Lionel Sanders teases potential U-TURN over IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand

Coming out of the IRONMAN World Championship last month, Lionel Sanders had appeared to rule out the 70.3 World Champs in Taupo on 15 December.

He’d said: “I’m going to do another 70.3, very likely Indian Wells [on December 8] because I’ve spent all my money on the Kona trip and can’t afford to go to New Zealand any more because I didn’t make any return on this trip.”

It can be hard to know when to take the popular Canadian at face value as he can tend to change his mind – but what’s not in doubt is that Indian Wells is an event that’s been close to his heart and is obviously far closer to home.

He won it in 2018 and 2019 – and then again in 2021 after it returned following a blank in 2020 due to the global COVID pandemic.

Is it ‘game on’ for Taupo?

But writing on his Instagram page – to his near 280K followers and also to @ironmantri and its 1.1million audience – a simple post may suggest a shift in thinking for Sanders:

“Back grinding and hungrier than ever! Do you think I should do @ironmantri 70.3 Worlds? 👀”

After his 32nd place in Kona, ‘No Limits’ had admitted he still has a long way to go if he’s to be competitive again at the full distance World Championships.

But at 70.3 it’s a different story – he won Oceanside at the start of the season and followed that up at Mont Tremblant for two wins out of two in his half IRONMAN races in 2024.

Speaking after Kona he said: “In the 70.3, it’s game on. I know how to prepare for a 70.3. Two months from now we’ll do a 70.3, I’ll be in phenomenal shape. There’ll be not a single doubt in my mind and I’ll be able to do the swim, the bike and the run really well.”

Chance for ‘redemption’

Remember that he would have been in contention for a top-five spot at the 70.3 Worlds in Finland last year but for a hugely controversial disqualification for crossing an “imaginary” centre line on the bike. So it would be quite the story if he can make his mark a year later in Taupo.

Furthermore, plenty of his biggest rivals will be missing the race including – as we revealed on Friday – brilliant Norwegian duo Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden, winners of three of the last four 70.3 Worlds.

Lionel Sanders takes the victory at Iceanwide [Photo credit: Donald Miralle / IRONMAN]

The maths of a trip to NZ

One thing that Sanders is highly unlikely to be able to impact is the new IRONMAN Pro Series, with its $1.7million end-of-season bonuses up for grabs.

He is still missing a 70.3 race having only taken in four of the potential five scoring events – but with a maximum 3,000 points up for grabs the highest possible place he can move up to from his current 15th is 10th spot.

The athlete finishing in 10th nets $10,000 while those in 11th to 50th all get $5,000 – unlike 2025 when it’s going to be tiered from 11th downwards.

And to take 10th Sanders would not only need to win – or come very close to the winning time – but he’d also require an unlikely set of circumstances regarding the other athletes in contention for a top 10 spot.

However a strong performance does have the realistic potential of moving him up significantly from his current 21st on the PTO world rankings so there are plenty of added incentives, but equally potential costs to weigh up too.

And what’s not in doubt is that his presence would add many welcome eyeballs to what is the last big race of an unprecedentedly busy season for top-tier middle and long distance racing.

So, as ever with Lionel, watch this space for his next move!