This was our preview of the men’s pro race at IRONMAN New Zealand 2025 – you can click here for a full report, finishing order and times after Mike Phillips completed a famous hat-trick of victories in his home race.
The men’s professional race at IRONMAN New Zealand on Saturday looks wide open as former champions come up against a host of race debutants and rising stars.
Home favourite and two-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion Mike Phillips will line up in Taupō on Saturday wearing the number one bib.
His last win came two years ago but a third will not be easy to come by, with a number of experienced athletes and talented youngsters on the start line.
“Despite a lot of familiar faces, there is also quite a strong international contingent coming across this year,” says Phillips.
“With four slots for the IRONMAN World Championship, the race offers a chance to secure early qualification. It seems like there is quite a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, and I think this will lead to a dynamic and exciting race.
“A third win would be huge. This race means a lot to me, Taupō is where I’ve had some of my best days, and also my first IRONMAN win. It would be a pretty cool way to kick off 2025 in front of the home crowd.”
Strength in depth
Joe Skipper is another former IRONMAN New Zealand champion set to toe the start line this weekend.
The British athlete secured his victory in 2020, the last time he raced in Taupō, and also has two runner-up finishes to his name. Skipper had a tough 2024 and will be hoping a strong performance will put him back on an IRONMAN podium for the first time since July 2023.
Kiwi Ben Hamilton is an up-and-coming athlete entering just his third year of professional racing. His breakout performance came in this race last year, battling hard for just over eight hours to finish in third, the highest-placed New Zealander, and one spot above Phillips.
“I believe the race will be completely different to last year. There is a lot of depth in the field and it’s hard to know who’s in what shape at the beginning of the year. I think there could be a big chase group out of the swim together, with some splits on the bike and then a tough run battle until the end,” said Hamilton.
After securing his first professional win at IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast last September, Hamilton is hungry for his first full distance win – and would love to do it on home soil.
“It would be incredible to take the win at IRONMAN New Zealand, it’s definitely a race I want to win. Starting the year with a win would be fantastic, so hopefully my racing style can be the right one on the day,” he added.
Moody back for more
Fellow Kiwi Jack Moody is still relatively new to full-distance racing, with this just his fifth attempt at the 226-kilometre / 140.6-mile distance.
He explained: “This will be my second time racing IRONMAN New Zealand as a pro and third time overall. It generally takes me about this long to lick my wounds and for the endurance amnesia to kick in to put my name in the hat again!
“With the current landscape of few pro races at home in New Zealand it was definitely an opportunity I didn’t want to miss racing at home, coupled with the fact that although I may still get ID’d at the bar, I am getting on a bit now so the hunger to try my hand at more full distance racing has certainly grown.
“I haven’t done a crazy amount of full-distance races, but I am at a point now where I am not working as much, so I can plug away at the hours required to be competitive at this level. I’ve learnt a bit from racing, but this last block since the IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds has been really eye-opening for me, and I’ve loved the challenge of getting ready for this edition of IRONMAN New Zealand.
“In terms of how I reckon the race will play out, it’s really hard to tell. It feels like one of the most competitive fields I have seen at IRONMAN New Zealand in recent years and there is no clear favourite. Obviously, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, but I feel like the course is honest enough and the day is long enough that it will just be the strongest and most consistent athlete that will win,” he said.
Other strong contenders are Belgium’s Pieter Heemeryck, who focused on middle distance racing last year but has tasted success over the full distance before, winning the 2023 IRONMAN Portugal, and France’s Arnaud Guilloux, the 2019 IRONMAN Wales champion who finished fourth at two IRONMAN races last year.
Pro Men Start List
- M1 – Mike Phillips (NZL)
- M3 – Ben Hamilton (NZL)
- M5 – Arnaud Guilloux (FRA)
- M6 – Joe Skipper (GBR)
- M7 – Ben Hill (AUS)
- M8 – Tim Van Berkel (AUS)
- M9 – Jack Moody (NZL)
- M10 – Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
- M11 – Brett Clifford (NZL)
- M12 – Jason Christie (NZL)
- M13 – Rhys Corbishley (AUS)
- M14 – Nathan Dortmann (AUS)
- M15 – Liam Duval (AUS)
- M16 – Scott Harpham (NZL)
- M17 – Matt Kerr (NZL)
- M18 – Kevin Portmann (FRA)
- M19 – Louis Richard (FRA)
- M20 – John Thelwell (GBR)
- M21 – Colin Szuch (USA)
- M22 – Lukas Stahl (DEU)
- M23 – Kyle Tremayne (AUS)
- M24 – Mike Tong (NZL)
- M25 – Mikel Ugarte Ramos (ESP)
- M26 – Pim Van Diemen (NLD)
- M27 – Benjamin Zorgnotti (PYF)
When does IRONMAN New Zealand start?
The pro men will take to the water in Taupō at 0747 local time on Saturday March 1. That is 1847 Friday in the UK, or 1947 CET. The start time works out at 1347 Friday Eastern Time in the United States, or 1047 Pacific on the West Coast.
