IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds Men’s Pro Preview

The gang is mostly here in Lahti for the 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. Our top three men from the 2022 70.3 Worlds are here, led by the near master of all distances, Kristian Blummenfelt. Race day is Sunday (Saturday night for those of us watching in the United States). Here are our predicted top contenders come Sunday.

Men’s Contenders

Kristian Blummenfelt: It seemed like Blummenfelt’s strategy of racing anything and everything may have been coming back to bite him a little in 2023, with his overall results up until last weekend not living up to his near-Superman level standards, with no victories and little in-roads on WTCS. He still was on the podium in Ibiza and Milwaukee, but still. No wins? What is this?

Naturally, Blummenfelt decided that we collectively should eat our hats, with a blistering performance to victory at the PTO Asian Open. If there’s anybody prepared to turn himself inside out for a World Championship, it’s hard to overlook the gold medalist and defending 70.3 Worlds winner.

Ben Kanute: Last year’s silver medalist at 70.3 Worlds, Kanute’s recent form would suggest a repeat strong finish is a bit out of the question. When you dig a bit deeper into Kanute’s racing history though, you find a man that turns up ready to perform at the biggest races of the year. Third in Roth (biggest event on his 2023 calendar to date), multi-time winner at Oceanside, and consistently in the mix at 70.3 Worlds. When it’s time to award the biggest prizes our sport has on offer, Kanute’s there. Leave him off your podium picks at your peril.

Jason West: The hottest runner in the sport has made a habit of slashing through fields late in races as of late. West’s worst finish of the year so far is a fifth in Ibiza. It’s remarkable consistency given that he’s usually having to make up a deficit coming off of the bike. You have to go back to last year’s 70.3 World Championship to find a truly “off” day at the office for West. This is also a course that should play further into his hands, as it isn’t as punchy of a bike course and should limit the losses coming into T2. Don’t be surprised if we’re seeing a repeat of the run battle we saw in Milwaukee between Blummenfelt and West.

Frederic Funk: Funk is another athlete who simply has a stranglehold, usually, when he goes racing in Europe. He podiumed everywhere he finished in Europe for almost 18 months, with that streak snapped in Ibiza this spring. Funk is also one of the freshest athletes of the bunch, having raced only four times thus far in 2023. He’ll have his work cut out for him to improve upon his 2022 fifth place finish — this course does not feature the punchy bike that usually favors Funk’s strengths — but he’s another strong pick.

Lionel Sanders and Sam Long: I grouped Sanders and Long together because, well, they’re both going to face the same problem: they have to absolutely limit their losses in the water to have anything resembling a chance at moving through a world-caliber field. That said, they both have world-beating bike and run ability that always leaves them a chance, so long as they aren’t trying to claw back 5 minutes out of the water. What should help them is water temperature in Lahti.

Both have had good seasons. Long won three straight races earlier this spring and summer before taking consecutive fifths at PTO Open events following the birth of his son. Sanders, meanwhile, has a win, two seconds, and a fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 events this year, and just missed a top 10 in Milwaukee. Unlike the aforementioned Funk, both Sanders and Long can drill the bike and deliver excellent runs. But just how much ground will they have to make up…

Pierre Le Corre: Le Corre’s my dark horse pick. It’s somewhat asinine that his PTO individual sport ratings are so low, given his WTCS credentials. Anybody who is a sub 30 10K athlete should be considered a potential race disrupter, and Le Corre has done that off the bike (namely in Yokohama last year). Given the potential race dynamics due to the long slight uphill drag on the bike, and fireworks on the run, it’s no wonder Le Corre is also a favorite pick in our Reader Forum at the moment for surprise podium.

Men’s Field

1 Kristian Blummenfelt
2 Ben Kanute
3 Gustav Iden**
4 Frederic Funk
5 Miki Taagholt
6 Jackson Laundry
7 Thor Bendix Madsen
8 Sam Long
9 Jason West
11 Pierre Le Corre
14 Justus Nieschlag
15 Jordi Montraveta Moya
17 Lionel Sanders
18 Steven McKenna
19 James Teagle
20 Menno Koolhaas
21 Filipe Azevedo
23 Kacper Stepniak
24 Mike Phillips
26 Rico Bogen
27 Franz Loeschke
29 Dylan Magnien
30 Adriano Engelhardt
31 Jack Moody
32 Nicolas Mann
33 Mathis Margirier
34 Matt Hanson
35 Bart Aernouts
36 Matt Trautman
37 Jan Stratmann
38 Youri Keulen
39 Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez
40 Alessandro Fabian
41 Jonas Hoffmann
42 Ognjen Stojanovic
43 Andrea Salvisberg
44 Marc Dubrick
45 Mitch Kibby
46 Martin Ulloa
48 Antony Costes
49 Charlie Quin
50 Dylan Gillespie
51 Igor Amorelli
53 Jack Sosinski
54 Joshua Lewis
55 Robbie Deckard
56 Jorgen Gunderson
57 Gonzalo Fuentes
58 Maximilian Sperl
60 Nick Thompson
61 Miguel Mattox
62 Kye Wylde
63 George Goodwin
64 Richard Varga
65 Benjamin Zorgnotti
**As of this writing, will not be starting on Sunday.