Ironman Frankfurt - This race is going to be a special one...
1. It’s possibly the biggest start list of all time
All of the male pro athletes will be a little more tense going into this final full-distance race of the Ironman Pro Series in Germany on Sunday. From what I can gather, it will be the most athletes we’ve ever seen in a full-distance Ironman race toeing the line, with an incredible 84 men currently listed to start.
This means that those extremely precious 5,000 points on offer are going to be extremely hard to come by (remember again, final full distance before Kona)...and that $87,500 prize purse? Well, let’s just say that the odds aren’t in everyone’s favor to make some money from their profession this weekend.
Furthermore, it’s the final chance to pick up a Kona slot before that big day in October, but thankfully, 17 men have already qualified, and with six slots on offer…there’s still hope for one of those, and as we all know, that in itself is worth more than a paycheck.
2. Blummenfelt is back
It’s been a long time coming, but the man who has won everything in triathlon is finally back for what could possibly be his second to last full-distance triathlon. He has been all but confirmed to be heading to pro cycling by his coach Olav Aleksander Bu where he’ll be chasing the Tour de France, but I think there’s more than enough fire in the tank for Blummenfelt to go out with a bang with whatever is left of his triathlon career.
You see, when I said he had won everything in triathlon - I was incorrect. The one ominous title that we all know he wants… is Kona. He would trade his Ironman World Championship trophy from St.George for the one that his training partner Gustav Iden has (Kona), in a heartbeat. In fact, many believe for him to be considered in the GOAT talks of triathlon, he needs this title, and it’s why many have Jan Frodeno over the likes of Alistair Brownlee because of his ability to get across first on the big island.
The other reason, that’s even more relevant to watch out for Blummenfelt, is that his return to short-course to defend his gold medal went anything but planned. In the end, he was let down by his legs during the run in Paris and had to settle for 12th behind the stars of the show, Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee. This was supposed to be the race where he proved that it could be done, you could actually go from long course to short course and be back on the podium... but it wasn't to be. It almost just highlighted that the entire campaign back was relatively unsuccessful, never landing on a podium since his return and finding himself sitting all the way down in 15th in our Daily Tri short course rankings since his return. I personally, still find his results incredibly impressive, but try telling that to the man who lives by the motto “It hurts more to lose.”
It’s true, all he has to do at this race is validate, and Pro Tri News confirmed that his intentions are “to survive and finish,” but that doesn’t mean it won’t be any more spectacular to see him at the start line against an epic field and giving it his best shot before Kona comes calling in a couple of months. And remember, “surviving and finishing” for Kristian, could see him wind up still challenging for the win.
3. It’s completely unpredictable
12 of the top 20 athletes are in this lineup including two-time World Champion Patrick Lange, who could be eyeing that sub 2:30 marathon after unintentionally failing that attempt at Challenge Roth last month due to a kick in the ribs that forced him to withdraw. It’s a fast-run course and with other strong runners in the field like Trevor Foley and Matt Hanson (two of his biggest pro-series competitors), it could be his chance to prove forever that he is the greatest Ironman runner of all time - especially now that Tomas Rodriguez Hernadez is out of the question…
The start list here is so big that it is almost unpredictable who will be on the podium, let alone the top 5, and it’s so easy to be a dark horse at this race because of that. For that reason, here are a few names that I didn’t want to let go under the radar before Sunday: Gregory Barnaby, Ben Hamilton, Nick Thompson, Mike Phillips, and Ruben Zepuntke - who is possibly one of the fastest cyclists in triathlon and could make a name for himself at this one with a breakaway.
Whatever the case maybe after the dust settles, we will certainly have a shakeup in series standings, and the drum roll will begin to beat for the battle that is brewing on October 26th in Kona.
Catch it live on Ironman Triathlon’s YouTube channel, Proseries.Ironman.com, DAZN, or L’Equipe for International viewers, and for North Americans, it is exclusively live, for free, on Outside TV. Coverage starts at 6:00 a.m. local time on Sunday the 18th.
