The start lists for IRONMAN Lake Placid have been released, with a number of top tier names set to race in New York on Sunday July 21.
Amongst the athletes starting are IRONMAN Pro Series contenders Jackie Hering and Matt Hanson, plus defending champions Alice Alberts and Joe Skipper.
With over 100 professional athletes on the start list, and a number of established names battling out for the win, you won’t want to miss this race.
Pro Men
Leading the pro men’s field is Skipper, the defending champion, who races his third full distance race of the season following a DNF at IRONMAN Texas and a sixth place finish last month at IRONMAN Cairns.
The 36-year-old, who hasn’t finished on a podium since his win here last year, will need to improve considerably on his previous performances this season to stand a chance of defending his title.
The Norfolk based pro will be up against some quality North American racers, with Canadian duo Jackson Laundry and Lionel Sanders, who have four Pro Series podiums between them in 2024, both racing in Lake Placid.
Sanders, who has won back-to-back races at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant, will be the big favourite next Sunday, as he looks to wrap up qualification for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
Hanson, who currently leads the IRONMAN Pro Series, is another podium contender, especially if he gets off the bike within striking distance of the front. The PTO World #34 finished on the podium in both of his last races at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga and Boulder.
American trio Matthew Marquardt, Trevor Foley and Chris Leiferman will all be vying for a top three finish in New York, with Marquardt in particular a force to be reckoned with after finishing fourth at IRONMAN Texas in April.
Foley, who won IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder thanks to a phenomenal bike leg, is less experienced than his compatriots over the full distance, but has a huge potential and will be looking to qualify for his first IRONMAN World Championship with four spots up for grabs.
Finally, from Down Under, Kiwi Braden Currie and Australian duo Josh Amberger and Cam Wurf pose the biggest threats, with Currie a standout candidate for the win after recently finishing second at IRONMAN Cairns.
Third behind Kristian Blummenfelt and Sanders at the IRONMAN World Championship in 2022, Currie is a world class athlete and after a rollercoaster last 12 months, looks to be back on track and ready for another big win.
Pro Women
Alberts, who broke on to the professional scene last season with back-to-back full distance wins at IRONMAN Lake Placid and IRONMAN Maryland, will not be the favourite this weekend, despite being the defending champion.
The American, who has three Top 10 IRONMAN Pro Series performances to her name so far this season, comes in as a slight underdog to Hering, the recent IRONMAN European Championship winner, who was also second at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga.
Hering, along with Alberts, Sarah True and Danielle Lewis, will be looking to keep the title in America, with Australian Kylie Simpson and Dutch pro Lotte Wilms the major international contenders for the win.
Wilms, who finished third at IRONMAN Texas and second at IRONMAN Cairns, is having a brilliant season so far, and will look to go head-to-head with Hering, one of her main rivals for the IRONMAN Pro Series title, next Sunday.
Simpson, who finished third in Cairns last month, has struggled so far this season Stateside, with an eighth place performance at IRONMAN Texas her best return to date in 2024 when racing away from home.
Another Australian, Penny Slater, hasn’t race since finishing second behind Kat Matthews in Texas, but will look to feature in Lake Placid as she prepares for the crux of the season, including the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.
Finally, Swiss athlete Nina Derron, fourth recently at IRONMAN Nice, is looking for a first full distance podium since 2019, and leads a small contingent of European athletes that also includes Italian Giorgia Priarone.
Laura Siddall: 10 things I’ve learned from my professional triathlon career
