Big Names Line Up at IRONMAN Lanzarote

Triathlon Forum
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Photo courtesy Club La Santa

It might be the IRONMAN Lanzarote event run by Club La Santa, but that doesn’t mean we’re not in for some fireworks! Long renowned as the world’s toughest IRONMAN event, the race has always managed to attract some of the sport’s biggest names, and this year’s race will continue that trend. In addition to the return of defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay (pictured above winning last year’s race), the 34th edition of the event will also feature three-time Kona champ Patrick Lange and 2023 IRONMAN world champion Sam Laidlow.

“Normal limits do not apply,” was the tag line the race used for many years as it embraced the challenging course that begins with a swim in the Atlantic Ocean off the beach in Puerto del Carmen, then is followed by a challenging bike course that takes athletes through the challenging terrain (and the typically brutal winds) of the island, including climbs up the Fire Mountains in Timanfaya National Park, along with climbs up Mirador de Haria and Mirador del Rio. The day finishes off with a three-loop run along the waterfront’s rolling terrain.

IRONMAN Lanzarote, Club La Santa Part Ways After 34 Years

Women’s Professional Field

Despite having surgery on her leg in January to remove her plantaris tendon, Charles-Barclay will arrive in Lanzarote as the prohibitive favourite, especially after an impressive Olympic-distance win at the Volcano Triathlon, Spain’s oldest triathlon race. Charles-Barclay is sponsored by Club La Santa, so her appearance at the race no-doubt covers sponsorship requirements while also allowing her to validate her Kona slot.

Switzerland’s Nina Derron, Brit Stephanie Clutterbuck and Germany’s Julia Skala (who finished fourth last year before winning Norseman in record time) would normally be names we’d associate with pushing for the win in Lanzarote – but barring an issue with Charles-Barclay, it’s hard to imagine anyone could be close. Last year the Kona and two-time 70.3 world champ had the day’s fastest swim, bike and run.

Bib Athlete Country
F1 Lucy Charles-Barclay GBR
F2 Nina Derron SUI
F3 Nikita Paskiewiez FRA
F4 Stephanie Clutterbuck GBR
F5 Rebecca Anderbury GBR
F6 Julia Skala GER
F7 Molly Savill GBR
F8 Tara Rooney USA
F9 Angela Naeth CAN
F10 Courtney Wevers AUS
F11 Dee Allen GBR
F12 Morena Stevens NLD
F13 Marit Lindemann GER

Men’s Professional Field

Things promise to be much more interesting in the men’s race as France’s Dylan Magnien returns to defend his title, but will now face a pair of world champs who will no-doubt want to make a bit of a statement with a decent performance, rather than just validate their spot for Kona in October. You can add to the world champs another major contender – Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev.

Patrick Lange. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Lange was in great spirits heading into the race in Texas, only to be sidelined by a back issue a few miles into the bike. He had stated that his next big goal would be Challenge Roth, but would still need an IRONMAN finish in order to validate his Kona slot in October. Since his Kona win in 2024 gives him a slot in Kona, the German doesn’t have to win, or even get a top finish, but he’ll no-doubt be after a decent performance in order to arrive in Roth with the confidence he’ll need to take on the likes of Texas champ Kristian Blummenfelt.

Laidlow at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice in 2025. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Laidlow arrives in Lanarote in much the same boat – not needing a win, but in need of a finish to validate his Kona slot. The bike course in Nice is perfectly suited to the Frenchman’s strengths, combining the elevation gain of the Nice course with the winds of Kona – two courses where he’s excelled.

Magnus Ditlev during a training camp in Lanzarote last year. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Ditlev is another super-cyclist we can add to the mix for the Lanzarote race. He was forced to pull out of the Texas race due to sickness. The Dane does need a Kona qualifying slot, so he’ll be gunning after one of the three on offer. He’s no stranger to the island – in fact we caught up with Ditlev last March while he was there for a training camp leading up to his win at IRONMAN South Africa, so if he’s recovered and healthy as he hits the start line in Puerto del Carmen, Ditlev will certainly be a contender for the win. After a tough year that saw him have to deal with a penalty that was later reversed in Frankfurt, and a DNF due to illness in Nice, he bounced back with a sixth-place finish at the 70.3 worlds in Marbella, but will no-doubt be more-than-motivated to get things back on track with a win.

The men’s field includes 33 men, including a couple of Norwegians who could be in the mix. No, not those Norwegians, but a couple of speedsters none-the-less. Jon Breivold finished fourth here last year, while Kristian Grue finally won Norseman in 2025 after a pair of runner-up finishes at that event. France’s Léon Chevalier didn’t have a great 2025 season, but when he’s in good form has proven he can win – he’s a three-time IRONMAN champion and has a pair of top-five finishes at the IRONMAN World Championship to his name.

Another Frenchman to watch for is Arthur Horseau, who won in Lanzarote in 2025 and had a magical comeback to racing with a win in Cozumel last year after back issues sidelined him for so long he had contemplated giving up on the sport.

BIB ATHLETE COUNTRY
M1 Dylan Magnien FRA
M2 Patrick Lange GER
M3 Sam Laidlow FRA
M6 Julian Becker GER
M7 Leon Chevalier FRA
M8 Lukas Stahl GER
M9 Jon Saeveras Breivold NOR
M10 Damien Le Mesnager FRA
M11 Jordi Montraveta Moya ESP
M12 Vincent Größer GER
M13 Michiel Stockman BEL
M14 Alexandre Alvarez ESP
M15 Matthew Ralphs RSA
M16 Pierre Ruffaut FRA
M17 Kristian Grue NOR
M18 Matthew Palmer DEN
M19 Elliot Bach USA
M21 Niek Heldoorn NLD
M22 Tim Gošnjak SLO
M23 Timmo Jeret EST
M24 Lars Lomholt DNK
M25 Timo Schaffeld GER
M26 Victor Alexandre BEL
M27 Jonathan Sanchez Mosquera ESP
M28 Arthur Horseau FRA
M29 Rinel Pius EST
M30 Ludovic Roussel FRA
M31 Damián Martínez Baz ESP
M32 Joren Thys BEL
M33 Dan Elliot GBR

Slowtwitch senior editor Kevin Mackinnon will be in Lanzarote next week, so we’ll have lots more coverage from the race.

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Not mentioned in the article above - IM Lanzarote is on 23rd May.
Good to see LCB racing again after surgery.
Shame we won’t be able to watch - Lanzarote offers great views.
Have to think Hamburg would’ve been so much more fun for everyone, including her, with a race against Loevseth and Philipp; and broadcast.

'Fraid this is not correct wrt Lange. While, as said, Laidlow (2023 IMWC champ) merely needs to validate by finishing (and not getting DQ’d), Lange (2024 IMWC champ) has to earn one of the two MPRO kona slots - the exemption routine was changed and is wasting out.

‘Scenic’ course, from the southeast side of the island.

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it natural that club la Santa being lucy s sponsor will want her racing in the last club la Santa lanza edition.
and yes Lange has to qualify.

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is Ditlev racing? he does not seem to be in the startlist

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As you say, [Ditlev was] not on the start list published yesterday.

I assume this was just a recent Ditlev ‘I’d like to race if I can’ chat and he isn’t ready and pulled his name off the start list last week before publication. Would an athlete choose such a malign race to beast themselves to a relapse? IM Austria beckons.

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I believe Lange needs to Q, not just validate.

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but that article is from 2025, before he went to win in South Africa.

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Well @Ironmandad was just linking to article he wrote 15 months ago. It wasn’t clear to me why either as he’s not on the start list in the article. It’s possible the author and Ditlev met again on the island recently: who knows?
What’s true is that Ditlev “does need a Kona qualifying slot” and that “if he’s recovered and healthy . . . . Ditlev will certainly be a contender for the win” in any full distance race.
What that’s got to do with IM Lanza is flocculent.

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As a follow to all this - I thought I had taken the Ditlev paragraph out of the story - he was on the original start list I was sent, then pulled out, so I tried to delete that section - turns out I forgot to update the Discourse link, so it remained in the Forum version of the story, not on the main page.

I will follow up on the Lange qualification/ validation question at the press conference. Thanks!

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Either there’s been a change or you are not alone being fed duff gen.
Tri247 (byline Matthew Reeder) have got this wrong in their article too:
The race to qualify for Kona: Who’s in, who needs validating, . . .
saying: “Two of the former champions [racing] are Patrick Lange and Sam Laidlow, who both [said] on social media . . that their goal is validation for Kona – athletes with a five-year exemption following their title successes need to complete [an Ironman] to claim their slots.” [This is applicable to Laidlow (2023 winner) but not for Lange (2024 winner, who did not receive a five-year exemption.)
Lange knows the score: "“It’s going to be a tough day out there, but that’s exactly what makes this race so legendary. I’m excited to be back. . . the main goal is to secure my Kona qualification, which is anything but guaranteed. "
OR Ironman are not following their clear policy (scroll down) :

PRO’ ATHLETE QUALIFICATION, EXEMPTIONS & VALIDATION
Mutatis mutandis this policy is the same as last year’s.
Edited for brevity:
“Pro Athletes previously winning an IRONMAN® World Championship and receiving a five-year exemption . . . will continue to receive invitations (the “Five-Year Exemption”):
“The 2021, 2022 and 2023 race winners will be eligible to compete in the 2026 World Champs; conditional successful validation.”
"The 2024 and 2025 winners have had a ‘no validation needed’ invitation to compete in the following year’s World Champs.”

We went through a few years, affected by pandemic disruption, where validation was waived. But Ironman found that ex-winners were taking the piss and not even racing one Ironman, and racing Roth. I surmise that Messick decided that they really really wanted the current champion to race no matter what (after the Laidlow DQ in Vittoria, so invite no validation) but otherwise guys: race an Ironman and earn your KQ.
I commented on the reasons for validation in July 2024:

However before that policy change they had offered winners 2023 and earlier a 5 year exemption and they’ve stood by that. The beneficiaries are Chelsea, LCB, KB, Gustav and Sam (validation required nevertheless).
The Norges have validated (NZ and Texas, and Stornes AQ); LCB and Laidlow to validate in Lanza which just leaves the forlorn Sodaro (NB she left it till the last moment to validate in Sweden last August).

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Ditlev is in Denmark doing testing, so almost certainly not racing IMLZ