PTO reveals stacked men’s field for European Open
Judging by who's on the start list, the PTO European Open is going to be one hell of a race. Here's who'll be lining up to race on the men's side...
One day after announcing a very strong women’s start list, the PTO has revealed which male athletes will be racing at the European Open in Ibiza on 6 May.
At the top of the list is a name fans everywhere have been hoping to see – Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR).
After winning the rearranged 2021 Ironman World Championship and Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2022, it was thought that Blummenfelt was going to focus on short course in 2023 with an eye on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
However, it seems the Norwegian won’t be eschewing longer events completely, which is good news for those wanting to see a showdown between some of the sports biggest hitters.
And while Jan Frodeno‘s name isn’t currently on that start list (he currently sits outside the PTO’s top 30 ranked athletes), it’s pretty much certain that the German will be getting one of the four wildcards, which are set to be announced tomorrow (13 April).
Also absent from the list is one Alistair Brownlee (GBR), but the chances are we’ll also see him being awarded one of those wildcards, too.
If everyone makes the start line fit and firing, that means fans will see the showdown they’ve all been waiting for.
Of course, there are plenty of other strong athletes that’ll also be in that battle. Patrick Lange (GER) is a man that needs no introduction, while Magnus Ditlev (DEN) is a powerhouse of an athlete who has the strength and talent to mix it up with the best of them.
The likes of Sam Laidlow (FRA), Max Neumann (AUS) and Leon Chevalier (FRA), who won Ironman South Africa last month, have all shown what they’re capable of over the past 12 months, too.
Representing the Brits are Tom Bishop, who has had a fine start to the season following a second at Challenge Miami and first at Challenge Puerto Varas, and David McNamee.
Also on the start list are Florian Angert (GER), Frederic Funk (GER), Aaron Royle (AUS), another talented Dane in Daniel Baekkegard, New Zealand’s Kyle Smith and a host of top American talents. Those include Ben Kanute, Bradley Weiss, Jason West, Rudy Von Berg and Ben Hoffman.
A host of other talented athletes will also be toeing the start line and you can see the full list here.
The course will see athletes complete a 2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run.
After Ibiza, the PTO Tour travels to Milwaukee for the US Open on 4-5 August and then onto Singapore for the first-ever European Open on 19-20 August. Here’s how you can watch every PTO race live.
Top image credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for Ironman
Rob Slade
