IRONMAN Frankfurt 2024 results: Kristian Blummenfelt is BACK with INCREDIBLE victory

Kristian Blummenfelt returned to full-distance triathlon racing in some style on Sunday, surging to a brilliant victory at IRONMAN Frankfurt 2024.

The 30-year-old Norwegian superstar was competing in his first Ironman race since Kona in 2022, having dedicated more recent times to short-course racing and the road to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Just 13 days ago he had been racing a Mixed Relay in the French capital over the Super Sprint distance.

It was like the 2021 IRONMAN World Champion had never been away though as he sat off the pace on the bike before producing a trademark buccaneering run to glory around the streets of the German city.

‘Big Blu’ needed only to finish the race to validate his spot for Kona in October, but he was here to win and he looked strong as he surged to the front on the run and never looked back. All this despite needing a toilet break and then later vomiting on course as he scorched to victory with an astonishing marathon which stopped the clock at 2:32:29.

Two-time IRONMAN World Champion and home favourite Patrick Lange was the best of the other pre-race fancies, but he could only finish eighth – almost 12 minutes behind Blummenfelt.

Swim – Blummenfelt in touch, Lange has big task

Germany’s Wilhelm Hirsch led the massive Men’s Pro field out of the water to end the first loop of the swim course, ahead of Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg and Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands. In terms of the big names, New Zealand’s Braden Currie was in fifth while Blummenfelt sat in 7th – both right there with the leaders. Patrick Lange though was back in 32nd, more than a minute down already, with American ‘Big Unit’ Sam Long 2:41 away in 62nd.

At the completion of the swim, it was still the same order up front with Hirsch out of the water in 45:51 ahead of Salvisberg and Koolhaas. Currie in fifth was 10 seconds away with Blummenfelt in seventh just 15 seconds back. Lange, uncharacteristically, was just over 4 minutes away in 31st with American star Hanson a few seconds behind him. The gap for Long was 7:10, while recent IRONMAN Lake Placid victor Trevor Foley was right behind the ‘Big Unit’.

T1 saw Hirsch grab a 19-second advantage over Koolhaas at the front while Blummenfelt (now 46 seconds back) and Currie (1:23 away) both lost time on the leader.

Bike – Hogenhaug takes control despite crash

Hirsch continued to enjoy his day in the sun (actually it was rain by now, sadly) at the front, building his lead up to a minute as he went through 30km of the bike course. Kristian Hogenhaug had moved into second as he headed a chasing train of 16 athletes (spanning around 20 seconds), which also included Blummenfelt in 4th. Currie meanwhile was more than 3 minutes back, with Lange at 5:19, Foley at 9:01 and Long now 9:03 away.

By roughly quarter distance (45km), Hogenhaug had bridged up to Hirsch at the front, with the next group of 12 athletes starting some 44 seconds off the pace with Koolhaas. Blummenfelt was safely nestled in that group in 6th. Further down the field and Canadian Jackson Laundry was making some inroads as he closed to within 5 minutes, while Lange was 5:16 back. Matt Hanson’s deficit was 5:24 with Foley (9:34) and Long (9:35) still racing together but with much to do.

The inclement weather was not just impacting the athletes but also the TV audience, with the IRONMAN helicopter grounded at this stage because of the conditions, and visuals therefore quite limited for broadcast users.

Hogenhaug took control of the race in the second quarter of the bike leg, building a 40-second advantage over the gallant Hirsch. This despite the Dane taking a nasty spill when navigating a slippery turn – thankfully he was quickly back up and on his bike. It was then another minute back to the next group of 12, which included Blummenfelt. Further back the field was starting to fragment, with Lange up to 18th position but now 6:08 off the pace. Currie and Hanson were right behind the German superstar. Laundry had dropped off the pace to almost 10 minutes behind the leaders while Foley and Long were going backwards in terms of the timings – almost 13 minutes behind the leader.

That crash for Hogenhaug appeared to have had little impact and the Danish star continued to build on his lead – which had grown to 2:10 over Ruben Zepuntke of Germany with Hirsch falling back into third. Blummenfelt was 2:41 off the pace but Lange now had a mountain to climb at 9:05 as the field really started to string out in the miserable conditions. Long’s hopes of claiming one of those six remaining Kona slots appeared to be fading fast – he and Foley were now more than 16 minutes back.

With just over 20km of the (reported) 178km bike course remaining, Hogenhaug’s lead was still healthy at 2:42 over Zepuntke, with that bigger chase group – which included Blummenfelt – now more than 4 minutes away. Lange, Currie and Hanson were all close together but just over 11 minutes back from Hogenhaug.

The good news as Hogenhaug arrived first into T2 was that we no longer had any rain, and the Dane had clocked 3:57:09 for the bike leg. Worth re-iterating though that the course is reportedly a little short of the 180km norm for Ironman racing. Still impressive when you consider that crash and the wet conditions. Zepuntke was next to arrive, 2:44 behind the leader.

Blummenfelt was third into T2, some 4:51 behind the leader, with the question now surrounding how he would perform in the latter stages of an Ironman just two weeks after transitioning from short-course action at Paris 2024. We were about to find out.

Lange’s hopes of an emotional home victory appeared to be all but done at this stage as he got off the bike 11:57 behind the leaders, with Hanson at 12:10. Long meanwhile was more than 17 minutes off the lead in 35th position. Much work still to do for the ‘Big Unit’, but Foley’s first race in Europe was now over as he was a DNF at the end of the bike leg.

Run – Blummenfelt surges to glory

The first run split would be potentially instructive, and it showed Blummenfelt making early inroads into that deficit to Hogenhaug. He was now just 3:45 back in third, while the Dane had padded his lead over Zepuntke to 3:01.

‘Big Blu’ was rolling now and taking significant early chunks out of the deficit. By 3km into the closing run he had reeled in Zepuntke and was about to make the pass for second. Hogenhaug’s lead over him was now down to 3:06.

If the first 3km of the run had suggested Hogenhaug would have company up front at some stage, the next 4km suggested it would be happening very soon. Blummenfelt was now just 43 seconds behind his Scandinavian rival, and behind him the race was getting even more interesting. Britain’s Kieran Lindars was just over 20 seconds behind Blummenfelt in third.

Blummenfelt surged to the front soon after and it was now a question of whether he would hold up after almost two years away from full-distance combat. At this stage, he was looking as strong as ever. By the end of the first of four run laps he led Lindars by 20 seconds, with Hogenhaug now down to third and fading. Further back, Hanson had closed to within 9:15 of the lead but Lange was not making the expected inroads – still more than 11 minutes away.

The gap at the front did close significantly at around the 18km mark when Blummenfelt felt the need to take a toilet break and headed into a Porta Potty. He was quickly back out though, trisuit zipped back up and still at the front of affairs – 27 seconds ahead of the surprising Brit at 18.5km. Italy’s Gregory Barnaby was third (1:53 back), with Hogenhaug falling out of the podium positions.

Blummenfelt had slowed a little on the second run lap, but by the time he completed it his lead over Lindars had grown to 55 seconds with Barnaby 2:25 back in third. Further down the field, Hanson’s early surge was now petering out as he fell to 10:42 away in 12th with Lange 12 minutes back from Blummenfelt in 14th.

The progress of ‘Big Blu’ continued to be relentless, though he did have an uncomfortable moment just over 10km from home when he vomited mid-stride. On this day though, nothing could stop the superstar from Bergen. By the end of the penultimate run lap his lead was at 3:15 over Lindars and 3:59 over Barnaby.

Blummenfelt was now racing only against himself and his body as he surged relentlessly on to a brilliant victory – finally clocking a time of 7:27:21, topped off with a terrific 2:32:29 marathon.

Lindars followed home the Norwegian, with the British star producing the best race of his career so far – a tremendous 7:32:14 finishing with a 2:37:05 run. Barnaby completed the podium.