Just a couple of weeks out from the first T100 race of the season in Miami, series favourite Magnus Ditlev has revealed the athlete he’s most excited to go head-to-head with this year.
The Danish star, who finished third at the PTO Tour European Open in Ibiza last year, also shared his excitement to be one of the athletes contracted to race the T100 in 2024.
Full of praise for the destinations, matchups and season-long narrative, Ditlev said if you’re not excited by the prospect of the series, you might be in the wrong sport.
“He’s one of those athletes who has no weakness”
Having gone head-to-head with some of the best in the world over the couple of years, it was fascinating to hear who Ditlev was most looking forward to race in 2024.
He told TRI247: “I think obviously with all of the guys on the tour, I’ve raced a lot of them before. I think one of them I haven’t actually raced yet is Marten Van Riel. I think he’s also probably one of the biggest favourites for the tour.
“I don’t know if he plans to do six races or only the four that he’s allowed to do as an Olympic athlete, but I’m really looking forward to race against him and he’s one of those athletes that has no weakness.
“He basically swims with the top three swimmers in most fields and then is also close to the top three of the best bikers and runners, so it’s going to be extremely difficult to beat him.”
“It’s always special to race against legends”
After having the chance to go head-to-head with Jan Frodeno during the German’s final year in the sport in 2023, Ditlev said that he’s also looking forward to racing two more veterans of the sport this season, Javier Gomez and Alistair Brownlee.
“It’s always special to race against legends like that and they always bring something to the big races and you can never underestimate the power they have.”
The PTO World #2 said that both Olympic medallists are still a major source of inspiration in the sport, adding that the opportunity to stand on a start list with the pair is still such an amazing experience.
“It’s for sure special and it will be one of the last chances probably to race them both. They’ve been really inspiring all the way up from the younger generation to the guys racing at our level and crossing paths is super cool.”
“Miami will definitely be a highlight”
Finally, when asked to choose the race he was most looking forward to this season, Ditlev was spoiled for choice but eventually picked Miami, given its status as the start of something special.
“I think to be honest I am pretty much excited for all of the races. It’s so high level that if you don’t get excited about racing those locations and against those fields then I think you’re doing the wrong thing.
“For me, I think I’ve done Miami before and I’m really looking forward to that one. It’s also because it’s the first race of the season, so it’s highly anticipated and so that’s definitely going to be a highlight.”
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