It could perhaps be classed as one of the greatest compliments ever made that, in amongst all the IRONMAN Texas hyperbole, Jelle Geens’ jump to full-distance triathlon is still being discussed with such intrigue and importance placed upon it.
The Belgian star was even name-dropped by Lionel Sanders last week as the 15-year veteran of multisport racing reeled off the long list of big names who will be congregating at The Woodlands this week.
Talking on his YouTube vlog, the Canadian all but confirmed him as a threat when he said: “Jelle Geens is there. New addition. One of the best in the world…”
Completing his career journey
The truth is that not even Geens knows whether he can live up to such billing as he finally takes the plunge and completes a career journey from the 2016 Olympics through WTCS short-distance racing into T100 and 70.3 and now on to full IRONMAN.
He certainly has the pedigree of someone capable of bridging a crossover that very few have been able to make a success of in the past. His 38th place at the Rio games seems a long time ago for the 33-year-old, who has since gone on to win World Triathlon Series, World Cups and 70.3 World Championships in a hugely successful career.
Geens could easily have settled into chasing more success at middle-distance, and nobody would have ever questioned his logic. But it seems IRONMAN was an itch that he simply could not ignore… and now he can’t wait to give it a good scratch.
His latest YouTube vlog shows him preparing for the jump to full distance, with a training schedule that is purposefully pushing his body to its limits as he looks to get used to trying to swim-bike-run with added fatigue coursing through his system.
‘It’s starting to become real’
“It’s starting to become real,” he says on the video, which is embedded in this story below. “It’s a big unknown, isn’t it? I’ve never biked 180k. I’ve never run 42k. Now I do it at one time, in one go. It is a bit daunting, I guess, but I have the mindset that, because I haven’t done it yet. It’s also a bit like the sky is the limit; I don’t know yet where my IRONMAN limits are.
“It’s also quite fun going into the race without knowing what it is or knowing too much about how much it will hurt. In that way, it’s quite exciting to do something that I feel has been in the back of my mind and growing for the last couple of years.”
He won’t have too far to look for inspiration either, with current Pro Series leader and the man he beat to last year’s 70.3 title, Kristian Blummenfelt, having trodden a relatively similar career path from the Olympics up to full distance.
The Norwegian’s Olympic gold in 2021 was followed by World Triathlon Series success and IRONMAN success a year later, before he then took the 70.3 title for good measure in 2022.
Stacked field awaits Geens
And Big Blu isn’t the only star name on The Woodlands start list, as Geens just so happens to have picked a first IRONMAN that has a field reminiscent of one straight out of Kona.
“We knew already quite a long time ago that basically everyone was going to be there, and it’s almost going to be like a world championship race,” he said. “It’s a super stacked field. But those types of races, where you race literally the best in the world, are the races that motivate me and get me excited.
“So I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s a good thing that I’ve never done an IRONMAN; some people might put me up there as a possible winner, but no one really knows my potential. I obviously believe I can be the very best, and I go into Texas wanting to win that race.
“I could do IRONMAN South Africa, which is the same weekend. I guess there are a few strong people there, but it’s not nearly as dense as Texas. For me, it’s more exciting that it’s such a quality field rather than like me getting nervous over it.”
But let’s not kid ourselves here… This leap into the unknown is not going to be easy. If it were, then you’d see short-course legends Alex Yee and Matt Hauser lining up at Kona every year expecting to compete for honours.
Win, or take a podium place, and he is already a legend… anything else, and it’s a case of taking the lessons learned and moving on to the next one.
Whether he can add his name to the list of multi-distance heroes remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: it will be a thrilling subplot to what is already shaping up to be the race of the season.
