Belgium’s Marten Van Riel is set for a busy week beginning on Sunday March 30 as he attempts to win both IRONMAN South Africa and T100 Singapore in the space of seven days. Actually, that is quite the understatement.
First up is the 140.6-mile full-distance jaunt around South Africa’s southern-most region before jetting off to Southeast Asia to compete in the Professional Triathletes Organisation’s (PTO) flagship series just a few days later.
The 32-year-old has the backing of one the sport’s most legendary competitors Mark Allen as he looks to pull off and incredible double.
Mark Allen on ‘crazy’ van Riel double plan
Posting on his Instagram page, the six-time IRONMAN World Champion waxed lyrical about van Riel’s double attempt, comparing his quest for glory to music icon Phil Collins at Live Aid in 1985. He of course played at London’s Wembley Stadium and then John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia – in the space of a few hours.
“There has possibly been only one double in distant memory more insane than the one Marten Van Riel is going to attempt in order to earn his slot to the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice,” Allen said.
“On July 13, 1985, Phil Collins made rock history. He did something that no-one had done before (and probably not since): He appeared live on television around the world twice in a single day from two different continents. Of course Phil had the benefit of helicopters, police escort and the supersonic Concorde in support of his double.
“To be fair, Marten has a week to compete on two different continents and he has to fly commercial and drive rental cars, but he’s going to have to do a lot more than sing ‘Something In The Air Tonight’.
“The first leg of the double will be IRONMAN South Africa to earn a slot for the World Champs in Nice this September. Part Two will be a week later, yes one week later! He’ll be on the start line of T100 Singapore to gain overall ranking points in that series.
“Is it crazy? Of course! Is it doable? I say yes! It may not be pretty, but it’s doable.
“The shock won’t hit until the run in Singapore, and at that point an athlete of Marten’s level will figure out how to overcome the reality in pursuit of two big dreams. And like they say in crazy commercials, “Don’t try this at home. It’s being done by trained professionals!”
Is Marten for Riel?
The Belgian, currently ranked number one in the world by the PTO, will be keen to acquire one of the four IRONMAN World Championship berths on offer at the South Africa event – the first full-distance race of the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series.
To date, his only full distance outing came at IRONMAN Cozumel in November 2024 where he finished in seventh place – a crash towards the end of the bike leg scuppering his chances of victory.
Van Riel is the defending T100 Triathlon World Tour champion after securing a trio of race victories and one second place in his four appearances in 2024.
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