Originally published at: Who’s Racing Where in 2025 … Slowtwitch Editors Weigh in on an Interesting Year for the Pros - Slowtwitch News
Kat Matthews (left) will skip the T100 tour next year, while Taylor Knibb will go after another overall title. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
Kevin: With the T100 announcement of its final two contracted athletes (Lucy Chalres-Barclay and Jelle Geens), it might be fun to have a look at what this year’s pro racing landscape looks like. To me it’s ironic that the organization that was started to help IRONMAN professional athletes earn more money (the PTO) has, in many ways, become the next step for draft-legal triathletes after their Olympic careers are over. (Or when they want to take a break from draft-legal.)
To be clear – the PTO’s mandate is certainly working out – the IRONMAN Pro Series has been a resounding success and wouldn’t even exist if the PTO wasn’t there. It does make for some interesting times in the sport. I don’t think it’s a tough argument to make that it’s never been a better time to be a pro triathlete, and things are going to continue on that front through 2025.
How am I doing – any thoughts on that premise, Ryan?
Ryan: I think that’s right, Kevin.
It’s really interesting to think about how we got here – from the kernel of a “pro triathlon union” that was outright rejected by many, to the multiple iterations of the PTO, to where we are today – the PTO, I would argue, puts on at the very least the second largest pro series of events in non-draft triathlon. And you could make a reasonable case to put them ahead of IM in that department, if you were just looking at who is supposed to be at each race and with prize money.
Meanwhile, IRONMAN stepped up with the Pro Series. It helped create some season-long narratives, highlighted some names that may not have been at the forefront of your head, and ultimately handed out a sizable bonus. It also helped that all four IM World Championship races this year were pretty darn compelling to watch.
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
And, of course, Kat Matthews raked it in by doing all of the above.
So – yeah. Time to make hay while the sun shines.
Kevin: So, to get this started, I think we should begin with some of the big names who have chosen not to sign on for the T100 this year. Kat Matthews, Magnus Ditlev, Laura Philipp and Sam Laidlow were all contracted athletes last year and all have chosen not to re-sign for this year.
While it would make sense for the PTO to go after exclusive contracts with the athletes to prevent them from racing at the IRONMAN worlds, therefore adding to the prestige of the T100 series, they’re just not there yet. I wonder, though, if they have tried to be stricter on the contracts this year to ensure that they get more of the biggest names at the biggest races.
Even if that isn’t the case, I think it’s pretty easy to see why those four athletes, in particular, would pass on the guaranteed money of a T100 contract. Matthews and Ditlev were both second at their respective IRONMAN World Championships this year, and are determined to move up a spot in 2025. Philipp won in Nice and would love to add Kona to her resume as well.
Laidlow is in the same boat, but I also feel that the T100 concept really doesn’t work for his style of training and racing. He appears to perform at his best when he focuses on one big race in a season. Talk to any of the athletes who competed at any T100 races last year and they’ll tell you that each race felt like a world championship. I think, in his mind, his best shot at a big day in Nice means he needs to pick and choose his races with the goal of a big peak for the worlds.
We should probably also include Chelsea Sodaro to this list – she isn’t on the T100 contract list and is no-doubt gunning for another big day in Kona this October.
Sam Laidlow wins T100 London. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
It’s also worth noting that these four likely left some major money on the table by passing on the T100 Series. Matthews made US$186,000 in prize money and bonuses from the PTO last year, and that doesn’t count her contract. (She made US$363,000 from IRONMAN, though, and stands to earn a lot more than $186,000 in endorsements if she’s a world champion, I would imagine.)
Ryan: I think you touch on an interesting point – the endorsement side of the sport. It’s ultimately one area where IRONMAN holds the big brass ring for the sport, particularly if you’re trying to convince non-endemic sponsors that you are worth something. Saying you’re an IRONMAN world champion holds more cachet than T100. At least, for now, anyway. And those things take time. So, yes, you’re taking some degree of financial risk of betting on yourself to have that one good day in Nice or Kona – but the reward can be massive.
In terms of other athletes taking that bet: you have the Norwegian duo of Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt also putting their eggs fully in the IM basket.
But in terms of who wound up signing their contracts with T100 – I think there’s really three different buckets of athletes there. First I think are the athletes that are firmly dedicated to T100 and excelling at that series alone. Then there’s a middle bucket of athletes who are going to race the T100 season, but they also have IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3 ambitions. And then there’s the WTCS “graduates,” so to speak.
So, I’ll start with a couple of names that I think belong in that middle bucket. The most obvious of them is Lucy Charles-Barclay. With a women’s Kona year, I find it extremely hard to believe she won’t try to go back and match her 2023 success. The big question mark for her is durability; the last time she raced more than five times in a year is 2019. On the men’s side, Sam Long has been clear that he’s going to make a run at Nice, given he already has qualified for it. I also suspect that inaugural IM Pro Series champion Gregory Barnaby might be the early front-runner for attempting to pull off a Matthews-esque season.
Who else fits neatly into one of these buckets, Kevin?
Make that three (70.3 world titles) in a row for Taylor Knibb. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
Kevin: Well, I’m not sure if I would qualify her as “neatly” fitting into that bucket, but I think you have to add Taylor Knibb to that list. The question is, will she gun for another 70.3 and T100 world title, or possibly add Nice to the list. She raced in Kona in 2023 to give herself some experience on the course with the vision of heading back in 2025. I can imagine she’s already talking to Dan Lorang about going after all three plus another national TT title. (Lorang must have so much fun trying to hold Knibb back from everything she wants to do every year.) Others who neatly fit into that T100/ 70.3 bucket are Ashleigh Gentle, Imogen Simmonds, Ellie Salthouse and Paula Findlay. While both will be after a top T100 finish, you can be sure they’d love another 70.3 worlds podium.
Just to follow up on Barnaby – I think it would be a stretch for him to try and re-do the IRONMAN Pro Series if he’s competing at the T100 races, but we’ll see. The same goes for Sam Long – to me he’d do well to focus on his speed and keep trying to improve his swimming through the T100 races, then head to Nice “relatively” fresh and ready to perform.
In terms of the WTCS “graduates,” you obviously have the likes of Flora Duffy, who I am guessing is steering her focus to non-drafting racing now. One would think she’ll fit in at least one 70.3 to get a qualifying spot for worlds, too. My guess is Julie Derron is going to do the same.
I’ll be interested to see how much Taylor Spivey, Kate Waugh and Jess Learmonth end up focusing on WTCS racing in addition to T100 this year. Spivey and Waugh will be at WTCS Abu Dhabi next month.
Here’s a question for you – where on earth do you place Hayden Wilde on that three-option list. In Taupo he told me he would be focusing on T100 and supertri this year – now I see him listed as one of the highlight athletes for WTCS Abu Dhabi in February! (Likely a move to keep his Bahrain Victorious sponsorship in good stead, but will he do more WTCS races in 2025?) The guy also showed he’s 70.3 world champion material last year, too, so he certainly could add that to his 2025 race calendar, too.
In terms of other men, one would assume that Jelle Geens, Leo Bergere, Vincent Luis and Morgan Pearson will at least be doing the T100/ 70.3 route this year. I also assume that Marten Van Riel will take on some 70.3 races, too. He obviously wanted to get a Nice spot in Cozumel last year, but I am not sure he’ll take on another full distance race until the end of the year.
Jason West. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
With Jason West signing another T100 contract, it will be interesting to see if he does an IRONMAN race this year, or just sticks to some 70.3s to go along with his T100 races.
Ryan: I have to admit, I found it somewhat amusing that it took us almost 1500 words before we even mentioned Van Riel. Guess it goes to show that he’s still flying under our collective radars a bit.
With regard to Wilde, though, he’s (pardon the pun) the biggest wild card of the mix. The guy always races like his hair is on fire. I feel like if someone’s going to try the “I can do anything” approach, he’s most likely to make it work. Well, behind Knibb, I suppose.
But I suppose there’s no better way to wrap this up than this: the athletes that have selected to sign their T100 contracts have given us plenty to talk about. And that’s exactly what the PTO had in mind when they officially formed the organization back in 2015.
Kevin: For sure. I think we’re back where we started – there’s never been a better time to be a pro thanks to both of these series. What I can’t believe is that we managed to get through all this and not put our two cents in on what Lionel Sanders’ race season will look like. He’s just one of a few pros we could have talked about in this story – fodder for another discussion.