Loevseth and Blummenfelt, then.
Iden and blum announced today
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A ânew styleâ start list published by IRONMAN for Taupo next weekend (for action by Pros):
Blummenfelt not listed.
Great and comprehensive insights into all the organisation involved, behind the scene.
Actual start list, usefully with KQ shown (4MPRO/4WPRO available).
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Blue is M2 on every list I can see? Am I missing something?
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defending champ gets #1, Blu the next best number
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I though Trevor was racing Texas and not IMNZâŚwhat happened here
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Assume both; like Blummenfelt and Matthews (and maybe Jewett, McCauley and Stage Nielsen).
Edit: Here are the Geelong start lists:
Includes Matthews, Jewett, Thek, Slater, Hollioake, Agnew
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Thorsten has superbly distilled all you need to know for Taupo, with his âseedingsâ being a bonus. Posted this for @Jackets 'cos he has previously been surprised/confused by the pesky time zone - day âissueâ. Get a beer or three in.
https://youtu.be/bAoly7Q9QuQ?
trirating estimates
trirating insta
Preview for @ironmannz in TaupĹ 
â kicking off the 2026 long-distance season in style!
Start Times (Saturday, March 7th):
7:45am â Male Pros
7:50am â Female Pros
8:00am â Age Groupers
Please note that New Zealand is ahead of most time zones â that means the race starts Friday around noon in the US 
and Friday evening in Europe 
.
Live Broadcast: On IRONMAN channels (YouTube globally available for 2026 season)
(Added: https://youtu.be/bAoly7Q9QuQ?si=QJDEA0sLUXiLEAY0 )
Total Prize Purse: US$125,000 â $18,000 for each winner 
Kona 2026 Slots: 4 men / 4 women
(Pre-qualified athletes @lotte_wilms @danilewistri @rasmusstri wonât count toward the slots, nor will âAuto Qualifiedâ @kristianblu who has to validate.)
IM Series Points: 5,000 for the winners, then one point less for every second behind 
IM New Zealand is the first event of the 2026 Pro Series 
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The new bike course is slower, though that may not make much difference to the realised times in the mens race given the field strength.
Iâll be very surprised if Kat is anywhere close to the 8.25 Thorsten is predicting.
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Loevseth has shared her 2026 race calendar
Loevseth will race Knibb and Matthews in Texas and one assumes sheâll be up against Philipp in Hamburg (with the latter going on to Roth a month later (to race Matthews)).
How great we get to see the top Pros racing one another!
Only missing athlete in the âtop sixâ is LCB (rehab) who typically (post-pandemic) reserves her full distance racing for Kona. Hope she recovers from her surgery snappily and successfully and gets validation done. If she can get back to her 2025 running form and then manage to extend that to 20+ miles, sheâll be difficult to beat in October.
Why is the bike course slower? Isnât it normally a two lap course?
Might i observe that Thorsten has Blummenfelt on 7:36. Matthews would expect to be withing 50 mins of him, ceteris paribus. Would you be âvery surprisedâ if he achieves 7:36 8:36?
Adams has the fastest WPro time of 8:36. If Matthews can put together 55/4:40/2:50 thatâd be close to 8:25 plus transition time. Whether putting that much into a early race is advised is a balance between restraint (and its benefits or not) and effect on competitive psyche. I recall I was under-impressed by Sodaro banging in a 2:49 this time two years ago, for no obvious benefit (off a slower bike thoâ).
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I dont follow the pros socials much anymore, but did I read that LCB has some type of achilles issue? Has she rested or had surgery on the issue recently?
No need for âsocialsâ old chap. Right here on vibrant Slowtwitch.
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Thanks, I wonder for an athlete whoâs been a bit injury riddled, when will it truly start having an impact on her world class results. But of course kinda reminds me of AB; rumors of not running with X injury, show up and blow everyone away while telling everyone âoh I just started running a week agoâ. It took what that epicly awesome 70.3 worlds down in SA with him and Gomez and Frodo to really have an impact on his highest run ability, which sorta forced him to non-draft only; with a very short comeback attempt for Tokyo; which failed. But he was still able to manage it fairly well at the marathon distance (obviously less highest intensity running for that training vs itu) Now of course, LCB wonât ever be that colorful with the post race remarks and digs at her opponents. But I do wonder for highest level athletes how many times you can comeback from injury and sustain your ability. Everyone obviously wants everyone to be at their best, and having LCB at the best in our sport only makes it better.
Apart from LCB, interested to see where Derron would be at to get her Kona slot! And would be nice to see Chelsea back in top form somewhere !!
Since 1999 it has been two laps of out and back on one road. This year it changes to the course used for the 70.3WC which heads out on another road. This adds elevation to the course and some very heavy chip seal. The return leg is the same as always.
Not surprised if 7.36 happens as Phillips did 7.45 last year and Blu can run faster. The depth of the mens field could cancel the slower course. So IMO 7.36 isnât super likely, but wouldnât be surprising given a number of factors.
On the ladies side itâs different. When Teresa rode 4.36 she had time for a cup of tea and a lie down before anyone else hit T2. It would be silly for Kat to unleash a max pace run if she has a lead like that off the bike. I doubt that weâll see times much under 4.50 on the bike, which then has flow on effects for the overall.
The same argument should be made for blu, why would he go flat out?
The slower course has similar impact on both genders I would say and kat likely wonât be alone on the bike.
[Ack off topic] Your implication is right: thereâs a âTop 7â: I should have included Derron in the top tier, at least in terms of potential. Her robustness and consistency in T100s and her IM Vitoria 8:22 time means she will be a full distance force this year and for years to come. I speculate that Derron plans to race all 5 (4+1) T100s so after Gold Coast she has Pamplona in late May.
I deliberately relegated Sodaro from a notional premier league. She has every opportunity this year to race a competitive full distance to validate her KQ: I think she has to do that to gain promotion. Her only half decent result since her unexpected win in 2022 was in Nice, three miles behind Philipp. Suggest a reasonable estimate is that she would have finished #5 behind LCB and Haug if the DNS/inner tube tendons/fairies had behaved otherwise.
out of interest how many people did actually complete the full pro series last year ie 5 races. I saw sevensk , I think, did 4 races and Phillipp 3 races and they are placed reasonably well with that, I would imagine very few athletes actually did 2 worlds and and 1 70.3 and 2 fulls.
Looking at 2025 WPro only, 9 out of the top 10 raced 3+2. Only Berry (who finished #9) raced less. Given that #11-#15 only pays $8000, the fact that top athlete who race three or four IM Series events reasonably well can earn some pocket money is âby the wayâ.
I suggest thereâs a mild incentive for âtop 30â athletes to prefer IM Pro Series races (prize purse $$) but only becomes significant if they commit to a race calendar with, at minimum, one full and two 70.3s in addition to both champs.
If they donât want to do that then Iâd hope that those top athletes, rather than ducking competition, would anyway go and get qualification for Kona at an IM Pro Series event because then they can compete with the rest of the best, rather than a silver tier IM (no names, no pack drill). Are they not competitors?
If they did, and Iâll use Knibb as example (Oceanside, Texas, Nice and Kona), but applies to Philipp (Aix, Hamburg, Nice and Kona), Derron (Hamburg, Swansea, Nice, Kona) and LCB (Elsinore, IMLP, Nice, Kona) too, theyâd score in four events and (estimate) score 15,500 and that would make #5 (last year) earning $50k.
sanchez 3 ( dnf Kona , no 70.3 worlds )
clavel 5 races ( 2 worlds but only anohter 1 ironman )
sevensk 4 had planned to do the series 2 worlds but dnf Hamburg after bike .
Phillipp 2 races
grasboll 3 races 2 worlds
jendryschik 5 race ( 1 world kona and another IM
Willms 3 races inc kona
alberts 4 inc kona
Jewett 3 inc kona
gueber 4 races inc kona
so 10 out 20 did the series but but from but very very few did the series for max points ie 2 worlds 2 Im 1 70.3.
its interesting people tell me the series works but what I see does not indicate that and likely outside the top 10 its a loss maker to pursue fully. and real money it makes like for the top 5 ?
I wonder does any athelte have a top 5 series bonus from sponsors in their contract ( I suspect not ) given that 3rd place female did not go to awards, I would assume neither had 3rd female as no sponsor cared to have a podium pic.
the halo 200k is obviously intersting but as a series it seems to fail. or you could say it does well as people speak quite a bit about it but it really does not move the needle for most athletes
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