All eyes will be on the highly anticipated duel between reigning Olympic champion Alex Yee and reigning world champion Matt Hauser. The pair missed the WTCS opener in Samarkand – Yee was busy pacing some of his countrymen at the London Marathon, while Hauser was competing at T100 Singapore. Last year Hauser continued an old trend of Yokohama winners going on to become world champion, which had been the case every year from 2014 to 2021. Yee was very much focused on marathon running last year, so only competed in a couple of triathlon races – tomorrow’s race will be his first Olympic-distance race in over 18 months.

Some other men to keep an eye on this weekend include last weekend’s Chengdu World Cup champ Luke Willian (AUS), Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo, who is motivated to get a top finish after a disappointing DNF in Samarkand and 2024 Yokohama champ, Morgan Pearson. You can see the full men’s start list here.

Beth Potter arrives in Yokohama as the favourite, having taken three WTCS wins in her last four starts, including in Samarkand. A win in Japan will put Potter in a great position for the world championship title, but she’ll have some tough competition to deal with, including reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch, who crashed in Samarkand and ended up 33rd. The defending Yokohama champ, Jeanne Lehair, is also back to contest for another gold medal. American Gwen Jorgensen has won more titles in Yokohama than any other athlete thanks to her four straight wins from 2011 to 2014. Whether or not Jorgensen will finish as the top American will be interesting to watch – Taylor Spivey has finished fourth in Yokohama three times in the last five years, and hasn’t finished out of the top-10 at the race this decade. Others to keep an eye on include reigning T100 world champion Kate Waugh, and her countrywomen Sian Rainsley and Jess Fullagar, along with France’s Emma Lombardi. The full women’s start list is here.

You can check out all the action on TriathlonLive.tv

In case you’re wondering – this race doesn’t count for LA Olympic qualification – the qualification window opens on May 18.

XTERRA Oak Mountain

This weekend sees the XTERRA North America Championship taking place in Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham, Alabama. XTERRA racing has been taking place at Oak Mountain since 2006. and this weekend’s race also serves as the fourth stop of the 2026 XTERRA World Cup. Today there’s a short track event, while tomorrow’s racing includes a 5 km trail run along with the XTERRA Youth North American Championship and the 2026 USA Triathlon Youth and Junior Cross National Championship.

The official Oak Mountain World Cup page has the start lists and will have results from the weekend’s racing, and we’ll include a pro-race recap in our “We Noticed” column next week.

T100 Championship Confirmed for Lusall, Qatar

The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and Visit Qatar announced that Lusall City will be the host of the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final again this year. The event will also serve as the host of the T100 Age Grouper World Championships. This leaves just one of the nine T100 Tour stops to be finalized – the Saudi Arabia event scheduled for November. Here’s the list of the remaining races on the T100 Triathlon World Tour this year:

• Spain (May 23–24)
• San Francisco (June 6–7)
• Vancouver (August 15–16)
• French Riviera (September 19–20)
• Dubai (November 12–15)
• Saudi Arabia (November)
• Qatar (December 10–12)

Another Sub-2 in Berlin?

Marathon world-record holder Sebastian Sawa will be heading back to Berlin to defend his title in September. (How much more was his appearance fee this year?) Sawa will be just one of the roughly 60,000 athletes from 160 countries expected to compete at the race.

The Kenyan wasn’t ready to commit to another sub-two hour attempt in the press release announcing his participation in the race.

“I am very happy to return to BMW BERLIN-MARATHON this year and to defend my title,” Sawa said. “Many people may be wondering what my goals are this time round. After coming off my win in London and sub-2 performance, I can only say that, like always, I plan to prepare myself to the best of my ability and to come to Berlin to honour this great event and organisation which have invited me, and to run as well and fast as possible.”

The post We Noticed: Hauser and Yee Duel in Japan, XTERRA Oak Mountain Preview and More first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

It isn’t just a large pro field here at the IRONMAN Texas North American Championship – as we’ve been mentioning all week, this field is stacked. (And, if you ask Patrick Lange, it’s the most competitive field ever assembled outside of a world championship!) After the pros had all racked their bikes, we scooted around the transition to do our best to track the bikes, saddles, wheels and aero bars.

Counting gear on bikes that are racked isn’t exactly an easy task, so please forgive the “Unknowns” in my data –

Bike Brands

Well, I certainly didn’t see this one coming – Trek leads the way on the bike brand front with 19 pro bikes here in Texas, with Cervelo a distant second, followed by Quintana Roo.

Bikes — 118 total

Saddles

In terms of saddles, ISM leads the way, with WOVE sitting in second ahead of Bontrager.

Saddles — 118 total

Wheels

DT Swiss leads the way, with a sizeable margin over Hed and Princeton Carbon Works, with CADEX coming oh-so-close to the top-three.

Wheels — 118 total

Aerobars

With what we could see and count. Fast TT led the way, ahead of Profile Design and Drag to Zero and AeroGain

Aero Bars — 118 total

Disclaimer: Due to the nature of not being able to move bikes or remove coverings some items were unknown at the time of the count.

The post What We Saw at The IRONMAN Texas Pro Bike Count first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

I just got back from Oceanside and, let me tell you, Kristian Blummenfelt and Taylor Knibb got all the news headlines at Saturday’s IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside – and rightfully so. Blummenfelt’s 3:40:07 and Knibb’s 4:01:38 were both course records. But, buried in the full results, is a story that rarely gets told, and is a story that rarely is as evident as it was at this weekend’s event.

The bigger conversation that I wanted to talk about was the success of the age group race. According to the results, 3,026 age group athletes toed the line this last Saturday morning. (This is only male and female solo racers in those divisions.) With around an 84% finishing rate, that meant 2,525 finished. While there were 55 Countries represented, nearly 80% of the field was American, and I’m going to guess that a solid chuck of those are from the triathlon hub around the Oceanside area. It was awesome to see such large numbers of excited age groupers and, according to IRONMAN, 1,400 of those were first timers.

So let’s talk about the 126 age groupers that crossed the line ahead of at least one professional athlete.

The Women: Age Groupers

Julia Day (F30-34, USA), the day’s fastest age-group woman, finished in 4:36:49 — ahead of 10 female pros. That’s not a typo. Ten.

The pros she beat included Maia Watson (+0:31), Kelly Barton (+0:48), Ali Brauer (+2:04), Joanna Ryter (+5:48) and six others. That Day’s time would have placed her in the top 50% of the women’s pro field at many IRONMAN 70.3 events around the world.

Some other noticeable athletes were Christina Case, a 45-49 age grouper from the U.S., who finished in 4:50:36 and beat six female pros, including Anna Guzman, who she beat by 24 seconds. And then there’s Julia Weisbecker, competing in the 60-64 category, who crossed in 5:14:21 and beat two pros. Sixty-plus and faster than two women with pro licenses. That’s impressive. Who are all these rock star women?

70 Female Age Groupers Who Beat Female Pros

The women’s pro field finishing times ranged from (4:01:38) to (5:26:56).

Women’s age groupers who beat the most pros

The Age Group Men

Reed Legg, an 18-24 age grouper from the U.S., finished in 4:01:15 — ahead of 20 male pros. Another 18-24 competitor, Sigurd Elvestad, came in at 4:03:08, and beat 16 pros.

But, as with the women’s results, the more interesting cases were the masters athletes. Tom De Bruyn, a 40-44 competitor from Belgium, clocked 4:09:36 and beat eight male professionals. Pedro Gomes (a retired pro from Portugal), also competing in the 40-44 category, was also ahead of eight pros with his 4:10:18. Jordan Nichols (M45-49) finished in 4:27:55 and still crossed ahead of three pros.

56 Male Age Groupers Who Beat Male Pros

The men’s pro field finishing times ranged from (3:40:07) to (4:32:44).

Men’s age groupers who beat the most pros

* Ex-professional — Pedro Gomes is a former IRONMAN champion (IRONMAN Sweden 2013) and four-time Kona qualifier who now races as an age grouper. Also.. Please let me know if I missed anyone else that used to race in the pro ranks.

What Does This Mean?

Let’s be clear – this isn’t the first, or last, time this will occur, and some of these pros just had really off days. But, still, the numbers are big. And it does lead to some questions I have.

First, as the depth of age group triathlon continues to grow. The athletes at the front of age group fields are legitimately fast — fast enough that the line between amateur and professional is thinner than it’s ever been. So, what will that mean moving forward.

Second, the women’s pro field at Oceanside was deep at the top (Knibb, Solveig Løvseth, Jackie Hering, Audrey Merle, Sif Bendix Madsen, etc.), but had a long tail. When 70 age-group women finish ahead of at least one pro, it raises the question of what the pro card really means.

Third — and this isn’t about beating pros, it’s about racing with them, and this does sort of combine one and two a little — as age-group athletes starting behind the professional waves they are dealing with traffic, positioning and pacing dynamics that affect their races, and that’s also likely affecting the pro’s race, too. For example 422 age group males passed pro women on the bike. Clearly that will affect that race. (Also another topic for later.)

As these things aren’t going away anytime soon, it will be interesting to see how IRONMAN will address any of the things they see as challenges, and also what category these athletes will race under later. Some of them have been winning age-group titles for a long time and have ZERO desire to go pro, while others take the first chance they can to be called a “professional triathlete”. Until then, it’s pretty rad to see just how fast some of these athletes are moving to that finish line. Are you one of these athletes? Let us know what your plans are? Going pro? Or are you going to continue to collect age-group titles?

The post Some Fast Age Groupers at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

British star Kat Matthews has a new shoe sponsor – the 34-year-old has signed with On as “the latest world-class athlete to join its global triathlon team.” Matthews has certainly surged to the highest levels of the sport since she turned pro in 2019, especially at IRONMAN events. In addition to successfully defending her IRONMAN Pro Series title last year, Matthews has three runner-up finishes at the IRONMAN World Championship (2022, 2024 and 2025) along with a pair of silver-medal performances at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship (2023 and 2024).

Matthews began last season with a bang, winning IRONMAN Texas in what was then a world-best time for an IRONMAN race (8:10:34). She would go faster just weeks later at IRONMAN Hamburg (8:05:13), but would lose the “world-best” title to Laura Philipp (8:03:13).

“My career has been defined by a drive to see exactly how fast a human can go when they refuse to quit,” Matthews said. “From my days as an amateur to breaking world records, I’ve always looked for partners who share that obsession with progress. On’s commitment to Swiss-engineered innovation is the perfect match for my goals as I continue to push the boundaries of the sport.”

In their release today, On also acknowledged Matthews’ incredible comeback to racing after a horrific bike accident in 2022 while training in Texas just before that year’s IRONMAN World Championship race in Kona.

“Kat is a generational talent, but what truly stands out is the human behind the records,” said Maria Ortega, athlete manager at On. “She balances an incredible analytical mind with a warmth, vulnerability, and a consistently positive mindset that connect with people. Kat’s journey hasn’t been a straight line to the top; it’s been a story of immense patience and a quiet, steady grit that inspires everyone around her. She perfectly embodies On’s spirits—authenticity and the courage to explore new limits—making her a natural fit for our team.”

That “team” features some huge names in the sport, including Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, Chelsea Sodaro and Kate Waugh.

IRONMAN 70.3 Muscat Middle East Championship

As we reported last year, IRONMAN has signed a big deal with Experience Oman, which becomes the title sponsor of the IRONMAN Pro Series this year, and the Omani capital, Muscat, will be the host city for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2029. Later this year Oman will also host a full-distance IRONMAN race.

Sports tourism has become a huge part of Oman’s economic diversification plans, and endurance events like the IRONMAN 70.3 race in Muscat are seen as a great way to show off the country’s spectacular landscapes, infrastructure and hospitality. Oman joins other middle-east countries including the UAE and Qatar on this front – while Oman might have been late to the party compared to the UAE (the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon started in 2010 and the country now hosts everything from a WTCS event to Challenge Sir Bani Yas to T100 Dubai), it appears to be pushing hard to jump on the triathlon bandwagon.

So far so good, too – Slowtwitch’s Eric Wynn is in Muscat to check out the race this weekend, and he reports that the registration for the race is at 1,100, with a lot of the athletes coming from outside Oman for the event. Last year’s race appears to have had about 885 finishers, so depending on the number of no-shows, the race is on track for a slight increase in numbers this year. That’ll be a welcome sign for organizers considering race registration didn’t open until last September. It’s an age-group only event and, as the Middle East championship, will offer 40 men’s and 40 women’s qualifying slots for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice in September.

Stay tuned for more on the race and the Oman experience.

The post We Noticed: Kat Matthews Signs With On and Slowtwitch Checks out Oman first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

“The results of the testing provided clear and consistent insights demonstrating a meaningful and measurable difference at a longer draft zone distance, supporting a move from the longstanding 12-meter standard to a 20-meter draft zone for professional athletes,” today’s release stated. “Based on differing factors for age-groupers such as racing speeds, the age-group draft zone will remain unchanged at 12 meters.” 

Slowtwitch spoke with IRONMAN’s head of officials, Jimmy Riccitello, about the testing in our Slowtwitch Podcast – you can listen to our conversation here.

Eric Wynn also wrote about his thoughts on the issue – you can read his story below.

IRONMAN conducted two different tests last year with aerodynamic expert Marc Graveline. The most recent testing included five pro men, whose bikes “were instrumented to capture power, speed, wind, air density, road inclination, and additional variables, with RaceRanger technology used to precisely maintain designated draft zone distances.”

“Over multiple tests, the results showed that at professional racing speeds, increasing the draft zone distance from 12 meters to 16 meters did not have a material change, however, increasing from 12 meters to 20 meters significantly reduced aerodynamic benefits,” IRONMAN reported in today’s release. “As racing speeds have increased over the years, the change to a 20-meter draft zone for professional athletes will help ensure fair competition that is consistent with the intent of non-drafting rules.”

IRONMAN will continue to test through the 2026 season and continue to take athlete feedback about the new rules. There’s still no confirmation on all the rules around the new draft zone – according to IRONMAN: “Operational details related to the 20-meter draft zone (e.g., time allowed to pass) will be communicated through the 2026 IRONMAN Competition Rules in advance of implementation to ensure clarity for athletes, officials, and event teams. In addition, as previously announced, IRONMAN will be expanding the use of RaceRanger as a tool across more pro events to support this change and fair competition.”

There will be no changes to age-group draft zones.

“Compared to professional racing, age-group racing presents a very different set of factors, including racing speeds and course density,” IRONMAN CEO Scott DeRue said. “Based on those realities and informed by historical data, we are confident that the existing 12-meter draft zone continues to best serve the age-group racing experience at this time.” 

The post Breaking News: IRONMAN Moves to 20-Meter Draft Zone for Pros first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

After more than a decade defined by continuity, results and a very particular shade of red, one of triathlon’s most successful professional teams is entering a new phase—in celeste. From 2026 through the end of the 2028 season, Bianchi steps in as the new title sponsor and bike partner, marking the end of the team’s 12-year partnership with BMC. For team general manager, Bob de Wolf, the change is less about reinvention and more about evolution.  

“It’s the end of a chapter but the start of a new era,” de Wolf says. “Everything felt right with Bianchi and for them to come on board and enable us with a three year window immediately, we feel it’s a commitment (with which) we can build something together, build on the legacy, but (also) start a new era.”

The End of a Long Partnership—and the Start of Another

BMC’s involvement dates back to 2013, when the team was still Belgian-based. With the partnership of BMC, the team grew to field an international roster and compete globally amassing over 150 victories, 300 podiums and world titles including the Ironman World Championship in 2022 (Chelsea Sodaro).

“The journey [with BMC] has been immense, it’s been incredible, but it comes to a close–that can happen after 12 years,” de Wolf says. “It’s amazing to look back with only gratitude for what we have done together.” 

Still, that meant finding a new title sponsor and bike sponsor in what de Wolf calls a “challenging climate,” but the Belgian manager is nothing if not passionate about the team. Thankfully, BMC indicated things would be changing, which gave the team time and de Wolf delivered. 

“The opportunity with Bianchi felt right in every way,” he says. “It wasn’t rushed. It was convincing. And it came with a three-year commitment, which matters enormously if you want to build something properly.”

The team will race on Bianchi’s flagship offerings: the Aquila RC time trial bike and the Oltre Aero road bike. From the team’s perspective, the technical alignment was paramount—but not sufficient on its own.

“This partnership represents far more than a bike sponsorship,” de Wolf says. “Bianchi brings unrivalled expertise, in-house innovation and a relentless pursuit of performance. With access to the new Bianchi Aquila RC, we firmly believe our athletes will be riding one of the fastest bikes on the planet. The aerodynamic and performance gains this collaboration delivers will allow our athletes to perform stronger and race faster. As one of the world’s most premium bicycle manufacturers, Bianchi perfectly aligns with our ambition.”

The Team Model  

De Wolf isn’t just the manager of the team, he’s the visionary–or, more accurately, half of it. It was his brother, Ben, who started the team back in 2009 with one athlete. In 2013, along with a  few more athletes, de Wolf joined his brother.

“I was probably naïve,” he admits with a smile. “I thought teams were the future. Ten teams, rivalries, fan bases. It hasn’t happened.”

The brothers brought triathlon a team that hadn’t quite seen before: matching bikes, matching helmets, and matching kit. Underneath the visual unity was comprehensive support made up of bike mechanics, medical staff and performance assistance. 

“A real team in look and feel,” de Wolf says. “ We are not reinventing the wheel, but we are providing a structure and support in a way we feel is needed for an athlete to feel professional.”

Other teams, like Erdinger or Bahrain Endurance, have a bit of a different set up, but that’s not where the brothers look for inspiration. At his first Kona experience, de Wolf remembers seeing one of the best in the sport assembling his own bike in the grass. It struck him as bizarre. 

“So this is one of the best in the world?” he asks. “You will never see that in cycling … We felt like there were important factors (we need) to provide to give our athletes as much support as possible. Of course, there will always be budget restrictions–and for over a decade we’ve been able to do more from one season to another–but the key principle is always the same: try to do as much as possible for the athletes in order to provide them with the feeling that we are real professionals.”

The industry hasn’t followed suit to the team model, but de Wolf remains steadfast in his goals. 

A Team Built for Kona—Still

Since the first iteration of the team, that number one goal has been Kona. But, given the roster additions of short course athletes like Brazilian super star Miguel Hidalgo and the emergence of T100 series, does it make sense to have such a solitary focus? 

“Kona is still the pinnacle,” he says vehemently. “When men and women are back racing on the same day, it defines the sport again. Our ambition for 2026 is very clear.”

De Wolf doesn’t deny the landscape has changed and that they have had to change along with it. They have embraced T100, along with the global exposure and performance opportunities it has brought, and they have even opened their doors to chase the WTCS title. 

“Having Miguel has been an incredible experience,” he shares of their first short-course athlete. “Becoming vice world champion, winning his first WTCS, a second place, two thirds and an overall ranking of second in the world–it’s been an incredible experience and we love the fact we can continue with Miguel–and we have the ambition to strive for the world title there as well.”

“But we won’t have an athlete who is solely dedicated to T100,” he says.

While he continues to praise the T100 and encourage his athletes to find opportunity there, you just have to look at the rest of their roster to see the team is still very much focused on Kona. 

On the men’s side, newly signed Finn Grosse-Freese joins as both reigning Ironman Austria and Copenhagen champion. Brit Cameron Main joins having already qualified for Kona, earning his slot by winning Ironman Western Australia on his full-distance debut. Plus, Antonio Benito López arrives as the current two-time World Triathlon long-distance world champion, with his sights firmly set on Hawaii. 

“If you win two IRONMANs at that age, it tells you something,” De Wolf says of 24-year-old  Grosse-Freese, adding on the accomplishments and belief he has in the other men. “These are athletes who are not experimenting. They are targeting the top.”

On the women’s side, the headline addition is Daisy Davies, whose first long-distance start resulted in a European title by an impressive 15-minute margin. Her trajectory evokes familiar memories for de Wolf. 

“When Kat Matthews joined us, she was at the very start of her journey and with Daisy, I get a similar gut feeling,” he says. “Nothing is guaranteed, but the potential is undeniable.”

Laura Madsen remains with the team after an injury-affected season, a decision de Wolf frames as consistent with the team’s long-held philosophy: backing athletes through cycles, not just results.

“At 21, Laura won three 70.3 races in a single year,” he says. “One difficult season doesn’t erase that belief.”

Left and Leaving

Despite so much success and the new momentum that Bianchi brings to the team, de Wolf’s plan seems to fall short in one area: keeping the champions they build. 

No sooner had Sodaro crossed the line in Kona than she announced her new partnership with Canyon among others. Matthews was similar after her stellar 2022 season, as was Bart Aernouts, who first joined the team in 2011 and finally left after his runner-up finish in Kona in 2018. Others, like Kristian Høgenhaug, have developed and struck out on their own. Plenty have also stayed for major parts of their career, but the athletes who truly strike it big inevitably leave. 

“ It was our utmost ambition to keep them,” de Wolf says, regarding Sodaro and Matthews. “Sometimes it’s just a reality and sometimes opportunities are there for athletes and we try to come as close as possible, but it’s not only purely financial. If they feel they are in the next phase of their careers, that could also be a reason why they want to go. The longer our journeys with athletes, the longer we can work together–that’s the vision.” 

De Wolf refers to athletes like Aernouts or Chris Leiferman, who was part of the squad for five years, just a few of the athletes they worked with for a long time.

“ What I really appreciate is that you feel like we still have a place in their hearts, in a sport heart,” he says. “They know what role we played in their careers and I sometimes see athletes who were part of the team in 2014 to 2016, and you feel there’s still a connection.”

Change For Good, For Better, For World Titles

Building athletes to the top of the sport and seeing them leave is a reality, much like the team’s transition away from BMC. Akin to the drive of the athletes on his roster, de Wolf has an evergreen drive and passion to push the team towards even more success. 

“It’s the never give up mentality,” he says. “To even consider change, it’s not always easy. Looking now at what we have, we feel emboldened.”

“This is a world-class team, a world-class set up with world-class sponsors, and we will deliver support to our athletes to the best of our ability, offer the right return to our sponsors, and I have absolutely no doubt we will be really competitive,” he concludes.

The post New Era, New Look: Team Bianchi first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Malaga. Photo: Ayuntamiento de Málaga

After six years of hosting a 70.3 race, including last November’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, Marbella won’t be holding an IRONMAN race this year. The event has moved about 60 km up the coast to Spain’s sixth largest city, Malaga. IRONMAN didn’t provide any details on why the race is moving, but as a much larger centre that is renowned for hosting some major sports events, presumably Malaga is better equipped to handle the financial outlay the event requires.

“The IRONMAN 70.3 event will help energise key sectors such as hospitality, retail, and services, while at the same time strengthening our image as a modern, open city committed to elite sport and high-quality tourism,” said Malaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre Prados.

The race in Malaga maintains the Spanish IRONMAN roster at six events, there are also stops in Calella, Barcelona; Valencia; Acludia, Mallorca; Vitoria-Gasteiz; and Lanzarote.

Spain has certainly made its mark as a nation ready to host major triathlon events – in addition to last year’s 70.3 worlds, the country has hosted the World Triathlon Multisport Championships in 2019 (Pontevedra), the World Triathlon Championship Finals in 2023 (Pontevedra) and 2024 (Torremolinos) and will once again host those championships this year in Pontevedra.

World Triathlon Staff Meeting

Photo: World Triathlon

Signalling the increased ties between the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and triathlon’s international governing body, World Triathlon held its annual staff meeting in Marrakech at Elkhalil Binebine’s home. In addition to being one of the PTO’s primary investors, Binebine is an avid triathlete himself. Over a one year period he took on five of the toughest races in triathlon including the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona and the 2025 worlds in Nice, IRONMAN Lanzarote, Challenge Roth and the Norseman Xtri event.

Khalili Binebine fuels up before the Norseman triathlon. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

According to a press release from the event:

The annual staff meeting in Marrakech placed particular emphasis on aligning the entire organisation around the long‑term strategy and the key priorities for 2026 and beyond, with the agreement with PTO to deliver the Triathlon World Tour from 2027 together in the heart of all discussions and operational planning.

The Triathlon World Tour and the long‑term partnership with the PTO were highlighted as the central pillars of this vision. Key leadership spent significant time with newly appointed Secretary General Jon Wyatt on reviewing the new vision, to be launched in 2027, will integrated with existing World Triathlon properties and how 2026 will be used as a transition year to test formats, strengthen governance processes and optimise the calendar in preparation for the TWT launch. Particular attention was paid to ensuring athlete‑centred decision‑making, harmonised rankings and qualification pathways, and a unified commercial narrative that benefits both organisations and the wider triathlon ecosystem.​

The meeting also explored how cooperation with the PTO and other private organisers can be leveraged beyond the elite level to grow mass‑participation events, attract new audiences and improve broadcast and digital storytelling around the sport. By aligning on this long‑term strategy and clearly defining 2026 priorities, the leadership team committed to working as one integrated group, ready to implement the organisational changes required to support the successful launch and long‑term impact of the Triathlon World Tour.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying there’s a lot to get done as World Triathlon and the PTO look to combine the T100 Series, the World Triathlon Championship Series and World Triathlon Cup races in to a 100-race “Triathlon World Tour” next year.

You can read more about that new tour below in my interview with PTO CEO Sam Renouf.

A100 Antarctic Triathlon

The race is 100 km long, but it has nothing to do with he aforementioned T100 series. Organized by 70.3 age-group world champion Ilya Slepov, a Russian triathlete and entrepreneur (he founded RunLab, a chain of running stores in Russia), the race will take place on King George Island and includes a 1 km swim (in the Southern Ocean with water temperatures around 0 degrees), a 66 km mountain bike and a 33 km run. The event is set to take place between February 25 and March 8, 2027. In addition to the cold water, the air temperature at that time of year typically ranges between -3 and 5 degrees C (26 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit).

The field will be limited to 50 athletes, who must be “experienced long-distance triathletes” and have a “cold weather and endurance race background.” There’s no information about the cost of the event provided in the promotional materials, but it will no-doubt be an expensive endeavour. Athletes will fly from Punta Arenas, Chile to King George Island, then spend time on “sailing schooners moored near Bellingshausen Station,” with guides who will lead competitors on trips to “the Melchior Islands, the Lemaire Channel and the gentoo penguin colony on Cuverville Island.”

According to the event website, there will also be a scientific component:

It’s a live experiment, a study of how the human body and mind adapt to extreme cold, isolation, stress and peak physical load … The project brings together athletes and researchers to explore resilience, adaptation and human potential in polar conditions.

For those feeling that they’ve heard of a marathon challenge that heads to the Antarctic, you’re thinking of the Great World Race that includes seven marathons on seven continents in one week. That event includes marathons in Wolf’s Fang (Antarctica), Cape Town (Africa) , Perth (Australia), Abu Dhabi (Asia), Algarge (Europe), Cartagena (South America) and finishes in Miami (North America). The entry fee for that race is 49,500 Euros.

PTO Ranking System

Last week the PTO updated its World Ranking System and, surprise of all surprises, it appears to dramatically favour T100 events. The new system now increases the number or races eligible for scoring from three to four over a a rolling 52-week period. (According to the PTO this is “in light of recent athlete trends towards more racing.” The PTO sites stats that indicate that athletes in the top 10 of the standings now average 7.6 race finishes a year compared to 5.8 races in 2022. This is no-doubt the result of the addition of the T100 Series and the IRONMAN Pro Series being added to the annual calendars.)

“The updates to the 2026 PTO World Ranking System reflect the changing sport with athletes racing more and the T100 and IRONMAN Pro Series becoming established on the professional calendar,” the PTO Athlete Board said of the changes. “With no limitation on the number of middle or full-distance events within the four counting races, the 2026 PTO WRS continues to meet the core principles of being transparent, objective and fair regardless of pro athletes’ racing preferences. Meanwhile, the removal of the 5% bonus on certain races makes it simpler and easier to understand for athletes and fans.”

The PTO rankings will play a big factor in getting into T100 races. The top-10 athletes in the “T100 Race to Qatar” standings will receive automatic offers for each event, with eight slots per race “offered to athletes based on PTO World Rankings.”

Since T100 races are ranked at the same level at IRONMAN World Championship events, the new system favours athletes who compete at more T100 races. The new ranking system moves Lucy Charles-Barclay from first to third in the PTO ranking despite her winning the 70.3 worlds, with Kate Waugh, who won the T100 Series, moving to the top of the standings, followed by Julie Derron. IRONMAN Pro Series champion Kat Matthews remains in fifth in the ranking. On the men’s side of things, there aren’t any changes within the top three as Hayden Wilde, Jelle Geens and Mika Noodt remain in front, but Kristian Blummenfelt moves from fourth to seventh in the standings, despite his two podium finishes at both IRONMAN world championship events (third in Nice, second in Marbella).

The big change with the new system is counting the fourth race. I would argue the system always favoured T100 racers, since all the T100 races were classified Diamond level, while only the IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship were considered at that same level. At the end of the day it was always hard to say that the PTO Ranking ever served as a true “world” ranking system. The new changes just make it less so. None of which really matters if the main goal of the ranking is to help seed athletes heading to T100 races.

The post We Noticed: 70.3 Marbella Now in Malaga, PTO Investor Hosts World Triathlon Staff Meeting, Antarctic Tri and More first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Two-time Olympian Diego Moya. Photo: World Triathlon

Pro racing got underway over the weekend with the first IRONMAN 70.3 race of the year in Pucon, Chile, and there were a number of Olympians on hand showing their prowess at going longer.

In the women’s race Mexico’s Cecelia Perez (who competed at the Rio and Tokyo Games) successfully defended her title, once again winning by a wide margin. Perez and Chile’s Macarena Salazar were neck and neck through the swim and bike, starting the run over three minutes up on France’s Lea Riccoboni. Perez would cruise through the run to finish almost seven minutes up on Romina Biagioli (she competed in Tokyo and Paris), while Chile’s Francisca Garrido would almost run her way to second, rounding out the podium just 10 seconds behind the Argentine.

In the men’s race it was the home-country favourite Diego Moya who led the way out of the water. Moya represented Chile at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, and finished 13th in the World Triathlon rankings last year. He was joined by France’s Cenzino Lebot on the bike, and the pair would hit T2 over four minutes up on Chile’s Martin Baeza. Moya would round out his day with the fastest run, finishing almost nine minutes ahead of Argentina’s Luciano Taccone, with Baeza hanging on to the final spot on the podium.

Anne Haug’s Next Venture

Photo: Daniel Jugan Welsch

Recently retired 2019 IRONMAN World Champion and two-time Olympian Anne Haug and her partner Sebastiaan Brouwer, a bike mechanic and bike fitting expert, have opened a new workshop, bike fit studio and performance testing centre in Lanzarote, Spain.

In collaboration with German-based gebioMized bike fitting, Sebastiaan offers advanced bike fitting for cyclists, mountainbikers and triathletes. During the end Haug’s decorated career, Sebastiaan functioned at the end as her primary bike mechanic and assisted in optimizing her position and equipment, including creating custom 3D printed accessories.

Haug will head up performance testing which will include lab and field lactate testing with muscle oxgen sensors, private one to one training sessions and sharing advice in all topics of triathlon (nutrition, racing, training, motivation…). As well as keynote talks for companies and clubs.

Their combined boots-on-the-ground experience racing at the top of the sport gives their clients an unmatched expertise and service–where else can a legendary team help you personally become better?

by Sarah Bonner

“Frodeno Going Mental”

Jan Frodeno before his final IRONMAN World Championship appearance in Nice in 2023. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

The 2008 Olympic gold medalist and three-time Kona champion Jan Frodeno launched a new podcast today – “Frodeno Going Mental.”

“I … spent 21 years learning how to suffer at world-class levels,” Frodeno says. Now I’m sitting down to talk about it.”

“Welcome to FRODENO GOING MENTAL — a video podcast exploring what drives people who perform at a high level and live on their own terms,” the podcast’s website explains. “I talk with athletes, thinkers, and doers about performance – and about what happens when the lights go out: finding meaning beyond success, navigating doubt, and understanding why the real battle is almost always in your head.”

“After twenty years of racing at the front of the pack, I stepped away from championship competition and realized something: I’d spent my entire career learning how to push through pain, but nobody taught me what to do when the finish line disappears,” Frodeno continues. “This podcast is my attempt to figure that out – by talking to people who’ve navigated their own transitions, built something meaningful, or simply have interesting perspectives on performance, purpose, and the gap between who we think we should be and who we actually are. Some guests are athletes. Some aren’t. All of them have wrestled with the same questions: What drives you when nobody’s keeping score? How do you rebuild when your identity shifts? And why is sitting still somehow harder than racing an Ironman?”

The first episode features Frodeno’s fellow Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee. You can listen to the podcast here.

Liévin Triathlon Indoor Festival “Postponed”

Cassandre Beaugrande wins the 2025 T1 Indoor Triathlon World Cup Liévin. Photo: by_wout.photographer

After a successful race last year, the unique Liévin Triathlon Indoor Festival will not be taking place as scheduled on March 7, 2026.

“Despite conversations with all the local stakeholders and a thorough review of all possible solutions to continue with the original date, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the event, as we would not have been able to deliver the experience to the high standards we’ve set previously in Liévin and which our athletes, partners and spectators expect,” World Triathlon wrote on a release today. “We also don’t want to compromise the long‑term sustainability of the project.”

The race featured a unique format that included a 200 m swim in a temporary pool built into the middle of an indoor track, a 2.8 km bike on the outer lanes of that track before finishing with a 1 km sprint. Last year’s race, designated a T1 World Cup, was supported by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), which provided the live streaming of the event.  

In 2024 the race went off as a World Triathlon Cup event, and prior to that it was held as a Europe Triathlon Cup race for two years. The format obviously worked – as last year’s exciting racing proved. The financial viability of the event, though, remains a bit tricky. Reports indicated that without the PTO’s support last year the event might not have been able to go ahead. While the PTO and World Triathlon have announced some big goals for the 2027, it wasn’t until halfway through last year that the PTO received some much-needed investment, so one wonders if the Liévin event has to be put on hold in the wake of some belt-tightening to make all the expansion work next year. We got some insights into the ambitious goals for the 2027 series from PTO CEO Sam Renouf after the announcement.

A Pro Divulges His Total Earnings … $0

We recapped the highest earners from the sport last year – today we’ve got a story from the other end of the spectrum.

Simon Shi, an American pro triathlete, posted an interesting stat on Instagram yesterday. Turns out that throughout his four-year pro career, he’s never earned any prize money. The 28-year-old’s top finish last year was a seventh at IRONMAN 70.3 Shanghai. His highest full-distance finish was at IRONMAN Canada in 2024 – he finished 15th.

Shi doesn’t seem to be too worried about how little he’s making in prize money, though.

“After four years of racing professionally, I have made zero dollars in prize money,” he said. “I’ve gotten better every season, stronger, smarter, more consistent. But the truth is, this level in the sport is brutal. Everyone works hard. Everyone is fit. Everyone wants to win. And only a few people get paid on race day.”

“Would it be nice to earn prize money?” he asked. “Of course. And that is the goal. But, I didn’t get into the sport just for money and for podiums. I raced because I love the process, the early morning, the boring miles, the small improvements that add up over time. And I love seeing what I’m capable of when I fully commit to this sport. Progress doesn’t always show up as money or medals. Sometimes it shows up as patience, resilience and belief when things don’t go your way yet.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Simon Shi

The post We Noticed: Pucon 70.3 Results, Anne Haug’s New Gig (Or 1 of Them), Frodo Podcast, Pro Money Matters and More first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Challenge Roth. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

IRONMAN isn’t the only series that saw substantial growth in 2025 (we reported on some of those numbers here.) Challenge Family reports that the series saw an 18% increase in athlete participation in 2025 compared to 2024.

The Challenge Family series included 32 events around the world last year. This year’s “confirmed” schedule includes 29 events:

World Triathlon 2026 Calendar

It seems a bit late, but World Triathlon has announced the site for this year’s World Triathlon Winter Championships – Padola, Italy will host the event from February 27 to March 1. The races include the Winter World Duathlon (run and ski) and Triathlon (run, mountain bike and ski) Championships, along with Para events and the 2 x 2 Winter Triathlon Mixed Relay (two athletes who do two run, bike and ski races continuously).

The full World Cup schedule has now been announced as well, and it includes new stops in Lanzarote, Spain (March 14), Haikou, China (March 21 and 22), and the Dubai Women’s Cup on December 5 and 6.

The full 2026 World Triathlon Schedule includes no events in the US and three races in Canada – there’s a World Cup and Mixed Relay event in Edmonton, a Paratriathlon race in Montreal and a T100 race in Vancouver.

Here’s the full 2026 schedule:

WTCS

• Abu Dhabi, UAE – March 27, 2026
• Samarkand, UZB – April 25–26, 2026
• Yokohama, JPN – May 16, 2026
• Alghero, ITA – May 30, 2026
• Quiberon, FRA – June 20, 2026
• Hamburg, GER – July 11, 2026
• London, GBR – July 25, 2026
• Weihai, CHN – August 29, 2026
• Karlovy Vary, CZE – September 13, 2026
• Pontevedra, ESP – September 24–27, 2026

Mixed Relays

• Abu Dhabi, UAE – March 28, 2026 (Mixed Relay Series)
• Chengdu, CHN – May 10, 2026 (Mixed Relay Cup)
• Alghero, ITA – May 31, 2026 (Mixed Relay Series)
• Quiberon, FRA – June 21, 2026 (Mixed Relay Series)
• Hamburg, GER – July 12, 2026 (Mixed Relay World Championships)
• Edmonton, CAN – July 19, 2026 (Mixed Relay Cup)
• Rome, ITA – October 4, 2026 (Mixed Relay Cup)

World Cups

• Lievin, FRA – March 7, 2026 (Indoor)
• Lanzarote, ESP – March 14, 2026
• Haikou, CHN – March 21–22, 2026
• Chengdu, CHN – May 9, 2026
• Huatulco, MEX – June 14, 2026
• Tiszaujvaros, HUN – June 27–28, 2026
• Edmonton, CAN – July 18, 2026
• Rio de Janeiro, BRA – August 1–2, 2026
• Asuncion, PAR – August 8–9, 2026
• Lima, PER – August 22–23, 2026
• Rome, ITA – October 3, 2026
• Tongyeong, KOR – October 24–25, 2026
• Iquique, CHI – October 31, 2026
• San Pedro de la Paz, CHI – November 7–8, 2026
• Hong Kong, HKG – November 7–8, 2026
• Miyazaki, JPN – November 14–15, 2026
• Tauranga, NZL – November 2026
• Jeddah, KSA – November 28–29, 2026
• Dubai, UAE – December 5–6, 2026 (Women’s Cup)

Para triathlon

• Devonport, AUS – March 13, 2026 (Para Series)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE – March 27, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Samarkand, UZB – April 25–26, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Yokohama, JPN – May 16–17, 2026 (Para Series)
• Besancon, FRA – June 20–21, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Montreal, CAN – June 27–28, 2026 (Para Series)
• Tegernsee, GER – July 4–5, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Hamburg, GER – July 11–12, 2026 (Para Series)
• Tata, HUN – July 18–19, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Alhandra, POR – September 5–6, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Pontevedra, ESP – September 25–27, 2026 (Para World Championships)
• Chiba, JPN – October 10–11, 2026 (Para Cup)
• Alanya, TUR – October 24–25, 2026 (Para Cup)
• San Pedro de la Paz, CHI – November 7–8, 2026 (Para Cup)

Multisport

• World Triathlon Winter Championships – Padola, ITA – February 27 – March 1, 2026
• Long Distance Duathlon – Zofingen, SUI – September 6, 2026
• World Triathlon Multisport Championships – Abu Dhabi, UAE – November 13–22, 2026

T100 Triathlon World Tour

• Qatar Finals – December 11–12, 2026
• Gold Coast, Australia – March 21–22, 2026
• Singapore – April 25–26, 2026
• Spain – May 23–24, 2026
• San Francisco, CA – June 6–7, 2026
• Vancouver, CAN – August 15–16, 2026
• French Riviera, FRA – September 19–20, 2026
• Dubai, UAE – November 12–13, 2026
• Saudi Arabia – November 2026

More on the Retirement Front

After 11 years of pro racing, New Zealand’s Amelia Watkinson has decided to call it a career. Over the years Watkinson managed quietly win IRONMAMN Cairns (2020), take nine 70.3 titles, along with six Challenge wins in addition to a couple of wins at the Hervey Bay 100 and a win at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon. As you can see from her post below, Watkinson was always a serious competitor, but managed to keep a wonderful perspective on the opportunities available to a pro triathlete.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Amelia Rose Watkinson (@ameliarosewatkinson)

2008 Olympic swimmer Lukasz Wójt (he represented Poland, but lives in Germany) has also announced his retirement from triathlon. The 43-year-old didn’t turn to the sport until he was 36 after an incredible swimming career that included Polish national records in the 200 (1:54:81) and 400 (4:03:20) IM events, but certainly made the most of his time. Routinely the leader after the swim, his first win came at IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg and he would go on to a podium finish at IRONMAN Austria in 2022.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ʟᴜᴋᴀsᴢ ᴡᴏᴊᴛ (@lukasz_wojt)

The post We Noticed: Challenge Family’ 2025 Numbers and 2026 Schedule, World Triathlon Schedule and More first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Last weekend World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) announced some big news for the 2027 season. The new Triathlon World Tour will combine the T100 Series along with the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) and World Triathlon Cup races to a roughly 100-race series.

The new race series will see WTCS events rebranded as the T50 World Championship Series and World Cup and Continental Cup events will join a new “Challenger Series.” Those races will continue to act as a “feeder system” to the higher-end T50 and T100 races.

Exactly how all this will work seemed a bit vague, so we reached out to the PTO to get some answers to our more specific questions about the new series. Here’s an edited version of my conversation with PTO CEO Sam Renouf:

Kevin Mackinnon: As I was writing the story from the press release, I realized I had more questions than answers. That’s why I reached out—to understand how this actually works. One of the first questions everyone’s asking is: Is this a merger? Are you still two separate entities?

Sam Renouf: Right—and “merger” can mean different things. From a sporting-product perspective, it’s a merger in the sense that we’re bringing brands together to create something bigger. But from a corporate M&A standpoint, absolutely not. World Triathlon remains independent. They are the governing body; we’re the commercial partner.

This structure is very much informed by the Deloitte report (prepared for World Triathlon – we wrote about it here) you’ve probably seen. The key takeaway is that many international federations are separating governance from commercial operations—that’s becoming best practice across sport. Formula One is the classic example: the FIA governs, but Formula One operates commercially.

World Triathlon had a choice: build a new commercial entity with outside investors, or partner with someone already set up to do that. We were a natural fit. We already deliver events and can take investment and risk—something a federation can’t easily do.

Another key finding was how fragmented triathlon is—different brands, distances, and competition hierarchies. It’s confusing. That fragmentation makes the sport hard to commercialize and sell. This partnership is about simplifying the structure.

So no, it’s not a merger. World Triathlon is granting us commercial rights to certain IP, which we’ll operate as part of a broader world tour.

Does that mean you’ll be putting on the events themselves?

In many cases, yes. Traditionally, World Triathlon sanctions events but doesn’t operate them. We operate many of our own events, which means we retain commercial rights and can invest to grow them. That’s a core part of our model.

Some events will still operate under license or sanction, but the key difference is that all commercial rights will be pooled and managed centrally. For example, we operate the London WTCS and will continue to do so. In markets where we don’t have operational capacity—like parts of Asia—events may continue under a license model, but we’ll still manage the commercial rights globally.

So the goal is to reduce fragmentation, especially from a broadcast perspective?

Exactly. A broadcaster recently told us triathlon was confusing—World Triathlon, Supertri, PTO, IRONMAN. They didn’t know who to deal with. What we’re doing is simplifying that.

You’ll have IRONMAN as the long-distance product, and the Triathlon World Tour as the core professional product. Each event will include professional racing, mass participation racing and broadcast coverage.

That wasn’t entirely clear in the press release. So every event will have an age-group component?

That’s the vision. Some events—especially former World Cups—don’t yet have mass participation, so it may take time. But long-term, every event will include professional racing, mass participation, and broadcast content. We actually prefer the term “mass participation”—“age group” isn’t very marketable.

There’s still Supertri, Ironman, Challenge… how does this “simplify” that landscape?

Well before it was those three, plus T100, plus WTCS, plus World Cups – so I’d say we’re half way there to simplifying things! And we’ll announce more details in the new year. From a broadcast standpoint, though, most of those events aren’t consistently televised. Our goal is a consistent, year-long broadcast product—roughly February through early December—with around 100 broadcasts.

Does that mean TriathlonLive (the World Triathlon broadcast platform) goes away?

We’ll announce brand specifics at the official launch in Q1. The key idea is a single destination to watch triathlon. Whether that brand is TriathlonLive or something else will be announced later.

There’s room for both a mass broadcast product and a super-fan subscription product (the second-screen concept that we provided with PTO+)—similar to Formula One’s model with F1 TV alongside traditional broadcasters.

Is the second-screen experience working?

We’re happy with the progress. Data is critical. Without timing, biometrics, and context, triathlon isn’t compelling to watch. With data, it becomes much more engaging—like Formula One. That’s where we’re investing heavily, including with major tech partners.

Is the PTO really ready to put on 100 events a year?

That’s exactly why this launches in 2027, not 2026. Many of those events already exist—we’re not creating everything from scratch. We’re repackaging, rebranding and commercializing them under a unified platform.

Will the PTO own a world championship?

No. World Triathlon owns it. They grant us the right to operate it. That’s consistent with the role of an international federation. We could have gone independent, but we believe growing the sport together is the right approach.

Is there concern this creates a conflict of interest, with the PTO becoming too close with World Triathlon? Do you think that could be a concern for other players in the marketplace, like IRONMAN?

We’re only operating a small slice—about 100 events out of thousands worldwide. World Triathlon remains fully independent. In fact, we believe this benefits IRONMAN. If we grow triathlon overall, the biggest player benefits the most.

That makes sense. Everyone wins if triathlon gets bigger.

Exactly. The sport has an incredible demographic but lacks the scale to monetize properly. Other sports—like golf—attract huge non-endemic sponsorship. Triathlon doesn’t yet, because there hasn’t been the right platform. That’s what we’re building.

Thanks so much for your time, Sam. I really appreciate it.

Great chatting with you. Happy holidays.

Before this interview we did talk a lot about this subject on the Slowtwitch Podcast.

The post The T100 World Tour is Coming in 2027. More Details from PTO CEO Sam Renouf first appeared on Slowtwitch News.