Not a stranger to smashing course records, Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev was the latest athlete to say that it could take a course record to win Kona this year in a recent interview with TRI247.
The long course star, who last season won his second successive Challenge Roth title in a mind blowing 7:24:40, also finished third at the IRONMAN World Championship in 2023.
This season, seeking Kona redemption after a penalty potentially cost him the podium on his debut in 2022, the 26-year-old is planning to peak for a winning performance on the Big Island of Hawaii.
“You will have to go significantly faster on the bike”
Drawing on his own experience from racing alongside Norwegian Gustav Iden when he broke the course record in 2022, Ditlev said with confidence that a faster bike split would be required to win in 2024.
“I think I obviously only have raced Kona one time before and I was super annoyed with the outcome, the penalty and some other stuff not going my way.
“But, I think from the last time the men’s race was in Kona, you could see with Gustav that he broke the course record by quite a margin, but I think he did that by riding pretty conservatively.
“From the way I was riding with them, after I got the penalty, I could see firsthand how fast we were going and I think you will have to go significantly faster especially on the bike if you want to win this year in Kona.”
“The course record will fall”
One thing Ditlev said that a course record in Kona is contingent on is the weather, with the conditions playing a large part in how fast the top competitors can go on the bike leg.
“It obviously always depends on the conditions. It seems that in the past few years, such as in the women’s race this year, there have not really been tough conditions on the bike.
“They have been much more suited for super fast conditions. If we have one of those crosswind days where wind is blowing down the road, then I think it will be difficult to go super fast.
“However, if the conditions were like when the guys raced in 2022, then for sure I think the course record will fall.”
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
