Illustration: IRONMAN
While the Challenge Roth field promises to be quite something, the event’s big rival race the IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt promises to be a barnburner, too. After the women’s pro event in Hamburg, Frankfurt serves as the men’s only race this year and will feature a huge field of roughly 70 athletes.
Leading the way is reigning IRONMAN world champion, Norway’s Casper Stornes, who has a pair of third-place finishes so far this year at IRONMAN Pro Series races at Oceanside 70.3 and IRONMAN Texas. He’ll take on countryman Gustav Iden, the 2022 IRONMAN world champion and two-time 70.3 world champ who took second to Stornes in Nice last year and finished eighth in Texas earlier this year. Those two will face some stiff competition from Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev, who was forced to pull out of the Texas race due to illness. Ditlev will no-doubt be looking for redemption after a tough day in Frankfurt last year where he was given a red-card penalty (disqualification) on the run course that was later overturned and he would eventually finish eighth.
Some other men expected to compete for the podium and/ or win include France’s Vincent Luis, who made his debut at the full-distance last year in Roth, where he finished fourth, and is coming off a solid performance in Texas where he finished fourth, too. South Africa’s Jamie Riddle hammered through the early stages of IRONMAN South Africa before things unravelled on the run, so he’ll be expected to be a factor at the front of the race early on. Kieran Lindars had a breakthrough runner-up finish in Frankfurt two years ago, so knows what is required for a good day. Canadian Brock Hoel, who took sixth in Texas, is also back in the hunt for more pro series points.
There’s also a huge German contingent on hand including Jonas Hoffman, who was fifth last year, along with Finn Große-Freese, Wilhelm Hirsch, Jan Stratmann, Florian Angert and Paul Schuster.
The race offers US$87,500 in prize money and six qualifying spots for the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona. Here’s the full pro start list:
| # | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| M1 | Casper Stornes | Norway |
| M2 | Gustav Iden | Norway |
| M3 | Magnus Ditlev | Denmark |
| M4 | Jamie Riddle | South Africa |
| M5 | Finn Große-Freese | Germany |
| M6 | Vincent Luis | France |
| M7 | Jonas Hoffmann | Germany |
| M8 | Kieran Lindars | Great Britain |
| M9 | Nathan Guerbeur | France |
| M10 | Henrik Goesch | Finland |
| M11 | Brock Hoel | Canada |
| M12 | Paul Schuster | Germany |
| M13 | Dylan Magnien | France |
| M14 | Jon Saeveras Breivold | Norway |
| M15 | Cameron Wurf | Australia |
| M16 | Wilhelm Hirsch | Germany |
| M17 | Antonio Benito Lopes | Spain |
| M18 | Joe Skipper | Great Britain |
| M19 | Kacper Stepniak | Poland |
| M20 | Gregory Barnaby | Italy |
| M21 | Mattia Ceccarelli | Italy |
| M22 | Kyle Smith | New Zealand |
| M23 | Jan Stratmann | Germany |
| M24 | Leon Chevalier | France |
| M25 | Michele Bortolamedi | Italy |
| M26 | Pieter Heemeryck | Belgium |
| M28 | Florian Angert | Germany |
| M29 | Michael Weiss | Austria |
| M30 | Robert Wilkowiecki | Poland |
| M31 | Michiel Stockman | Belgium |
| M32 | Maximilian Sperl | Germany |
| M33 | Valentin Rouvier | France |
| M34 | Yvan Jarrige | France |
| M35 | Quentin Barreau | France |
| M36 | Andrea Salvisberg | Switzerland |
| M37 | Nick Emde | Germany |
| M38 | Lukas Stahl | Germany |
| M39 | Sven Thalmann | Switzerland |
| M40 | Ruben Zepuntke | Germany |
| M41 | Mathias Lyngsø Petersen | Denmark |
| M42 | Chris Beckmans | Australia |
| M43 | Kristian Grue | Norway |
| M44 | William Mennesson | France |
| M45 | Piotr Lawicki | Poland |
| M46 | Michele Sarzilla | Italy |
| M47 | Pamphiel Pareyn | Belgium |
| M48 | Vincent Größer | Germany |
| M49 | Marc Eggeling | Germany |
| M50 | Robbie Deckard | United States |
| M51 | Fabian Dutli | Switzerland |
| M52 | João Ferreira | Portugal |
| M53 | Niek Heldoorn | Netherlands |
| M54 | Mathieu Merland | France |
| M55 | Dries Matthys | Belgium |
| M56 | Maxence Castel | France |
| M57 | Elliot Bach | United States |
| M58 | Zoran Nikolics | Hungary |
| M59 | Thomas Bosch | Germany |
| M60 | Florian Kandutsch | Austria |
| M61 | Dylan Thissen | Netherlands |
| M62 | Julian Becker | Germany |
| M63 | Pascal Tischler | Germany |
| M64 | Brecht Van Vooren | Belgium |
| M65 | Sander Heemeryck | Belgium |
| M66 | Louis Heukemes | Belgium |
| M67 | Raphael Junghans | Germany |
| M68 | Andrzej Michalski | Poland |
| M69 | Mikel Txopitea | Spain |
| M70 | Michael Wegricht | Germany |
| M71 | Eyal Weinstein | Israel |
Lahna Launches Triathlon Across America
Photo courtesy Mohamed Lahna
Two-time Paralympic medalist (bronze representing Morocco in 2016, and silver representing the USA in 2024) Mohamed Lahna will start a cross-country triathlon tomorrow, beginning with a 28.5-mile swim around Manhattan Island, followed by a 3,000-mile bike ride from New York City to Las Vegas that will included over 100,000 feet of elevation gain. Once he’s through all of that, he’ll finish off with a 350-mile run from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The goal is to raise US$250,000 for charity – specifically the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Save the Children.
Lahna’s journey to sports has been an interesting one. He was born with a proximal femoral focal deficiency, a rare congenital condition that left him without a right femur. As a child he was told he would never live independently. He didn’t get his first functional prosthesis for his leg until he was 20. He wasn’t on a bicycle until he was 25. A year after that he would cross Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and he would run his first marathon at 27.
He would go on to compete at three Paralympics and finish on the podium at more than 30 World Paratriathlon events.
“This challenge represents a monumental undertaking, the size and impact of which is commensurate with the immense heart, courage and sheer iron will that World Triathlon Para athletes display week in, week out, on and off the blue carpet. The swim-bike-run across America will put our ever-growing Paralympic sport and its superb athletes even further into the spotlight, inspiring and motivating in equal measure all who it touches,” said Antonio F Arimany, World Triathlon President.
Photo courtesy Mohamed Lahna
You can contribute to the campaign and follow Lahna’s progress here.
IRONMAN Cairns Celebrates 15th anniversary
It’s not part of the IRONMAN Pro Series this year, but there is still U$100,000 up for grabs at IRONMAN Cairns on Sunday. The 15th anniversary race’s men’s field includes Matt Burton, the only returning champion in the field – he won in 2024 just months after suffering a foot infection that almost saw him loose part of his leg. This will be his 11th time competing in the race. The man considered the favourite this weekend is another Western Australian, Nick Thompson, who had a breakthrough 2025 that included a seventh-place finish at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and a fourth-place finish in the IRONMAN Pro Series. Former pro cyclist Ben Hill will likely look to rip things apart on the beautiful Cairns bike course, while Kiwi Jack Moody is expected to be one of the fastest on the run. The two men who finished second and third at IRONMAN Western Australia last year – Aussie Caleb Noble and Japan’s Jumpei Furuya will likely be in the mix, as will American Colin Such and New Zealand’s Ben Hamilton.
In the women’s race, three-time IRONMAN champion Regan Hollioake (Australia and Malaysia in 2024, New Zealand last year) will look for another title, having overcome some health issues “that were holding me up earlier this year” after the Australian started the year off with a fifth-place finish in New Zealand and most recently made the podium at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney. Kiwi Rebecca Clarke will no-doubt be among the swim leaders, while Penny Slater (Australia) will look for another top Cairns finish – she has three fourths and a third in her four appearances. Former pro Australian Rules Football player Kate Gillespie-Jones has also finished in the top-five in Cairns.
There are two pro men’s and two pro women’s qualifying slots for Kona on the line in addition to the impressive prize purse.
| # | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| F1 | Regan Hollioake | Australia |
| F2 | Rebecca Clarke | New Zealand |
| F3 | Penny Slater | Australia |
| F4 | Kate Gillespie-Jones | Australia |
| F5 | Chloe Hartnett | Australia |
| F6 | Danyella Eberle | Australia |
| F7 | Caitlin Davis | Australia |
| F8 | Laura Dennis | Australia |
| F9 | Skye Wallace | Australia |
| F10 | Emily Donker | Australia |
| # | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| M1 | Nick Thompson | Australia |
| M2 | Jack Moody | New Zealand |
| M3 | Caleb Noble | Australia |
| M4 | Colin Szuch | United States |
| M5 | Benjamin Hill | Australia |
| M6 | Jumpei Furuya | Japan |
| M8 | Jarrod Osborne | Australia |
| M9 | Matt Burton | Australia |
| M10 | Jack Sosinski | Australia |
| M11 | Benjamin Hamilton | New Zealand |
| M12 | Kosuke Terasawa | Japan |
| M14 | Patrick Bleasel | Australia |
| M15 | Tristan Price | Australia |
| M16 | Kaito Tohara | Japan |
| M17 | Hamish Longmuir | Australia |
| M18 | Kyle Tremayne | Australia |
| M20 | Rhys Corbishley | Australia |
| M21 | Roland Crantock | Australia |
| M22 | Scott Harpham | New Zealand |
| M23 | Calvin Amos | Australia |
| M24 | Thomas Page | Australia |
| M25 | Nathan Dortmann | Australia |