The incredible fields at IRONMAN Texas have lost a big name with the news that Magnus Ditlev will miss the race.
The Danish star made a sensational full-distance debut at The Woodlands race in 2022 when he recovered from a bike mechanical, which cost nearly 10 minutes, to finish second after a sprint finish on the run with Ben Hoffman.
His next race saw him win Challenge Roth and he went on to tear up the record books there with three straight victories as well as fastest-ever full distance times.
‘The body has other plans’
This year sees the first time that the 20-metre draft zone (rather than 12) will be in operation at IRONMAN Texas – and all M-Dot branded pro races – which should play into Ditlev’s hands as one of the strongest cyclists out there.
But the start of the week saw the news that he won’t be lining up against what is arguably the strongest IRONMAN field ever seen outside a World Championship.
Posting on Instagram, he explained: “It’s @ironmantri Texas race week but unfortunately, I won’t be on the start line. I’ve been looking forward to this race for a long time and put together seven great weeks of altitude training, but sometimes the body has other plans.
“A few days ago, I woke up with fever feeling seriously unwell, which turned out to be shingles.
“After consulting with doctors and my team, we made the tough call to travel home. Now focus is on getting healthy again and then hopefully hit an Ironman start line soon.”
Norway leads the way
In his absence four of the top five men from last year’s IRONMAN World Championship in Nice – Norwegian trio Casper Stornes, Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt as well as Marten Van Riel – will battle it out with the likes of Patrick Lange, Jelle Geens, Lionel Sanders and many more.
Just under 80 male pros are set to line up in the biggest field ever and it’s quality as well as quantity but hopefully Ditlev is back soon to make his mark on what is already shaping up to be an incredible season.
On this weekend last year he won IRONMAN South Africa but hasn’t raced since finishing sixth in the 70.3 World Championships in Marbella last December.
