Blummenfelt Regains the Throne, Wins 70.3 Worlds

Kristian Blummenfelt utilized a massive surge during a downhill mile to drop Ben Kanute with less than three miles left to run to claim his first IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Blummenfelt now has won two of the three World Championship events held in St. George over the last thirteen months, winning the 2021 IRONMAN World Championships held here in May. Kanute held on for second place, with Magnus Ditlev rounding out the podium, overcoming a near-disastrous mistake in transition forgetting his helmet and being forced to ride extremely hard to re-catch the front group.

Blummenfelt stayed in control of the race nearly the entire day, swimming near the front group and charging through the field in the opening few minutes of the bike. Kanute, meanwhile, stayed with him for the entirety of those moves, emerging himself on the run course shortly after Blummenfelt and making a pass for the lead at mile 2 and staying there for the next 8 miles. But, after exiting the winding golf course section of the run, Blummenfelt pounced with an attack that Kanute simply could not match.

It was not a good day for Blummenfelt’s normal partner in crime. Defending 70.3 World Champion and reigning IRONMAN World Champion Gustav Iden had a lackluster day and dropped out during the second half of the run. Fellow pre-race favorite Sam Long was given a highly questionable five-minute position foul during the course of the bike that effectively ended any chances of him competing for the podium. When initially asked for an explanation, the head referee declined to comment on Long’s penalty. IRONMAN has since produced an interview, available here, suggesting the penalty occurred earlier than shown on camera.. Rudy Von Berg did not start, coming down with illness overnight.

Post-race, Blummenfelt noted that due to the early morning light conditions, he wasn’t sure where he was in the race and so made a decision not to put on cold-weather gear. “I wasn’t sure where I was coming out of the water and then decided to take the first 20 to 30 minutes cold and then link up with the front. I tried to put pressure on Magnus and Gustav early and pushed hard.” Giving credit to second-place Kanute, Blummenfelt said that “I was surprised how strong Ben was on the run. So I tried to hold back as long as possible. I was very pleased by how the legs responded.” Speaking of the winning move, Blummenfelt stated, “You just have to go for it when you first go. His [Jim Vance, Ben Kanute’s] coach said ‘mixed relay! 15 to 20 minutes to go!’ So I decided to push for the last 15 to 20 minutes.”

Kanute has battled illness throughout the year, and he cited that struggle as why he pushed himself so hard today. “This year has been really hard overall. Started the year off strong but some sickness and having to recover kept me on the back foot at every race. I knew what I was capable of but the execution wasn’t there. I put all of my focus on this race. I wanted to go out there and see what I could do. So happy to have a result.”

Speaking of how difficult the race itself was given how close he was to Blummenfelt all day, Kanute said “I hit a new level of fitness coming into here. No limits on myself. Kristian did all the hard work and I was just happy to hang on. It’s been six months since I’ve gotten to race instead of just survive. I just wanted to take it to him [Blummenfelt]. I caught him really early on [the run]. I threw in surges here and there and keep pressing. On that downhill he just took off. I tried to stay connected, did everything I could, but he’s world-class.”

Ditlev joked about his T1 error following the race. “I’ve never done anything that stupid before, maybe I was just happy with my swim, or there was more stress because of the cold.” Ditlev had swam with the front group for the first time, and during the process of putting on cold weather gear, simply forgot his helmet and was forced to go back for it.??Given that error, then, he had his work cut out for him. And work he did: “I don’t think I’ve ever ridden that hard on the bike before and the run course was tough. I didn’t want to bring Gustav to the front and to the party, and so I had to ride extremely hard.”

As the Race Unfolded

With temperatures about five degrees warmer then Friday’s women’s only race and with a touch more humidity in the air, athletes were out and about more than yesterday. There was more nervousness as commentators noted that, “there’s a little more anxiety than yesterday.” To which Mirinda Carfrae quipped “Little more testosterone.” Many of the men decided to go for a practice swim, which was wetsuit legal. Of those who swam, a few, like Sam Long, wound up picking their puffy coats back up to stay warm prior to the cannon firing. Swim conditions seemed flat to begin the day.

The traditional cannon fired to begin the race and the men formed a huge wide pack — all in a big line across the water. At about the first turn buoy, the pack started to split with a large group in a long line led by Aaron Royle, Marc Dubrick and Ben Kanute, and then 15 or so athletes moving off the back. The leading trio continued to hammer on the front, stretching the pack out on the front in a long, single-file line and starting to gap even strong swimmers like Eric Lagerstrom.

Lagerstrom led a large group which contained roughly 20 athletes. Notable names in that group during that point of the swim were Kristian Blummenfelt, Jackson Laundry, and Jason West. Missing from that group? Gustav Iden and Sam Long — Iden having been gapped by the surge up front, and with Long nearly the caboose of the entire swim.

The turn buoy had a little bit of drama, with Royle running into the buoy and having to re-correct. This caused the leading trio and the 20 athlete group coming back together through the turn. West was the last person in that train, with Magnus Ditlev and Iden leading the chase pack attempting to bridge back up.

Royle, Dubrick, and Kanute all kept on the rivet after the turn, desperately seeking to re-open the gap that they had earned earlier. They were successful, but the move also wound up seeing Kanute being dropped back towards Lagerstrom’s group, which had been whittled to a dozen or so athletes due to the surges.

Royle earned the swim prime in 22:20, with Dubrick on his heels. Kanute was third, with Lagerstrom, Jan Stratmann, Miki Taagholt, Vicente Trewhela, Christophe De Keyser, Frederic Funk, Miki Noodt, Brent McMahon, and Blummenfelt all part of the next pack, :25 to :30 back. Ditlev, West, and Iden were all next pack at :45. Other notable swim gaps include Matt Hanson +1:27, Jackson Laundry +2:04, and Sam Long +2:45.

Some athletes all took their time getting long-sleeve items on. Royle put on a full long-sleeve jersey and calf sleeves Kanute, for instance, had gloves and toe warmers. Long, despite his swim gap, took the time to put on some long-sleeved kit and toe-warmers. Others, like Blummenfelt, didn’t put on a thing for concession to the cold — just his typical calf sleeves and aero kit. One major error came out of Ditlev, as he first forgot his helmet, then had his bike out of position before hopping onto transition.

Dubrick and Kanute were first out onto the bike, but with 22 athletes all within a minute, the train started to form. Blummenfelt immediately went to the front of that train. His effort coming through saw a five man group form with Blummenfelt, Kanute, Royle, Taagholt and Funk. 30 seconds back was Iden, leading a group with Noodt, Stratmann, and Steenberg. Lagerstrom, Ditlev, Dubrick, and West were all within 90 seconds. Sam Long, meanwhile, was beginning to reel in the chase groups — under a minute from the end of the big train and maintaining the gap to the leading Blummenfelt.

During the climb out of Sand Hollow, the leading five all seemed comfortable. The second group, led by Iden, all looked far less so as they tried to make the move back up to the leaders. Ditlev led the second chase pack and seemed eager to get to Iden’s chasers. Slightly further down the order, though, was a massive throng of men strewn across the road as they looked to sort out the order before the flatter sections of road and what would likely be areas where position fouls would come up. Long had the bit between his teeth, though, and had caught the back end of that train and began moving his way through the order, passing Matt Hanson by mile 10.

Roughly a quarter through the bike, and the leading five had become a leading four — Blummenfelt, Kanute, Taagholt, and Funk, with Blummenfelt trying to put in enough of a surge to go solo. Ditlev had indeed bridged to Iden, 36 seconds back. Noodt was being distanced in 7th, as was Royle in 8th, 49 seconds from the lead. Steenberg and Stratmann wrapped up the top 10, each solely and under 1:30 from the front. Long, meanwhile, had made up 10 seconds on the leaders as he continued to spring past athletes and now near West, Laundry, and Lagerstrom.

The pack dynamics proved to be problematic and would have a dramatic impact on the results of the race, as Long would pick up a five-minute penalty. The penalty appeared to occur as Long was passing a train of athletes, and Laundry came back around him. Long completed the pass he was making and wound up slotting into the train shortly after Laundry passed him in an attempt to avoid his drafting zone. At this point, Long was shown the five minute position foul card despite Long protesting that he had nowhere else he could have gone.

Further up the road, Ditlev had indeed made his move, making it a leading group of five at mile 22 as the road turned up the Washington Parkway. Iden and Noodt remained joined at the hip, and with the gap holding at just over 30 seconds to the front. Long had managed to push all the way up to 8th on the road, 2:24 from the front, and rode angry before serving his position foul penalty. He made up the front of a roughly 14 man train of athletes that all sat within three minutes of the lead. But at the penalty tent, he said “I want to drop out of the race.”

Riding out of St. George proper and heading towards Snow Canyon, the leading five were hammering. Blummenfelt remained setting the pace, with Funk, Taagholt, Kanute, and Ditlev all content to let the Norwegian lead the train. Noordt and Iden were hemorrhaging time, now nearly 1:40 back and riding a full mile an hour slower than that group. With Long now serving his penalty, the chase pack now had Thor Madsen, Clement Mignon, Laundry, Royle, Stratmann, Antony Costes, and Fabian Reuter. By the time Long rejoined the race, he’d fallen to 26th, almost 8 minutes from the front.

During the out-and-back shortly before Snow Canyon, Ditlev came through the leading pack and took to the front. That move saw Blummenfelt and Funk stick with him, but a small gap to Taagholt and Kanute. Noodt and Iden now were a full two minutes off the pace, and the chase pack had been distanced to 3:45. The fast runners of that chase pack, including Laundry, would now be forced to minimize the gaps through Snow Canyon in order to be able to maintain their chances at the podium.

Riding through Snow Canyon and Blummenfelt and Ditlev traded the lead position of the front pack. Funk and Kanute were able to stay with that pair, while Taagholt was pushed off the back midway through that climb and now was 51 seconds behind. Noodt came next, 2:43 down. Madsen was 7th at 3:38. The big news, though, was Iden — he’d been dropped hard during the climb and now was in 8th place, 4:21 from the lead, and dangerously close to falling out of the top 10 with Laundry, Mignon, and Royle within 20 seconds of him.

On the descent back towards St. George, Ditlev shot off the front, attempting to get any kind of gap heading into transition. Blummenfelt and Funk paired up as they looked to minimize that gap, whereas Kanute was another ten seconds back. Taagholt still held a firm grasp on fifth, but now 1:43 off the pace. Further back, Iden looked like he had recovered from whatever troubled him through Snow Canyon, and was maintaining the distance over the chasers.

Ditlev hit transition first with a 1:59:59 ride. Blummenfelt and Funk came next, 10 seconds behind — but Blummenfelt hit the run course first with a 29 second transition. Kanute was 39 seconds off into transition, but a speedy change saw him just 32 seconds behind starting the run. Taagholt was still fifth, 2:19 away. Noodt was sixth, 3:43 back. Madsen held 7th, 4:40 back. Iden did indeed get caught in the final miles, coming in with Steenberg, Laundry, Mignon, and Royle, 5:22 from the win.

Beginning the run and Blummenfelt started turning the screws on the rest of the field, trying to maintain the lead he earned in transition. The man on the move, though, was Kanute — he ran nearly 20 seconds a mile faster than the other leaders to launch from fourth to second and now just 13 seconds back of Blummenfelt. Ditlev held third, another 7 seconds back, with Funk 15 seconds off of Ditlev in fourth. Further down the order and it was Laundry who had broken out on the Uber-runners, closing into 8th, with Mignon and Royle running together in 9th and 10th. Iden continued to slide backwards — 12th, and one of the slowest splits of any runner through that section of course.

Just before entering the Dixie Red Hills Golf Course and Blummenfelt relinquished the lead to Kanute, but refused to let Kanute get away. Ditlev stalked that pair just 15 seconds back. Funk, meanwhile, was ceding time to the chasers of Taagholt and Noodt (the fastest man on the road) — about a minute from the lead, and only 1:40 from giving up his fourth place.

Rolling through the golf course and it appeared like Kanute was more comfortable working through the cross-country style part of the course which included a mix of cart paths and fairways. Blummenfelt, to his credit, refused to budge. Their stride-for-stride efforts had managed to further the distance between them and Ditlev in third. Funk still was fourth but now had less than a minute between him and the pair of Noodt and Taagholt.

Making the turnaround at the park, and Blummenfelt and Kanute were still blistering the run pace. Going through an aid station, Kanute would stretch the elastic as Blummenfelt reached for aid early, while Kanute would get his nutrition later. Blummenfelt would then be forced to surge back up behind. Coming around the town circle, Kanute looked to pump up the crowd and put in another surge, making Blummenfelt burn another match to close the gap again. Ditlev settled into third, :46 from the lead and still running faster than those behind — he just couldn’t make in-roads on the lead. Just afterwards, though, Iden pulled off course in tears. Further down, Funk had also fallen to the speed of Noodt. The rest of the top 10: Taagholt, Laundry, Royle, Madsen, and Steenberg. Lurking just under a minute from the top 10 were Matt Hanson and Long.

Coming back up to the golf course, and it looked like the efforts from Kanute were starting to pay dividends. Blummenfelt on multiple occasions on uphills looked like he stumbled slightly, having to re-catch his stride. It seemed like the podium itself was set, with Ditlev having nearly a two minute gap back to fourth place Noodt, and although Noodt was running faster than everyone else on the road, the 10 second per mile difference would not be high enough to catch Ditlev by the end. It’d just be a matter of order, as Kanute continued to set the pace, Blummenfelt having to keep pushing back, and Ditlev holding steady in third.

As they exited the golf course to head back toward town, Blummenfelt leaned hard on the downhill, opening a gap on Kanute in what appeared to be the winning move, extending that lead out to 23 seconds with just under a mile left to run. Blummenfelt began high-fiving the crowd with about three quarters of a mile left, and while a fan was taking a selfie, Blummenfelt waved to the camera. Ditlev was still maintaining his gap on Noodt, with those positions seemingly not in question.

Finishing with a final flurry of high-fives across the line, Blummenfelt broke the tape in 3:37:12, running a 1:11:39 half marathon. Kanute picked up second, a 1:11:56 half marathon bringing him just 49 seconds from victory. Ditlev rounded out the podium, his 1:14:07 half marathon good enough to hold off Noodt for third. Funk wound up rebounding after a slow opening half of his run to take fifth place. In a sign of how fast 70.3 racing has become, only one male in the Top 10 ran above 1:15 (Funk), and the spread from first to 25th was merely 17 minutes.

Men’s Top 10 Results

1. Kristian Blummenfelt 3:37:12
2. Ben Kanute 3:38:01
3. Magnus Ditlev 3:39:52
4. Miki Noodt 3:40:51
5. Frederic Funk 3:42:34
6. Miki Taagholt 3:42:45
7. Jackson Laundry 3:43:52
8. Thor Madsen 3:44:42
9. Aaron Royle 3:45:03
10. Clement Mignon 3:45:45