A race billed as triathlon’s clash of the titans more than lived up to its hype as Norwegian powerhouse Kristian Blummenfelt put on a display of such strength that it will have raised more than a few eyebrows among his IRONMAN Pro Series rivals.
It wasn’t just the fact that Big Blu won the 70.3 in Geelong; it was more about the manner of his victory, as he hunted down two of the best middle-distance athletes in the business before leaving them to flounder in his wake.
New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde and Belgian Jelle Geens – champions in their own right and among the very best triathletes in the world – were made to look pedestrian. As the IRONMAN commentator exclaimed on the live YouTube feed: “It looks like Blummenfelt is sprinting, while the others are just running.”
Big Blu proves too powerful
There were mitigating circumstances, of course.
Blummenfelt was competing in his second event of the season, having already lined up for the full-distance race in New Zealand two weeks ago, while Wilde and Geens were pulling on their tri-suits for the first time in 2026.
Wilde, however, had already set a new Geelong bike course record of 1:56:03 by the time he emerged from T2 with both Geens and Blummenfelt trailing behind him. Indeed, Big Blu started the run more than a minute and a half behind the leader and nearly a minute back from Geens.
It was never going to be enough.
Having looked like he was struggling simply to cling to the chasing pack of riders, Blummenfelt was way off the pace at the halfway mark. His recovery and ability to find more power in the second half of the bike course would prove as crucial a factor to his victory as the epic run that was to come.
Struggles on the bike
“I was a bit too far back in the group and was definitely in the wrong split at the halfway point,” Blummenfelt said afterwards. “I tried to ride into it a bit more, but there was a lot of pressure coming from the front. My power was certainly higher in the second half than in the first half.
“I just hoped that my running legs would turn up at T2, and I was quite pleased with how I felt on the run. Quite different to how my running legs were in New Zealand two weeks ago, so it’s good for the confidence to be back with a good race in this six-week block.”
It was only two weeks ago that Blummenfelt struggled in his opening race of the season at TaupĹŤ, where mechanical and nutrition issues impacted his chances. Knowing he was not in with a chance of winning at the 3km mark of the run in New Zealand meant he was able to ease off and use the remainder as prep for Geelong.
“I was recovering quite quickly after New Zealand and was able to put in three track sessions between that week and this race,” he said. “I knew those sessions felt quite good, and I felt good fitness today on the run also, but obviously, I would have preferred to ride a bit better.”
Nothing in the tank as Blu attacked
Wilde has also been focusing his training schedule on short-course racing and only switched to Geelong and the longer 70.3 format once the WTCS race in Abu Dhabi was postponed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
It is no surprise that he had nothing in the tank with which to fuel a retort as Blummenfelt thundered past him with 10km to go; he said as much in the post-race briefing, admitting that he simply wasn’t good enough or fit enough on the day to compete.
“Honestly, I just got beaten by the better guys today,” he said. “I went out at a nice pace, but I don’t think I have done the training to be able to compete with these boys; they are deep in IRONMAN training, and they are just a lot fitter than me at the moment.
“Happy to be here and get my qualifying slot for the World Championships, and I can build up for Singapore (T100 on April 25), which is my next race.
‘No excuses… I wasn’t good enough’
“I have been focusing a lot on the swim to get it up to shape for the short-course stuff, and I don’t think I was ready to be competitive. I just wasn’t good enough to compete with those guys today.
“There are no excuses; these two are the best in the world. Kristian didn’t have the race that he wanted in Taupo, as he said, so he just cruised through a marathon to get prepped for today, so we knew he was going to be in some sort of form.
“I’m happy to be with those guys today, and we continue to build.”
Geens, too, will hope to be in better race shape the next time these three line up against each other; his routine is very much focused on preparing himself for a much-anticipated debut at full-distance IRONMAN in Texas on April 18.
“It was a hard race, especially on the bike and the run, where there wasn’t really any place where you could try and recover for a little bit. Basically, it was three and a half hours of suffering,” he admitted.
“Training hasn’t changed that much, and I felt ready for a 70.3, and with all the training that I have done, hopefully in the next four weeks I can translate that into a good first IRONMAN.”
