out of the race? Like, we’re not even halfway through the swim. and what’s happening to him to re-engage and catch back up and then come into the lead not as he would have scripted it but wow just courageous bold uh champions mentality the top three men right there in front of us Martin Van Real Sam Ladello and Christian Blumenfeld that’s the order of events right now on the road and then as you pointed out Dee Eden Thompson storing this all within a minute of first place. This is one heated battle. When they hit T2 and when they start that Hokarunore shooting, it’s pretty much going to be a group of men al together. Here we have and look, you can see that you’ve got Van Real, then Lelo, then Nick Thompson has jumped in front of Christian Blumenfailed. So, interestingly enough, the the young Aussie decided that he was really going to gun over that last little segment of the race. Van Real into transition, still with the helmet, has discarded the bike. Uh, now you’ve got Blumenfeld together with Gustaf Eden and Casper Storz, the three Norwegians. Just another training day, the training partners. And maybe Nick Thompson didn’t pass. maybe uh Blumenfeld conceded, you know, and said, “Let’s let’s come together, my my three my three Norwegian uh or my two friends, my my threesome.” So, here’s what’s cool. We now have the foot race we’ve been waiting for. At least I have since basically the gun went off. Mount Martin Van Real the first and the Wahoo Element Bold first off the bike time. Stamp stamped it 4:3148. Again, that is the time. We talked about how Laidlo was 431 last year. 28 43128 was that course record. So, uh 10 seconds over that. But I mean that’s that’s first off the bike. That’s not the fastest split. So, did uh Laidlo best his own? Yes, he did. 42929. Uh Nick Thompson also under that previous course record as well. So, Van Real getting his run back first and taking a seat as Laid Low is in. Nick Thompson is in. And then the three Norwegians lock step together. And this is Fen Real just looking to the side seeing who’s coming. And uh not too impressed as he pulls on his socks because this I think the fighters love this fight, right? The runners love this run. And uh we’re going to see as we started the day talking about fireworks, DD, we’re going to see fireworks. Some of these athletes going to want to insert assert themselves at the very outset of the marathon. Others are going to say, “I’m not too worried about what happens right now because I’m going to blow out the 230. I’m going to do that. Who Who else is coming with me?” So, it’s Van Real and Laidlo first out of transition. And they will run out shoulderto-shoulder. Laid low, tucking in some nutrition there. Running through a quick aid station. Get a gulp of water on board as Van Real makes some adjustments here. Uh getting that run watch on. The rest of the guys making their way out of transition. Looks like Christian Blumenfeld has made himself a little bit more arrow with the shaved head. That’s good for running. That’s that’s a good move. He’s got the hat on and the two Norwegians head out shoulderto-shoulder. And this is when you do say, “Hey, another training day, at least for now.” Yeah. So, the the two have history, right? Each one has won um Iron Man World title uh at a minimum. Each one has excelled, won obviously the Olympic champion, Christian Buenfeld. These guys have the accolades. They’re racing now for the absolute glory of today. And I do think you’re going to see um that camaraderie and that friendship and that partnership with those two really bolster them until the gloves come off with five or six or 8k to go. Well, and that’s what we saw, you know, the year that Gustaf won in Kona, he was running shoulder-to-shoulder with Christian. Uh and we everyone was saying, “Oh, well, Christian’s won this race before.” But that was that year it was Gustaf’s turn. Gustaf took um took the victory and I think we’re seeing uh the Gustaf Eden of old. He’s proven that uh his form and fitness and and mental game is absolutely back on track. You’re you’re not wrong. We’ll find out. These two still shoulder shoulder Sam laid low with the bucket hat keeping the sun off of Van Real. A standard full white cap, neither with a visor, neither with exposed uh skin on top. Sam tucking bottles into the kit. uh a move patented and made by Patrick Langa back in the day uh in Kona 17 or 18 when he came in and was was establishing that this could be a place to kangaroo pouch your fluids um and everyone’s like wow that’s a good idea hey why not now we all do it and now we’ve got Magnus Ditlev coming off representing Denmark and uh you have to assume not where he had hoped to be with the deficit with these guys already out into that first kilometer but nonetheless best a champion’s uh heart will enable him to to press on and and have a great race. Uh Dee, quickly, how much of this is running scared and how much of this is running confidently? Where are we at on the scale there? Uh I would say well I mean for both of these guys it’s it’s Martin Vreel doesn’t have a lot of Iron Mans under his belt, right? So I don’t want to say he’s running scared, but he’s running a little bit into the unknown. I would say Lelo knows exactly what’s coming behind him. I don’t think he had the time gaps that he would have liked. Um to either Gustaf Eden or Christian Blumenfeld to be honest. Um so I don’t want to say he’s scared. He is not an athlete that bikes backs down from a fight. Uh but yeah, I would say if I had to pick one, he’s running more scared than running confident when you’ve got Christian Bloomfelt um you know, who’s had the the put up the run splits that he has. Those are not splits that we’ve seen out of Sam Lelo ever. Um and Martin Vayan Realel again the question mark as we check in with our race weather presented by our friends at ROA. Uh air temperature now at 80° Fahrenheit. That’s 27° uh Celsius. It says overcast clouds. Easy for me to say. Uh it doesn’t necessarily look that way. That sun looks pretty pretty strong. Uh the UV index at 4.6. Humidity has dropped to 53% and there is not a stitch of wind out there. As we look at Van Real uh sitting on the shoulder of Sam laid low. Uh he took second in Kona and then won here laid low and then and then in Kona 18. This time he is in the driver’s seat for now [Music] as the Norwegians head out. Uh I don’t want to say shoulder-to-shoulder but uh Gustaf Eden doing the pace setting of the two right now. They are only uh a handful of seconds uh behind and I think uh Nick Thompson is somewhere in that mix as well. Actually no Gustaf and Christian have gone past Nick Thompson as we have Riddle coming in here with Magnus Ditlev. They are into transition now together the two of them. And the South African who led for so long as part of that trio that led for so long. Uh he looks sharp. He looks good. He looks ready for the challenge. Ditlev also looking good. Um and DD I just want to kind of talk about these two guys here on camera. Van Real when you talk about his 238 that he did in South Africa that was 6 months ago. Yep. And in a completely different set of competitive circumstances, it earned him second place. But when you see that 238, if you if you forget about any sort of injury or downtime, is he capable of five or six minutes faster today? Or is it more of the same 238? You know, one would I almost don’t even want to say this because I’ll be wrong. One would assume that in his Iron Man in South Africa, he’s been a little conservative, right? No iron man experience, right? I’m not going to I’m going to try to get my slot. I I don’t know what’s in front of me. I’m not going to hit the ball out of the park necessarily. Um, so now he sort of has a feel of it a little bit. Okay. Uh, might know what’s possible. Five or six minutes is an awful lot. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. The two Norwegians from third and fourth coming into first and second. It’s a bunch of athletes together and Dee Sam lad still in front coming into this a station. Martin Van Real pouring water on his head. Then Gustav Eden in third. Really the power position or is that power position held by the man at the back Christian Blumenfeld? This is the moment we’ve waited for. You know, it absolutely is. And one has to want to crawl inside of the mind of Christian Blumenfeld and and say, you know, are you just playing with them? Uh again, on paper, has the fastest run splits of this group. Although Gustaf Eden, we haven’t seen Gustaf Eden at his true self, in his true form for three years now. So, uh, Gustaf Eden proving that he is back on form as well. We’ve seen hints of it with a great performance at Oceanside earlier this year and then a fourth place finish at Iron Man Frankfurt. So, uh, the progression has been a steady one back to form as the four athletes running now, uh, stride for stride. All four of them look smooth. each of them running their own style, their own uh form. But Dee, you know what? This is where if I’m looking at each of these athletes in particular, starting with Blumenfeld, he knows his training partner very well. He knows that Gustaf Eden is back in better form than he’s been in, as is Storz just a few steps back. I cannot count that many races where in an Iron Man at any point I have five true contenders together. Um, and this is three of our four Iron Man World Championship title holders right there. DD, we’re only missing Patrick Longa. So, that’s telling you that that there’s contenders. Then we’ve got our three-time Olympian and we’ve got Casper Storz. So, realistically, this is um this is a dream come true for those of us that like to watch a big battle and like to watch a race play out. Um, I’m tickled to see it. And uh and there’s still three and a half laps, folks. To those of you that are watching here along with at the bottom of your screen, you’ll see that Hoka run course uh graphic. You’ll see that we’re approaching the turnaround that begins lap two. This is the break DD. This is when I was saying, “Hey, it’s going to happen later.” They’re they’re putting a punch in now. A couple of slugs. They’re going to gap everyone and then we’ll see them probably settle and hold a rhythm for maybe that middle lap. But this is it, DD. This is the Norwegian onetwo punch. Gustaf Eden in front through this aid station and Christian Blumenfeld a very close second at the moment. Uh as we look at Storess now going past Sam Lello Norway we we talked about it. Nobody actually thought that it was necessarily a realistic possibility. But do we see Norway Norway Norway? I I it’s such a Yes. I think that yes we see that it’s happening. I mean, I think that was was kind of uh if you start to put some thoughts in Storzes, uh relatively, you know, an Iron Man rookie still, he kind of got next to Lelo and did the uh for real like uh am I there? What what do I do now? He broke uh clear. And I and I would say right now you have these three Norwegians in the absolute driver’s seat. If anything changes and these guys get spit out, it’s because the Iron Man thing happened to them and they just they they had there’s some massive implosion. I don’t see it happening. I think that’s your uh that’s your podium right there. Uh head tohead battle and now they all happen to be Norwegian, but these three men just going toeto toe and we are going into the second half of the run. He’s really in a commanding position and it’s fantastic to watch uh through and through. So, take a look at the precision fuel and hydration performance stats here for Casper Storn. It’s the man in front. Uh, that’s right. Through 15.6 miles, this man was cranking an average pace of 3 minutes and 32 seconds per kilometer. Uh, there we’re estimating him coming through the next split at 2 655. Thanks, Precision Fuel and Hydration. Indeed, 332. If you’re a kilometer illiterate, that’s still right around 530. 535 pace. 535 we’ll call it in the miles uh average mile pace. So incredibly quick. Still well under I mean let’s just do this for those of you that aren’t crunching the jock math. A 238 237 high is a 6minute mile or a 345 perk. We’re just blowing that out of the water. I mean good night. Yeah, absolutely. And just for context, uh, here with Gustaf Eden, who is sitting, I’m not going to say comfortable because we’re pretty deep into an iron man at this point, but sitting comfortably in third place, running 339Ks to Sam Lelo’s 347Ks to Martin Van Real’s 349ks. So, those are your top five. Uh, no resurgence from San Lelo. Uh, Gustaf Eden continuing to lose a bit of time to his two fellow countrymen up ahead. like he’s really gaining by being up front. I think it’s a very empowering position. Actually, you could tell by the posturing that uh I believe um Bloomfeld was just peeking peeking, taking a peek. It looked kind of like he was a little bit I can’t be certain, but it looked like he was kind of peeking over to see what was behind him. I I think See, isn’t is that Gustaf behind? I mean, there’s a wheelie with him. It’s got to be a camera. Yeah, way back. I thought they just passed a fellow that was in white that looked right there. So, they’re all in white. So, so, so 13 seconds. Yes, we have. But look at this. Another move. This is Blumenfeld losing ground to Storz 100%. So, they are no longer together. Storis has opened up that gap. This is the most fascinating Iron Man World Championship marathon that we’ve seen in a long time. And it is so good because now Stor is just gaining that that energy. He does not hear or feel uh Blumenfeld on his shoulder anymore. This is unbelievable and I want some more. This is Gustaf Eden as he rolls back up on the shoulder of Christian Blumenfeld. They’re approaching that final turn at the finish/transition area and then they do have uh that crazy last turn there. Uh but remember each lap is is about 10 and a half kilometers and that is how we get through four laps of the Hoka run course. Right now we’ve got Gustaf Eden back in front. The 2022 Iron Man World Champion in front of Christian Blumenfeld. He is the Norwegian of the hour. Casper Storis on his way in his rookie debut at the Iron Man World Championship. Going to take home a title to become the Norwegian of the hour. Casper Storis putting on a show here today ahead of his fellow countrymen Gustaf Eden and Christian Blumenfeld. We’re going to bring it to the finish line with our Iron Man world champion, the other Norwegian. No longer. no longer. He’s giving the disbelief uh gesture and still soaking up those high fives. A couple of low fist pumps, but really this is his moment. Well, there you go. That is how you celebrate some high fives and really a proper uh celebratory fist pump. This man has earned every second of this praise and recognition uh today for what he has done. And Gustaf Eden has uh resurrected himself looking fine as he charges his way towards the finish line. Uh halfway through this last lap, he went through uh a bit of bother and Christian Blumenfeld got by him, but he was able to settle the belly and get back on it. He has gone past Christian Blumenfeld sitting comfortably in second place. But that’s not going to matter because it’s all this man Casper Storis, the flag in hand. And that is right. Today we have seen history unfolding and now the happy face, the celebratory face and pictures of Casper Storzes as he comes home with a Norwegian flag proudly draped on his shoulders. Today our 2025 Iron Man World Champion is Casper Storz from Norway. [Music] Casper Snow, you are an Iron Man world champion. Gustaf Eden, another Norwegian flag down the finish shoot on to the red carpet. What a celebration for this young man. uh seemed to have lost it all and fought so hard over the past 3 years to get it all back. Let’s credit the lucky hat. Let’s credit the patience. Let’s credit the persistence and determination of this young man from Norway. Your runner up, Gustaf Eden. Oh gosh. Not coming easy there for Bloom. Oh gosh. Okay. Yeah, he’s looking behind him now. He does have a bit of cushion. There is the carpet right there. He just has this little right hand turn down the finish shoot. He’s just got to jog it in. He can’t try to do too much. Uh or he’s going to have a really tough time getting there. Uh but here he is. Third place. Didn’t pan out quite the way he thought. We thought he would be the fastest runner on the day coming off the bike. We thought it would be his day. He has certainly had his struggles. But let’s give it up for the third step on the podium. Also from Norway, Christian Blumenfeld. Christian Blumen [Applause] [Music] [Applause] to welcome and congratulate Christian. I had a quite bad transition for at T2 and when I uh catch them they uh uh they increase the pace out on the second lap. So then I just stick to my plan. I run 330 pace and um yeah, trust that this is the too fast pace for now and then I catch them out on a uh third lap and uh try to relax a bit and then I increased the pace and got a gap on Chrisen after when it was 15K to go and uh then I just needed to stick into it and uh yeah, I didn’t believe it before. There was like 3k to go. Then I knew, okay, now it’s too much time to uh catch me. And uh yeah, but have a look here. Uh this is going to be today’s results for the Iron Man World Championship. We know first place went to Casper Storin is 75139. Norway Kustaf Eden 754 in second place and Christian Blumenthal for 756. in third place DD and of course Martin Van Real on debut at a world championship event in fourth Sam Lello after a rough start coming home in fifth. Jonas Shamberg uh in sixth, Nick Thompson from Australia in seventh. Top USA finisher Matthew Marquart takes eighth. Patrick Longa the defending Iron Man champ. He came home in ninth with Jamie Riddle from South Africa in 10th. behalf of DD Griezbower, Craig Alexander, Frasier Cartell, and Matt Leedto. Arvoir from Nice. This copyrighted broadcast of World Triathon Corporation may not be re-ransmitted, reproduced, rebroadcast, or otherwise distributed or used in any form without express written consent of World Triathon Corporation.