T100 Champ Marten Van Riel Sets His Sights on IRONMAN

Triathlon Forum
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Originally published at: T100 Champ Marten Van Riel Sets His Sights on IRONMAN - Slowtwitch News

There’s no-doubt that the T100 Triathlon World Tour has added a lot of money to pro triathletes’ coffers (or, at least, the lucky 20 or so who have been able to compete). It is interesting, though, that even the top athletes from the series are still looking to keep the door open to be able to compete at IRONMAN races. Certainly the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), the folks behind the series, have been open to athletes competing at other races. It still has to smart for the PTO, though, that just a week after being crowned world champion at the T100 finale in Dubai, Belgium’s Marten Van Riel is on his way to race in Cozumel.

Van Riel will be competing in his first full-distance race. It would be silly to count him out. He’s only “lost” one long-distance race in his career – his runner-up finish to Jelle Geens at T100 Lake Las Vegas. In addition to his other T100 wins (San Francisco, Ibiza and Dubai), Van Riel won IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen in 2019, Ironman Dubai in 2022 and 2023, and also won Ironman 70.3 Fortaleza last year.

Van Riel is looking to earn himself a slot for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice next year. By nailing the spot this weekend, he’ll be able to grab that T100 contract and race that series without having to try and fit in an IRONMAN race along the way.

Of course we all know that there’s no guarantees with any IRONMAN race, let alone a first, but Van Riel won’t exactly have to rip things apart to get himself to Nice next September. As the Latin American Championship, the race offers five pro men’s and women’s spots for the 2025 world champs. And, while he’ll be taking on some seasoned IRONMAN types, including defending champion Leon Chevalier (FRA), who took fourth in Kona last month, American Chris Leiferman and Australian cyclist/ pro triathlete Cam Wurf, as long as Van Riel can remain patient and not push too hard too soon, one would think a top-five finish is quite realistic.

Kona for Knibb?

Women’s T100 world champ Taylor Knibb will be going after her third straight IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo next month. The American has long had a “do it all” approach to her racing – she followed her Olympic-qualifying race at the Paris Test Event in 2023 with her second 70.3 world title and then her first IRONMAN in Kona, where she finished fourth. In Kona last year she made it abundantly clear that the goal was to get experience on the course in order to come back in 2025 and go after the win.

There’s no arguing that the T100 racing this year has offered some big names, lots of prize money and very expensive live coverage. The organization has been outspending its incoming revenue at an alarming rate. Which is why one would imagine, at some point, we’ll see the PTO try to put some pressure on athletes to race exclusively at their events. Especially if the first thing its world champions are doing after they win the titles is to get ready for an IRONMAN World Championship.

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I could sense some T100 media coaching in the background in the way athletes talked about their race in Dubai. Who follows up on winning Kona with going to race Cozumel? You’re the champ, you’ve got nothing left to prove. It kind of highlights the reality that the T100 doesn’t have the prestige yet, if right after winning it you go race another race with a lesser field.

We didn’t exactly have Taylor Knibb say, “Now that I’ve wrapped up the T100, I’m going to get ready to defend my title in Taupo”. It’s not so Grand and not so Final, if after racing in it, you immediately train for another race a couple weeks later.

But back to Taylor, I wonder what she’ll end up doing. I can see her making Kona and the IM series her focus next year. But it would be a mistake to leave the T100 money on the table if they aren’t insisting on exclusivity. Take the contract. Try to live up to it, and if something goes wrong with pursuing her 2025 IM schedule she’ll still be able to race the T100s.

But truth be told the T100 courses are for the most part pretty lack luster. Yes, Taylor can win them, but I have to think she’s chomping at the bit to really be able to settle in for a few hours with minimal turns and loops and just let her bike do the talking.

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Listen to her next day interview. She discusses how she is really looking forward to T100 next year because other athletes are “coming”. She specifically mentioned Duffy who got 4th this year coming off an Olympic focus. Spivey and Derron did pretty well! Also coming off Olympic focus.

I am pretty sure GTB is stepping away from Tri next season (unless next weeks 70.3 relights the fire in her belly). But she would be an exciting addition to the rosta.

Women’s racing is getting pretty exciting as the depth of MD increases and the pointy end gets closer.

I am not convinced she will be in LA or even go back to ITU.

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We’ll see.

If I’m Taylor I’m taking that contact. And I’m putting my focus on Ironman and doing what I can to fulfill that contract while prioritizing winning Kona.

I agree she’s likely done with the Olympics.

Is it possible to use T100s as training days in her bid towards Kona?

Here’s a few insights I’ve gained from watching or listening to Taylor:

She doesn’t like crowds in racing, swimming, biking, press conferences, airports etc.
She doesn’t like traveling particularly flying - would rather even drive to Vegas than fly from Colorado.
She is annoyed with boring looped, technical courses.
She’s annoyed with poorly considered questions.
She’s sensitive to what other people say or think about her (doesn’t want YouTube videos, noticed that no one said her name on a press conference about preferred winners, doesn’t want the camera on her backside during a race).
She’s risk averse - interestingly despite her fastest bike split at 70.3 worlds STG she was 2-3mph slower over the big dowhill split before the bike finish than everyone behind her in the top 11 save Tamara Jewett.
She’s secretive about her training, watts, private life.
She sees Kona and Ironman as the soul of the sport.
She’s motivated by money more than winning most races (IMWC and Olympics maybe exceptions) - she was willing to travel last minute to Miami to race if the PTO paid, and she said she was happy to lose to Julie as long as she won the T100 series bonus.
She’s very detail oriented and enjoys the process of planning and checklists.

Make no mistake, none of those are critiques, but even the poop incident shows in the heat of the moment of possibly losing a race and title she’s thinking about where the camera is looking during an awkward moment. Fair enough and I’m not saying she’s ashamed, but the spotlight being on her body was uncomfortable, where a different approach could have a person saying “I was giving everything I got and my body was starting to shut down, that’s life and shows how hard I went” - particularly in the somewhat recent posts about pictures (PTO ones as it happens) of Emma Pallant Browne menstrual staining in a race being praised as positive and completely natural.

So I take all that and I see her taking the money, but the travel, the risk that comes with possibily increasingly technical courses in a misplaced attempt by T100 to make their races more “exciting” would put T100 on the back burner; the attention of the necessary PTO hype machine are all negatives.

If T100 tries to lock the racers in, unless they pay her a massive amount the negatives in the T100 column really stack up.

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I have thoroughly enjoyed the T100 racing and its excellent coverage, and I hope it continues for years to come. However, I remain mindful that many series have come and gone over the years. As difficult as it may be for some of us to accept, Ironman stands larger than triathlon itself, with its unmatched branding power, global presence, and widespread recognition—even among non-athletes. Ironman is to triathlon what the NFL is to football: not the entirety of the sport, but unquestionably its most prominent and celebrated representation.

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The T100 Grand Final had stronger fields than Kona/Nice for both sexes. They are doing just fine.

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That has to be the most US centric analogy I have ever heard :wink:

But outside the US and maybe Canada NFL is non-existent.

Triathlon is different because is a global sport, IM is the most famous brand in triathlon, however there is definitely a niche beyond IM and I think T100 is doing just fine filling the gap. Lots of SC athletes want to get a bit more exposure by doing mid distance and T100 is providing a good platform. In Europe Challenge and IM 70.3 also do well.

Van Riel is simply expanding his horizons. He has seem how easily he has destroyed all the IM focused athletes and wants to try to his hand in the full distance same way Blu and Iden did for a bit. But I don’t think he will be out of T100 and fully focus in IM.

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Such a hindsight take .

If laidlow , blu, Magnus ( no bike issue) and other kona guys did the t100 final in place of kona they would be highly favoured to be in the top 3.

People are so weird Jan said during the broadcast “ bogen was 70.3 champ but maybe not vs such a great field like the in the t100. He was riding and run away from the exact same guys at 70.3 funk and Matis. “ so then since the same tree were in the front and the same 3 finished the same as 70.3 worlds and Sam long in both events was 10 th.

Can’t we say last years 70.3 worlds men’s race was just as solid a field as the t100 grand final. ( it’s just “ you ( people)” didn’t know their names yet .

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The CFL would like a word.

(I’m just messing - the NFL has a following here, but CFL viewership is higher. They’d just need to move the Bills to Toronto and then we’re all set)

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The reality is that it is a hard to compare the strength of the fields across different distances, but I’d even say most of the T100 races had stronger fields than the Ironman world championships.

You have examples both ways of athletes that did quite well in one while getting handily beat in the other. Von Berg, Chevalier, Barnaby were some of the strongest of the field in Kona but for the most part didn’t touch being competitive in T100. So that makes the Kona field look kinda weak. Same with Pierre, Sanchez and Sodaro in Nice. Philipp crushed the field but didn’t really ever contend for a T100 win. Nice was relatively weak?

I’m sure someone can chime in with the examples the other way and prove my point.

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T100 is doing fine as long as someone keeps signing the checks… The PTO and T100 have been a game-changer for professional triathletes and triathlon enthusiasts. They provide a platform for the world’s best athletes to compete with higher prize purses, better visibility, and innovative race formats. However, the T100 model has yet to prove its financial sustainability, as similar attempts in the past have struggled to generate significant revenue. Despite these challenges, I hope the PTO succeeds because I thoroughly enjoy watching these races. However, outside of the triathlon world, awareness of the PTO and T100 is nonexistent, which limits their commercial potential.

On the other hand, the Ironman brand finances its professional races largely through sponsorship and marketing revenue due to global reach, entry-fee from age-group athletes, volunteers, and financial support from local government. For Ironman, pro racing is just marketing expense, as its core business remains focused on age-group participation and the lifestyle it promotes.

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well can compare the strength of field between pto and ironman 70,3
and every pto race had and strenght score above 70.3 and i would say roughly an average of 94 is
the only 70,3 race that crossed the 90 scale was the the male race in mallorca and ocanside females was close with 89
and the ironmman average is likely more like 84
iam sure the 70.3 worlds will break in the pto domination but it cetainly wont be a 98 score like dubai .

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Yeah, not much of a discussion there. 70.3 is clearly second tier now with T100. 70.3 world championships this year will be on par with a T100 probably (still no start list).

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I estimate the 70.3WC SOF will be >97 (women) though besides Knibb Gentle Derron and Matthews not sure who #5 ranked will be: may be as low as Pohle on 90. [T100GF Dubai - 98.5]
Not clear who of the qualified men will actually race, but Van Riel has no plans to (after IM Cozumel). So maybe Smith, Noodt, Margirier, Bogen Geens top ranked 5, in which case <94. [T100GF Dubai - 96.7]

“the PTO . . .have been open to athletes competing at other races. It still has to smart for the PTO, though, that just a week after being crowned world champion at the T100 finale in Dubai, Belgium’s Marten Van Riel is on his way to race in Cozumel.”
Why will it “smart”? What, pray, would you want messrs Van Riel and Knibb to do till the first T100 of 2025 in April (Singapore)? Go into purdah?
You seem to be advocating monotheism.

“the T100 racing this year has offered some big names, lots of prize money and very expensive live coverage. . . . Which is why one would imagine, at some point, we’ll see the PTO try to put some pressure on athletes to race exclusively at their events.”

  • You are letting your imagination run away with you @Ironmandad or just being controversial to encourage engagement/discussion (which is fine).
  • The T100 reputation is enhanced by having the athletes racing the T100 Tour go for IMWC as well: their wish to avoid “exclusivity” has been specifically stated and reiterated (eg Renouf).
  • Athletes will have to weigh up their objectives: I expect Knibb, Matthews, Philipp to race both T100 and IMWC in 2025 with success. Not sure how LCB is going to skin that fragile cat: she will be torn between one or the other, or like this year succumb to ‘both’ (and fail both).

“Especially if the first thing its world champions are doing after they win the titles is to get ready for an IRONMAN World Championship.”

  • They each achieved their primary objective for 2024 (well Knibb hoped for an indiv Olympic medal but a real stretch target).
  • Knibb’s #2 objective (#3 if you add in SC) is Taupo. This will be at zero cost to Knibb being entirely ready for the T100 Tour in 2025.
  • By racing Cozumel I’d assess that Van Riel is actually prioritising T100 next year, avoiding having to race full distance till September in Nice (with an Ibiza warm down 15 days later).

This ^^ but time divided: race T100s, insert a qualifying IM, miss Ibiza (cos heat acclimatisation), Kona, LLV a fortnight later. Full focus on T100 GF and bin Marbella.

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You can’t compare different distances. leon, RVB and Lange have never had the top power and surges to deal with 70.3 or T100.

The same guys that were in front of 70.3 worlds off the bike and overall are the same as T100 grand final.

Of course other 70,3 fields will be weaker? less prize purse , more racers, and travel and to many races for the best to all attend every race. hence the whole premise of T100 is to snag the top 20 guys yet we see the same order in 1-15 in both races, just more guys 15-40 after them.

Just pointing out worlds 703. is still the best 10 in the world. the winner is still world class.

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Several years back, I remember the “Frodeno tour” where he made a point - post a disappointing Kona - going to race each of his key rivals in their home city/race. It was already notorious back then that there wasn’t one IM/half IM where all the big names would meet before Kona. That season Jan made IM races more interesting; unfortunate ending for him though.

Non WC IM races rarely gather more than a handful of top pros.

T100 brings big names every single time. The fact that one has to argue the relative competitiveness is incredible. IM pro series is a great way for MOP/BOP pros to make some money.

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I’d be curious as to what PTO’s policy on contracts would be - are they all the same in terms of required number of appearances, or can some of the stars play fast and loose with the next contract.

Provoking question: If Knibb wants to also do Kona but the standard contract is for 7 races and so one would jeopardize the other, could she not press for 6? Especially if the scoring format ends up being top 5+GF.

There’s probably few stars for whom PTO might cave, but she’d be top of the list. Maybe it doesn’t happen this year, but I can see a world where one of the top stars decides they want to pick and choose, and then PTO has to then figure out if they want to play ball.

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In 2024 the contract was ‘race a minimum of 5 + GF (3+GF for Olympians)’, reduced to 4+GF. Contract value was paid x% at the start, y% each race and z% at end once contract fulfilled (x + 5y + z).
Aiui (I think I heard this on PTN) the contract for 2025 looks to be the same (obv) but x, y and z are different, Also, and critically, the minimum number of races will also be the number to score ( + obligatory GF) so this will deter misses and encourage full participation as otherwise an athlete’s tour result bonus will take a significant hit.
So I guess if Knibb (or another top 3 athlete) asks along your lines I’d expect the PTO to say: sign, crack on and if you don’t complete the minimum number, then “We’ll see” but your total points will take a hit. Of course if Knibb goes 35 35 35 then maybe that won’t matter to her. If she wants to race Kona she has to KQ somewhere.
As an aside it’ll be interesting to see which Ironman Knibb chooses to get a KQ: Texas (26 April) is too soon after Singapore (or maybe not if just jog round to snag one of the 5 x WPRO KQs). She won’t want to risk leaving it too late (and IMLP is ‘late’) in case of a ‘fail’. There is a burst of three T100 races in 28 days mid May - mid June: Cote d’Azur, San Francisco, Vancouver: really has to be before then or after (could miss London). Last KQ IM is Sweden on 16 August.

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if she wins 70.3 WC can she do 2x70.3 to qualify ?

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Not in 2025… that option is not being offered.

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