The men’s Ironman World Championship takes place on Sunday and with the event being hosted outside of North America for the first time, much has been made of how the 112-mile bike route in the south of France might affect the outcome.
With the undulating loop involving a lengthy climb from the swim start in Nice into the Maritime Alps and encompassing 2,427m (7,963ft) of ascent compared to Kona’s 1,772m (5,813), there has been speculation that athletes might swap their regular triathlon time-trial bikes in favour of road bikes.
But according to reigning champion Gustav Iden, who won’t be defending his title having chosen to concentrate on trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics next year, any change of plan would be a mistake.
“I’d be on a TT bike,” he said. “I’m very confident in my riding abilities and the downhill is less percentage [of the race] now than [it was in] the half Ironman [in 2019 in Nice]. So, I would do the TT bike for sure, and I don’t think I would do any modifications.”
Changing set-ups to suit the course
Footage has emerged of triathletes adapting their set-ups as they tested the terrain ahead of Sunday’s race, including France’s 2022 runner-up Sam Laidlow who was riding his Canyon-branded bike with a time-trial cockpit equipped with drop handlebars rather than bullhorns.
But if anyone is well placed to make the call, it’s Iden. Last year’s Kona winner defeated double-Olympic medallist Alistair Brownlee to become Ironman 70.3 world champion in 2019 aged just 23 – and achieved it on a road bike with clip-on aerobars.
While Iden was still a relative novice at the distance in 2019, he had won his first 70.3 as a 20-year-old in Norway in 2016.
“The choice I made then was pretty good,” he added. “But then you were also still allowed to sit on the top tube [to gain an aero advantage – it has now been outlawed] and it actually makes a bit of a difference. So, if I was going back to 2019, I think I’d still choose a road bike.”
‘Should I just do Ironman?’ But then I realised, I’m not s*** at short course, I’m s*** in general, so it wouldn’t help going long either!
Gustav Iden
At the time it made Iden the youngest Ironman 70.3 world champion ever, a record he held until a fortnight ago, when Germany’s Rico Bogen won in Finland – four months younger than Iden was in Nice.
Iden, who called time on a disappointing season where he struggled for form amid a dispute with his federation, injury, and personal tragedy with the passing of his mother, admits he also thought about returning to Nice to defend the title won in Kona in October.
“The course is super fun, and it’s so beautiful and the crowd is also very good here,” he explained. “When things were going really bad at short course, I was thinking: ‘Should I just do Ironman?’ But then I realised, I’m not s*** at short course, I’m s*** in general, so it wouldn’t help going long either!”
Gustav the Great
Iden was talking at the launch of Tri-Kings, a short film presented by On that turns the Norwegians into Viking warriors to take on gods, giants, and monsters in animated form.
Top image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images for Ironman
