Could we see another sprint between Jelle Geens and Kristian Blummenfelt in Geelong this weekend? Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
Australia is hosting an all-star weekend of racing on the triathlon front this weekend – we previewed the T100 Triathlon World Tour opener in Gold Coast earlier, and there’s even more of the sport’s top competitors set to compete at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong for the second stop of the IRONMAN Pro Series. That includes the two men who duelled through the run at last year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella – Jelle Geens and Kristian Blummenfelt.
Here’s what we can look forward to this weekend:
Big Names Contend for Men’s Title
It’s easy to get carried away with the term “stacked” when it comes to various events, but when it comes to describing the men’s field for Geelong, stacked seems all-too-appropriate. While two-time reigning 70.3 world champ and defending Geelong 70.3 champion Geens will wear race #1, the man who soundly beat the Belgian star every time they raced over the T100 distance last year, New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, will be wearing race #3. In between those two you’ve got Blummenfelt, who won the IRONMAN Pro Series last year.
Blummenfelt is coming off a tough day (sixth) at the first event of this year’s pro series, IRONMAN New Zealand, and will no-doubt be looking to get himself back on track towards defending his IRONMAN Pro Series title with a big performance in Geelong. (In an interview with Slowtwitch last month, Blummenfelt did say he was dealing with an injury, so that might have affected his performance.) At last year’s 70.3 worlds, Blummenfelt lost the sprint finish to Geens, so he’ll add that bit of fuel to his competitive fire to go along with the disappointment from his day in Taupo.
Ironically, Geens now lives in the Gold Coast, the site of this weekend’s T100 race, but couldn’t compete there even if he wanted to since it’s a women’s pro event. The Belgian star will certainly look to once again finish ahead of Wilde at a 70.3-distance event – the last time he did that was in Taupo.
Wilde, of course, will want to continue his incredible streak of long-distance wins – since last April he remains virtually unbeaten in non-drafting races, despite a horrific bike accident in Japan last May. Wilde miraculously bounced back to compete at T100 London at the beginning of August, and just kept winning, easily taking the T100 title. (His one blemish on the T100 winning front was in Dubai, where he biked an extra loop, but still managed to run his way back to eighth.
Others to add to the potential podium mix include Australian Olympian Jake Birtwhistle, France’s Pierre Le Corre (fourth at the Olympics in Paris and fresh off a runner-up finish in New Zealand) and Kiwi Kyle Smith, who led for much of IRONMAN New Zealand before fading to 11th during the marathon.
Here’s the full men’s start list:
| Bib Number | First Name | Last Name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Jelle | Geens | BEL |
| M2 | Kristian | Blummenfelt | NOR |
| M3 | Hayden | Wilde | NZL |
| M4 | Jake | Birtwhistle | AUS |
| M5 | Kyle | Smith | NZL |
| M6 | Josh | Ferris | AUS |
| M7 | Henrik | Goesch | FIN |
| M8 | Pierre | Le Corre | FRA |
| M9 | Nicholas | Free | AUS |
| M10 | Kurt | McDonald | AUS |
| M12 | Matt | Burton | AUS |
| M14 | Jarrod | Osborne | AUS |
| M15 | Benjamin | Hill | AUS |
| M16 | Rasmus | Svenningsson | SWE |
| M17 | Mitchell | Kibby | AUS |
| M18 | Jack | Sosinski | AUS |
| M19 | Calvin | Amos | AUS |
| M20 | Roland | Crantock | AUS |
| M21 | Trent | Thorpe | NZL |
| M22 | Jye | Spriggs | AUS |
| M24 | Thomas | Page | AUS |
| M25 | Brodie | Talbot | AUS |
| M26 | Cyrill | Knechtle | CHE |
| M27 | Florin | Parfuss | CHE |
| M28 | Nathan | Josefski | AUS |
| M29 | Tristan | Price | AUS |
| M30 | Oliver | Terry | AUS |
| M31 | Kyle | Tremayne | AUS |
| M32 | Noah | Tonkin | AUS |
| M33 | Loïc | Draoulec | AUS |
| M34 | Dylan | Clough | AUS |
| M35 | Sebastian | Asher | AUS |
| M36 | Charlie | Stern | AUS |
Matthews Highlights the Women’s Field
Photo: Korupt Vision for Ironman
Assuming Great Britain’s Kat Matthews has recovered from her impressive win at IRONMAN New Zealand, she will arrive in Geelong as the prohibitive favourite to take the women’s race. Matthews is the only woman to have won the IRONMAN Pro Series, and has excelled at T100-, 70.3- and IRONMAN-distance races over the last few years. When you take out her two DNFs at Kona in 2023 and last year’s 70.3 worlds in Marbella, the last time Matthews didn’t end up on the podium at an IRONMAN race she started was in 2021, and that was when she took fourth at the 70.3 worlds.
Matthews is looking to set up her pro series title defence in style with a couple of early wins, and her performance in New Zealand certainly implies that she’s ready to complete the double in Geelong. That doesn’t mean the rest of the field will be willing to hand her the race, but unless Matthews ends up struggling, it’s hard to see anyone in the field who could push the British star to the limit.
Canadian Tamara Jewett was also in New Zealand and put together an incredible 2:42 marathon split to run her way to fourth and started her season off with a solid win at Challenge Wanaka. Jewett will certainly keep Matthews honest, and could be a threat for the win if she can come off the bike close enough to use her prodigious run talent to challenge Matthews. (That said, Matthews is one of the fastest runners in the sport, too.)
Another to add to the conversation is Australia’s Grace Thek, who won this race in 2023 and has finished on the podium in all eight previous appearances. Others who could contend for the podium include Aussies Milan Agnew and Penny Slater, American Gabrielle Lumkes and Switzerland’s Nina Derron. Another who we could potentially add to that list is Great Britain’s Stephanie Clutterbuck, but that will depend on if she can continue to get her Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) under control (she was forced to pull out of IRONMAN New Zealand).
Here’s the full women’s pro field:
| Bib | First Name | Last Name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Kat | Matthews | GBR |
| F2 | Tamara | Jewett | CAN |
| F3 | Grace | Thek | AUS |
| F4 | Milan | Agnew | AUS |
| F6 | Gabrielle | Lumkes | USA |
| F7 | Penny | Slater | AUS |
| F9 | Skye | Wallace | AUS |
| F10 | Megan | Armitage | IRL |
| F11 | Steph | Clutterbuck | GBR |
| F12 | Rhianne | Hughes | GBR |
| F14 | Jasmine | Brown | AUS |
| F15 | Paige | Cranage | AUS |
| F16 | Sina | Ziegler | CHE |
| F17 | Charlotte | McShane | AUS |
| F18 | Rachael | McCarthy | AUS |
| F20 | Sophia | Green | GBR |
| F21 | Alexia | Bailly | FRA |
| F22 | Danielle | Donaldson | NZL |
| F23 | Sian | Munks | AUS |
| F24 | Marta | Menditto | ITA |
| F25 | Laura | Gillard | AUS |
How to Watch
The race will be broadcast live on the IRONMAN YouTube Channel. You can find other regional coverage options here. The race starts at 7:30 am local time, which is 8:30 pm GMT and 3:30 pm EDT.
Prize Money and Qualifying Slots
The race features a US$50,000 prize purse, 2,500 IRONMAN Pro Series points and three slots per gender for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France on September 12 and 13.