Laidlow Breaks Through, Takes IM World Championship

A year ago, Sam Laidlow was desperately close to winning the IRONMAN World Championships, racing on the front from the gun and leading through mile 21 of the marathon before ceding to champion Gustav Iden.

He would not be denied a second time. Laidlow emerged victorious at the men’s 2023 IRONMAN World Championships, held for the first time outside the United States in Nice, France.

Laidlow followed a similar strategy to his 2022 race, attacking from the front from the opening cannon, then began building a gap during the first climb of the day with fellow Frenchman Clement Mignon. Once on top of the climb, Laidlow hammered away from Mignon to create an insurmountable advantage, arriving to T2 with a five minute lead over Magnus Ditlev and Rudy von Berg, and was able to maintain that advantage throughout the marathon despite an incredible run from Patrick Lange, who was more than 12 minutes back to start the marathon to wind up second. Ditlev held off von Berg for the final podium spot.

Laidlow, given nearly thirty minutes to digest his finish, was still in shock following the victory: “Honestly, I don’t believe it. It’s the stuff I have dreamt of my whole life. I’m just so grateful.”

“It’s been a rocky season. Injury. I had COVID 2.5 weeks ago. I came here a bit fresher than some others. I wanted to go in with the same mentality as last year — I’m just a kid here trying to race against the best and see where it gets me. On the bike I held the wattage I thought I could on a good day. You had to take risk. The crowds were great. There’s never been a French world champion and I hope this is the first of many.”

Lange was happy with the end result, despite not making it up to Laidlow. “Unfortunately I didn’t make it all the way to the top step. I’m really happy with the race, I kept my head down all the way until the end. I had a crap swim. Gained some motivation when I caught up to Jan (on the bike). Left it all out there on the run.”

When asked if he thought he could catch up to Laidlow, Lange responded, “To be honest, no. I knew that Sam, in the lead, as a French man, he would die for that victory. It would have taken a miracle to catch him. Everyone else was possible and that kept me motivated.”

Ditlev was very pleased with his third place performance, building off his eighth place finish last year. “I’m super proud of the way I fought. I didn’t feel super good throughout the day, but I’m super happy with how I kept staying positive throughout the entire race. It was such a tough day. I’m super proud that I fought all the way to the podium.”

“No, the run course I struggled big time. I felt OK for the first 1.5 laps but then I did not have much energy after the bike, and then just had to keep it steady. I had a big battle for fourth on my hands when I got passed by Patrick, and proud of what I did.”

Jan Frodeno, in his final IRONMAN World Championship, swam with the front pack but tore his tri kit in T1 while trying to pull it on. Frodeno would fade on both the bike and run, taking a final victory lap for a run and encouraging his fellow professionals on course, including being one of the first to congratulate Laidlow on his impending victory.

Despite all of the talk of centerline rules coming from the pro briefing following Lionel Sanders’ disqualification at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, only two notable penalties were handed out — one to Bradley Weiss for a drafting / position foul, and one for Braden Currie for littering.

Five French athletes finished in the paid positions: Laidlow, Leon Chevalier, Arthur Horseau, Clement Mignon, and Arnaud Guilloux.

As the Race Unfolded

The day started very dark — similar to the conditions at the start of the St. George race — and with relatively calm water conditions, although they would not stay that way. The cannon fired and the professional pack spread out wide to start. By the first buoy, Braden Currie and Sam Laidlow took the early leading efforts, with Gregory Barnaby on Currie’s feet. It was a very large pack through the opening minutes. At roughly 6.5 minutes in, a six man group tried to break away which included the three early leaders, Matthew Marquardt, Robert Wilkowiecki, and Jan Frodeno. But the groups came back together again, with the field split across two columns, as chop developed on the water.

At the first turn buoy, Laidlow put the hammer down, and successfully split the swim groups, with roughly 12 men making it with Laidlow, with the aforementioned six there, but also Rudy von Berg and Nick Heldoorn. Clement Mignon was the head of the chasers and trying hard to bridge back up to the front group, bouncing between the two groups. As the swim headed back towards shore, the building incoming current and waves seemed to help carry the chasers back into the mix, with the gap merely 20 or so meters between the two largest swim groups. Patrick Lange and Magnus Ditlev were at the front of that chase group at this point.

Heading back out to sea for the second half of the swim, the gap between the two groups sat closer to 25 meters at this point, with Laidlow still pushing the pace on the front. The front group was strung out, single file, with the exception of Frodeno and Currie swimming next to one another and occasionally clapping hands. Bradley Weiss was in danger of falling off the back of the lead.

Approaching the final swim turn buoy and Frodeno tasted the front of the race of the first time, coming around Laidlow for the lead. Further down the order, the likes of Joe Skipper and Matt Hanson had fallen out of the main chase group and now saw themselves 2.5 minutes down early in the day.

Although Frodeno and Currie touched land first, it was Marquardt who was first across the timing mat to take top swim honors in 47:46. And the big drama in transition saw Frodeno rip his tri kit putting the sleeves on, with a sizable tear underneath his armpit, and Currie with zipper issues on his tri kit. Patrick Lange led the chase group, 1:15 behind. Brent McMahon, Pieter Heemeryck, and Ditlev were notable names with Lange. Cam Wurf had held the deficit to 3:21 out of the water. Matt Hanson and Joe Skipper were another two minutes back.

Through the flat opening few miles of the bike, the lead twelve remained unchanged: Heldoorn, Laidlow, Marquardt, Currie, Frodeno, von Berg, Barnaby, Chevron, Wilkowiecki, Mignon, Weiss, and Mathias Petersen. And the gap backwards to the main chase group remained unchanged as well, holding roughly 75 seconds behind. Much further down the field, though, and Skipper had already overtaken four athletes as he started his effort to climb back towards the front.

With three short steep hills, Mignon took the lead, bringing Laidlow and Currie with him on this first look at the large amount of climbing that would face all athletes today. Others, meanwhile, like Frodeno, sat in in these climbs, choosing to bide their time until the longer sustained climbs that would come later on the day. Mignon and Laidlow had built a minute lead over the likes of Weiss and Barnaby, with another 30 seconds to von Berg and Frodeno. Big movers elsewhere saw Cam Wurf move 12 spots up, now 15th and 3:40 from the lead, and Lange moving backwards through the field.

Getting onto the largest climb of the day, Mignon and Laidlow kept owning the front of the race. Von Berg had gone to the front of the chase, which now sat 1:43 down. That chase was comprised of von Berg, Weiss, Currie, Barnaby, Frodeno, Marquardt, and Heldoorn. Ditlev was a solo Chase 2, with 40 seconds to make up to bridge to Chase 1. Ben Phillips and Heemeryck came next, 3:07 from the front.

On the slopes of the biggest climb, it was Jan Frodeno who was moving in the wrong direction, losing nearly five minutes in the process. And Bradley Weiss picked up a bike position foul as well. Mignon and Laidlow, meanwhile, continued to lead, holding a 2.5 minute lead over Weiss, Ditlev, von Berg, and Currie. Wurf had pushed up to seventh, 3:41 down, with Heemeryck, Barnaby, and Leon Chevalier rounding out the top 10 on the road.

Over the top of that climb and through one of the many descents, it was Laidlow out in front (although nearly finding himself hitting a barrier on a switchback on the descent). He’d pulled away from Mignon by two minutes. Mignon, though, still had a 1:40 gap on Ditlev and von Berg, and that pair had dropped Currie in the process. Wurf had moved to sixth, bringing his deficit to Mignon down to just 3 minutes. But, in a sign of just how strong Laidlow had ridden this prior section, he had put almost a minute and a half into Wurf here. After serving his penalty, Weiss rejoined in 7th, 7:43 down. Back further, Frodeno had continued to slide down the field, now riding with Lange in 14th and 15th, respectively, 9:25 off.

Onto the flatter sections of the bike, and Laidlow kept powering away, building his lead to over four minutes. Mignon was now joined by Ditlev and Von Berg. Wurf passed Currie for fifth, 6:03 behind, with Currie another 18 seconds off. Chevalier and Weiss were now together in seventh and eighth, almost a full 8.5 minutes behind. Arnaud Guilloux and Marquardt rounded out the top 10.

Coming through the first of the descents, and it was Mignon’s turn to tumble down the order. Laidlow held serve, with von Berg and Ditlev in second and third and the only people within five minutes of the lead. Wurf sat fourth, holding his gap to Laidlow, with Mignon now in sixth. But those experiences on these roads were paying dividends for the two French athletes — with the rest of the top 10 not within 9.5 minutes. And in the yo-yo order further down, Lange had accelerated away from the larger chase group he’d been a member of, gaining 7 places in 11 miles.

Continuing on the trip back to Nice, and for the first time, Laidlow’s lead was decreasing. Von Berg had closed the deficit to 4:18 with 20 kilometers left to ride. Ditlev was solo in third, yet another minute back. Wurf, another excellent bike handler, found himself gaining time on Laidlow slightly, 6.5 minutes back. Mignon, though, lost more time, sliding all the way to 10 minutes behind Laidlow, and basically riding with Chevalier. Barnaby, Lange, Weiss, and Wilkowiecki closed out the top 10.

Into transition and Laidlow’s 4:31:28 gave him a comfortable margin, and for the second year in a row, Laidlow found himself leading the IRONMAN World Championship onto the run. This year, his margin was 5:16 to start the run, with von Berg first to try to close the deficit, followed by Ditlev another 37 seconds behind. Wurf and his third-fastest bike split saw him 7:17 down to start the marathon. Chevalier and Mignon were next, 11 minutes down. And Lange, Barnaby, Wilkowiecki, and Weiss all came off the bike together to round out your top 10, 12:30 back. And the big news was Frodeno, who had come off the bike just behind the Lange group, who was taking his time exiting transition and looked like he’d be taking a final victory lap for his career versus racing for position on the run.

The opening miles saw a key pass with Ditlev moving past von Berg for second. But crucially, they were not making time up on Laidlow. The fastest men on course, though, were further back — Barnaby and Lange were running 10 seconds per kilometer faster than anyone else. That pace would put them potentially on the podium at the end of the day, but they’d still be almost five minutes behind Laidlow if he continued to hold serve.

After the first of four loops, Laidlow’s lead held at six minutes over Ditlev, who had separated from von Berg in third. Wurf still had his claws on fourth, 9:37 back. Chevalier ran in fifth, but with Barnaby and Lange hot on his heels. That group had only made 25 seconds up on Laidlow on the first loop. Mignon, Weiss, and Wilkowiecki completed the top 10.

On the second loop of the run, Laidlow finally showed some sign of being human. Ditlev was grabbing roughly six seconds per kilometer back, shrinking the gap to 5:29 with a little less than 25 kilometers left to run. von Berg, meanwhile, held steady in third, but he was bleeding time to the fastest runner on course: Patrick Lange. Lange was running anywhere from 15 to 20 seconds per kilometer faster than the athletes in front of him, which saw him close to within 3 minutes of von Berg and 10 minutes of Laidlow’s lead.

Halfway through the run and Laidlow’s lead had been whittled to 5:24 over Ditlev. Von Berg held third, but Lange’s relentless push towards the front saw that gap close to under two minutes. Lange was also under 9 minutes from the lead, and still running 15 seconds per kilometer faster than Laidlow up front. The current pace wouldn’t see him take the lead without an implosion out of Laidlow. The big slider backwards, though, was Wurf, who had a miserable second lap of the run and was now barely holding onto 10th place.

Through the third loop and Laidlow was able to bring his pace back up enough to hold the gap to Ditlev at around 5.5 minutes. Lange continued to chase hard, on pace to run near 2:30 for the marathon, and at a pace that would see him catch von Berg and Ditlev by the end of the race. Also making a move further down the field was Arthur Horseau, who had been well outside the top 10 all day, but had maneuvered his way past Weiss and Wurf to get into 9th.

To the final loop of the Promenade des Anglais and it was Laidlow’s race to lose. With 10.5 kilometers left to run and the lead sat at 5:48. Lange’s blistering run pace had him in third, 44 seconds from taking second, but not closing at a gap that would see him overtake Laidlow. Despite losing touch with Ditlev and Lange, von Berg continued to run well in fourth, and barring a catastrophe from himself or the athletes in front of him, would likely finish there.

Lange blasted past Ditlev through an aid station with 8 kilometers left to run and set his sights on Laidlow, as futile as it seemed given the math. Lange was running 23 seconds a kilometer faster than Laidlow, but that would see Lange come up more than three minutes short of the win. Further back and it was von Berg fourth, Chevalier fifth, and Horseau had pushed his way up to sixth. And with the final turnaround, it became clear that barring Laidlow suffering a massive meltdown, Lange would have to settle for a podium position.

Receiving a French flag in the finishing chute, Laidlow was able to enjoy his trip up the red carpet to claim the 2023 IRONMAN World Championship in 8:06:22. In tears, realizing what he’d accomplished, he exclaimed “We did it,” before lying back down on the ground. Lange grabbed a German flag to finish, celebrating a 2:32:41 marathon to wrap up second place. And Ditlev, although struggling, held on for third.

Men’s Top 15

1. Sam Laidlow 8:06:22
2. Patrick Lange 8:10:07 (+3:55)
3. Magnus Ditlev 8:11:43 (+5:21)
4. Rudy von Berg 8:12:57 (+6:34)
5. Leon Chevalier 8:15:07 (+8:44)
6. Arthur Horseau 8:18:36 (+12:13)
7. Bradley Weiss 8:20:54 (+14:31)
8. Greg Barnaby 8:21:15 (+14:53)
9. Robert Wilkowiecki 8:21:23 (+15:00)
10. Clement Mignon 8:24:10 (+17:48)
11. Matthew Marquardt 8:26:17 (+19:54)
12. Arnaud Guilloux 8:28:53 (+22:31)
13. Benjamin Hill 8:29:41 (+23:19)
14. Cam Wurf 8:30:42 (+24:20)
15. Niek Heeldorn 8:32:33 (+26:11)

Laidlow, Lange Images: Donald Miralle for IRONMAN
Frodeno Image: Jan Hetfleisch, Getty Images for IRONMAN

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