Joe Skipper is aiming to return to his best in 2025 as he plans to bounce back from a disappointing triathlon campaign.
The 36-year-old British long-distance star endured a difficult year, failing to secure a full-distance win for the first time since 2016 and failing to grab a podium for the first time since 2012.
The end result was Skipper dropping all the way down to 94th in the PTO’s World Rankings.
Tough 2024 for Joe Skipper
DNFs at IRONMAN Texas in April and IRONMAN Lake Placid in July made for a disappointing start to the year before Joe chose to forego the 2024 World Championship in Kona and instead “undergo some medical tests, to rule out any underlying issues”.
Skipper returned action in September at IRONMAN Chattanooga and finished seventh in what turned out to be a duathlon. He was delighted with that day in Tennessee, stating at the time that he “felt pretty good” with his performance, which included a costly 60-second penalty.
Skipper on IRONMAN Pro Series
Now all eyes turn to 2025 for Joe, and what his priorities will be as he looks to return to his best form. They will not include the IRONMAN Pro Series, a new initiative he applauded when it was introduced in 2024.
“I’m not going to do the Pro Series,” Skipper admitted on his Triathlon Mockery podcast.
“For me, the way the racing pans out doesn’t work well for me, I’d rather target individual races and try to win them. I want to do South Africa because it is a good race – the timing in the year is good and I want to try and win it – but I’m not going to pursue the IRONMAN Pro Series as it’s too much travelling.”
IMWC Nice the big 2025 goal for Joe
The big goal in Skipper in 2025 will be the biggest race for all in long-distance triathlon – the IRONMAN World Championship.
After that brutal slugfest in Kona last month, the race will return to Nice on the Cote d’Azur on September 14 next year. Skipper was motivated by watching what unfolded in Hawaii, and he has unfinished business in the south of France after finishing only 30th in 2023.
“The goal is to compete at IRONMAN World Championships in Nice,” he revealed.
“I watched Kona and it really motivated me and I thought what would I need to do to get a good result in Nice, had a big think about it and I think I can do that, get a really good result in Nice.
“I’ve had a long think about what I have to do to get top five, top three or potentially win it – I don’t think that’s out of reach if I trained for it and hit the targets in my head I think need to do.”
