Kristian Blummenfelt believes he will need to go faster than ever before if he is to add the Challenge Roth title to his incredible CV of success this weekend.
The Norwegian superstar may already have three brilliant wins to his name this season and will probably go into Sunday’s race as many people’s favourite for victory, but the man himself is clearly taking nothing for granted.
As an Olympic gold medallist and former world champion at both IRONMAN and 70.3, bringing home the win in Bavaria this weekend would complete a set of honours that only the great Jan Frodeno has achieved before him.
History books await for Norwegian
But while a place in the history books awaits, Blummenfelt has been keen to strike a note of caution as he warms up for his big ‘bucket list’ Roth appearance with a training camp in St Moritz.
Talking to Bob Babbitt on the Breakfast with Bob show this week, the video of which has been embedded into this story below, ‘Big Blu’ highlighted the threats of Sam Laidlow, Jonas Schomburg, Patrick Lange and even Rico Bogen as four good reasons why he will need to be at his very best.
In a wide-ranging video, he also confirmed that he will now compete at the 70.3 World Championships, having previously suggested that he might drop the race to prepare for Kona, and gave an insight into the relationship he has with fellow Norwegians Casper Stornes and Gustav Iden.
Introduced by host Babbitt as ‘the greatest triathlete on the planet’, Blummenfelt revealed how Challenge Roth had always been a race that he was keen to experience and that he was very much looking forward to testing himself in what is sure to be a thrilling battle.
Not just about a battle with Sam
While social media has been buzzing with talk of a much-anticipated showdown with Frenchman and defending champion Sam Laidlow, Blummenfelt explained that his race plan is focused on more than just one rival – and he also threw in a cheeky dig at one of those who will be trying to stop him.
“It’s not just Sam. Hopefully, he will not be together with Schomburg. The ideal scenario is that if they are both up front, they have a minute or so in between them so they can’t work together,” he said. “If they do, that’s going to be a dangerous combo to try to catch because both of them are very aggressive on the swim in terms of intensity.
“I think Jonas thinks that he can put together a run that can be more solid than Sam Laidlow. So it will be interesting to see if they will actually work together. I get the sense, or the feeling, that Sam wants to work with Jonas, but Jonas doesn’t care about Sam. He just wants to go pedal to the metal and take all the TV screen time himself up front.
“I will have to try to stay as close as possible to Jonas and Sam for the whole swim and bike, and then also Patrick Lange can be a dangerous guy up there. We shouldn’t forget about him. He is often performing better than expected, and that’s a dangerous guy to have in the race too.
Will require the fastest splits ever seen
“Even though I was in good shape in March and April, I think taking on Challenge Roth is going to require probably the fastest splits we’ve ever seen over the full distance.”
And while he has been enjoying the company of his friends and compatriots Stornes and Iden in St Moritz, he will be lining up without his pals on Sunday after they chose instead to compete at IRONMAN Frankfurt last weekend.
The trio have dominated middle and long-distance triathlon in recent seasons, capped by their podium sweep at last year’s world championships, and Blu admits it is always a little strange whenever he races without them by his side.
Going on to explain the dynamic between them, he admitted that he would not have achieved anything like the success he has enjoyed without their support, guidance and the relationship they have built together.
Importance of Norwegian colleagues
“The biggest benefit of having Casper and Gustav around is the fact that we motivate each other to keep the level high in training all year round,” he said. “So it’s not like we’re just super motivated two weeks out from the race, but we’re really able to keep sort of the same consistency 12 months in the year. And I think that’s really what’s making the biggest difference.
“It feels a little bit like a team victory. If I’m not able to win, but one of them are able to win, because I know that they have a small piece of the victories that I’m winning, and I feel like I’m a part of their success as well,” he said. “So we feel that we are helping each other. Even though at the end of today we all wanted to cross that finish line first, we still feel a little bit proud of what we’re able to achieve together.
“Looking back over the last 15 years, if I didn’t have them around, I would probably not have won any of the big titles I’ve won. Last year it was Casper who was the strong one, the clever one who was able to crack the code on the biggest day. And that’s something that has been motivating both me and Gustav to try to do differently in Hawaii.
“But first, I have non-Norwegian competitors lining up for the next race. And it’s been a while since having a big race without them around because it’s definitely giving me a little bit of slack, you know, to have teammates out on the course who are almost looking out for me, especially on the bike course.”
‘A candy bag of races to choose from’
As he prepares to cross another race off his ‘bucket list’ of dream events, he explained why Roth was so special to him and revealed another key event that he also has his eye on at some stage in the future.
“There are a lot of bucket list races in the sport, you know,” he said. “In Norway, as an example, we have the iconic, maybe the hardest, triathlon race in the world with the Norseman, and I think that’s a good one for the future as well.
“And there are different races as well around the world. It’s almost like a candy bag of races that you could just choose from. Roth is one of them, and that’s also why I’m racing it for the first time.
“I’ve seen the pictures and heard about the atmosphere on the course and how it actually gives you goosebumps out there on the course, no matter if you are like leading the pro field or if you are an age grouper a few hours back… Everyone is getting that unique experience, and it’s definitely a bucket list race. I’m really looking forward to it.”
With Blummenfelt, Laidlow, Schomburg and Lange all in the mix, then goosebumps will be a given once the cannon fires to start proceedings on Sunday morning.
![Magnus Ditlev joy Challenge Roth 2024 [Photo credit: Simon Fischer | Challenge Roth]](https://www.tri247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Magnus-Ditlev-joy-Challenge-Roth-2024.jpg)
