Daniela Ryf back to ‘where it all started’ as she gears up for Taylor Knibb clash

Daniela Ryf says the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship is “where it all started” as she strives for a sixth title this weekend and takes on rising star and defending champion Taylor Knibb.

Swiss superstar Ryf rewrote the record books last time out with the fastest ever full-distance time against a stacked field at Challenge Roth, obliterating Chrissie Wellington’s previous mark which had stood for over a decade.

That was back in June and this is her first race since then and asked at the pre-race press conference why the 70.3 Worlds in Finland has been near the top of her agenda, she explained: “I think how I choose the races is those where I find I can really get the best out of myself.

“And in the last few years, I think 70.3 Worlds have been that race.”

‘I’m not Kristian’

After two Olympics appearances, Ryf’s breakthrough middle-distance victory came at the 70.3 Worlds in Mont-Tremblant in 2014 and she would go onto dominate the event by adding further victories in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

And she admits: “This has always been a race which means a lot to me. My first big win was in 2014 – I think that’s where really it all started. And so it does mean it was a little bit the beginning of my second career.”

The second of those successes came in Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria, the first time the event had been held in Europe – and the second time was Nice in 2019, which again saw a Ryf victory.

This weekend sees the third foray to Europe and Ryf added: “This year being in Europe was one factor as well.

“You have to kind of handle the training because I’m building up for Kona and for me, the race in Kona is the big, big goal but I still I want to do other races.

“I’m not Kristian [Blummenfelt], I can’t jump on a plane and then race the day after. I try to minimise the travel and optimise and maximise the recovery between the training.”

Going off-road to get back on track

And that training this year has included gravel biking, something which Ryf feels will stand her in good stead on an undulating course in Finland.

She explained: “I definitely started to do more gravel riding just because I love to be away from traffic and it’s kind of that freedom feeling. I did it before Roth and also before Rapperswil [when she won IRONMAN 70.3 Switzerland] so I definitely think it’s helped me.

It’s having these hard hills where you can’t really go easy because you have to push up them and having the gravel makes it even a bit harder.

“I think also over the years, I learned I need to change some things a little bit. I always used to train on the TT bike, so it gets quite intense. You always think about your position and so on whereas for me, the gravel was just kind of a way to not think about my position all the time.”

Ryf’s biking prowess has always been her strong suit but it’s arguably gone up another level this season and the only person ahead of her in the PTO rankings for that discipline is none other than Taylor Knibb, the woman who took her crown in eyecatching style last year.

Their only previous 70.3 clash was at the 2021 Worlds when Knibb – who booked her Olympic spot at the Paris Test Event recently – finished higher in third and speaking on IRONMAN’s ‘A Fighting Chance’ preview, Ryf admitted: “Taylor Knibb will be really strong and kind of on paper, I don’t really know how I can beat her.

“I’m excited to see – and just go for it. On paper sometimes it looks different but I definitely feel like she’s strong in all disciplines so won’t be easy to crack.”