Originally published at: Kristian Blummenfelt storms to win, course record for second straight year at IRONMAN European Championship - Slowtwitch News
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – JUNE 29: Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway wins the 2025 IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship on June 29, 2025. Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images for IRONMAN
Blummenfelt goes back to back at the IRONMAN European Championship. 2024 winning photo: Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
When Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt toes the start line of an IRONMAN, it’s tough to bet against him, and he showed why that’s the case at the IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship on Sunday. He erased a nine-minute deficit on the run course, moving from eighth to first to steal the win from another Kristian — Denmark’s Kristian Høgenhaug — in an amazing course record time of 7:25:57. Høgenhaug held on for second place, while Blummenfelt’s compatriot, Casper Stornes, produced the best IRONMAN result of his career, rounding out the podium in third.
Høgenhaug Blasts to the Lead
Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg led the men out of the water, exiting the swim course in 47:42. He was followed by a group of seven other men (including Høgenhaug and Stornes), all of whom were within 20 or so seconds of one another. It’s rare for Blummenfelt to be too far back after the swim, but he found himself sitting in 10th as he entered T1 on Sunday, a full minute and a half behind Salvisberg and the other leaders. Germany’s Patrick Lange was right alongside Blummenfelt as they exited the water, while Gustav Iden was another 15 seconds back.
After slower transitions, Stornes and Høgenhaug had faded to 47 and 90 seconds back, and Blummenfelt’s gap to the lead grew to more than two minutes. For the first 20 miles or so on the bike, it was Germany’s Jonas Schomburg leading the way. The German short-course star would be sidelined when his aero bars came off, though.
Stornes and Høgenhaug managed to reel the rest of the leaders in, and after catching them, it was Høgenhaug who set out on his own, flying up the road to take sole control of first place.
Høgenhaug at IRONMAN Hamburg in 2024.
About a quarter of the way into the bike, Høgenhaug had a lead of a minute and a half over Salvisberg, Stornes, and the rest of the chase pack. Blummenfelt found himself in the second group of chasers at that point, four and a half minutes back with Iden, Lange and Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev, among others. Things only continued to get worse for Blummenfelt and co. (and better for Høgenhaug) from that point onward, as the Dane’s lead continued to grow with every passing mile.
By the end of the first of two laps on the bike, Høgenhaug had built a 3:39 buffer over Stornes and the first chase group, while Blummenfelt, Ditlev and Iden were close to five minutes back. (Lange lost touch with that group mid-way through the first lap, and after 56 miles of riding, he found himself almost seven minutes behind the lead.)
Høgenhaug’s continued to grow from there, at one point reaching as much as eight minutes and change over the next-closest racer. By the end of the ride, Blummenfelt and Iden had managed to draw even with most of the rest of the field, but Høgenhaug remained unreachable for the time being. Ditlev had made up only a tiny bit of time in the closing stages of the bike, and he entered T2 7:50 behind his fellow Dane.
A Run for the Ages
A speedy transition gave Høgenhaug even more of a lead as he set out on the marathon course more than nine minutes clear of Ditlev. Stornes was close behind in third place, followed by seven other men (including Blummenfelt and Iden) all within a minute of the podium. It looked like a battle for second and third place, however, as Høgenhaug had built such a significant lead after his fearless riding and 3:52:10 bike split (which was the fastest of the day).
A penalty early in the run for receiving “outside assistance” ate up a minute of Høgenhaug’s lead, but after serving that time, he got back to business, carrying forward along the run course. After about five miles, Ditlev had clawed his way to within five and a half minutes of his compatriot, but it was at this point that a race official pulled up beside him and presented him with a red card, disqualifying him from the race. Ditlev was confused and incensed by this decision, asking the official to explain the reasoning.
Blummenfelt won IRONMAN Texas earlier this year.
Ditlev had reportedly littered outside of an aid station zone, leading to the red card, although he was permitted to keep running while officials confirmed the ruling. Quite a while later, it was announced that Ditlev’s red card was taken back, and he was allowed to finish the race.
After one of four laps on the run course, Høgenhaug’s lead was down to 5:19 over Ditlev, with Blummenfelt and Stornes not far behind. By the end of the second lap, the two Norwegians had passed Ditlev, moving into second and third, but still sitting more than four minutes back of the lead.
With less than a half-marathon to go, Blummenfelt dropped his friend and training partner and charged up the road, first place in his sights. After another lap, he had eaten away at Høgenhaug’s lead, and with only six miles to go, he was less than 90 seconds from the head of the race. From that point on, it was not a question of if Blummenfelt would catch Høgenhaug, but rather when he would.
The pass came just a couple of miles later, at the 21-mile mark. Blummenfelt blew by the Dane, who had put up a valiant effort. Blummenfelt was simply too good, running an unbelievable marathon split of 2:30:59 (in 90-degree heat). This is the fastest marathon of Blummenfelt’s IRONMAN racing career, beating the personal best he set in Frankfurt last year, when he ran 2:32:29. Blummenfelt’s final time was 7:25:57, which shatters his own IRONMAN Frankfurt course record (also from last year) of 7:27:21.
While he did lose a significant lead to Blummenfelt, Høgenhaug was no slouch on the run course. After posting the fastest bike split of the day, he followed it up with a 2:42 marathon to hold on for second place. He crossed the line in a stellar time of 7:28:32, just over a minute ahead of Stornes, who took the third and final spot on the podium.
Iden finished almost eight minutes back of Blummenfelt, crossing the line in fourth place, and Ditlev faded considerably in the back half of the run, dropping to eighth and stopping the clock more than 16 minutes behind the lead.
With his win, Blummenfelt moves up to first place in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings. Cam Wurf, who finished ninth in Frankfurt, climbs to second, and Stornes and Iden both jumped a considerable amount in the ranks, now sitting in third and fourth, respectively. Høgenhaug is now 22nd in the standings, which is a massive jump of 57 places after his solid showing in Germany.
