Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has withdrawn from the men’s Ironman European Championships at IRONMAN Hamburg where he had been set for another battle with great rival Jan Frodeno.

Brownlee, who last month finished sixth at the PTO Tour European Open in his first race of the season, and has since won XTERRA Weston Park, revealed on social media that not racing in Germany had always been an option.

After missing IRONMAN South Africa at the start of the season, Brownlee will now have to reassess his racing options, with the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice fast approaching.

Showdown will have to wait

With another highly-anticipated head-to-head between Brownlee and Frodeno expected in Hamburg, fans will most certainly be left disappointed by the absence of the Brit, who explained his decision on Instagram.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be racing in Hamburg on Sunday. I entered the race to give myself an option and I’ve been doing everything I can to get Ironman fit since the European Open.

“After a tough few weeks, my body has struggled to be ready in time for this race. My focus now shifts to a later Ironman which I’ll confirm soon.”

Where next?

With the next potential races on the calendar with slots at the IRONMAN World Championships close to home looking like IRONMAN Austria and IRONMAN France in Nice, which have two and three places respectively, Brownlee will hopefully be back on a start line sooner rather than later.

Neither start list has yet been officially released but it would be a surprise if Brownlee’s name doesn’t feature.

And he’s not the only high-profile absentee from Hamburg, with the PTO European Open winner Max Neumann also electing to swerve the race and instead travel back to Australia, saying: “Couldn’t get the body into Ironman shape post Ibiza and a small niggle so we decided to head home.”