More Norwegian domination in store as 70.3 Worlds rounds off IRONMAN Pro Series?
An incredible menâs field is set to line up for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Marbella on Sunday 9th November.
The Norwegian trio who swept the board at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice all head to Spain as do the last two winners of the race, Jelle Geens (BEL) and Rico Bogen (DEU).
RELATED CONTENT: Click here for full womenâs start list
But one big name missing is last yearâs runner-up and runaway T100 leader Hayden Wilde. There had been speculation he might be granted a wildcard as he wasnât able to take in his intended qualifying race given he was recovering from serious injuries after being hit by a truck in Japan when on a training ride â but that doesnât appear to have materialised.
More success for Norway?
Casper Stornes led home that famous one-two-three at the IMWC in Nice recently and makes his 70.3 Worlds debut but his compatriots on the podium, Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden, are both former 70.3 Worlds winners.
The all-Norwegian podium in Nice [Photo credit: IRONMAN]
That trio currently occupy the top three positions in the IRONMAN Pro Series for which this is the concluding race. Blummenfelt sits top of the standings, with Stornes a distant second and a similar gap back to Iden in third so another lucrative day for Norway is on the cards.
Also hoping to score valuable Pro Series points and improve on their position in the year-end standings are Kristian HĂžgenhaug (DNK), Nick Thompson (AUS), and Rudy Von Berg (USA) â sitting, sixth, eighth, and 10th respectively.
With the two athletes above him in the standings not racing in Marbella, HĂžgenhaug has a very real chance to leapfrog into fourth â needing just 209 points to do so â and possibly as high as second if he scores 2,723 or more and Iden and Stornes, who both already have the full quota of races, donât improve their scores.
Several athletes on the Marbella start list are no strangers to the podium at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon. Sam Long (USA) in 2021 and Ben Kanute (USA) in 2022 and 2017 have both finished runner-up, while Von Berg in 2019, Magnus Ditlev (DNK) in 2022, and Daniel BÊkkegÄrd (DNK) in 2021 have finished third.
A notable absentee is Canadaâs Lionel Sanders, who had hoped to be back in time after an injury lay-off.
Meanwhile, a cohort of short-course athletes will be hoping to make their mark on the middle distance at their debut 70.3 World Championship, including Panagiotis Bitados (GRC), Vincent Luis (FRA) and 2024 Olympians Jonas Schomburg (DEU), Jamie Riddle (ZAF), Sam Dickinson (GBR), Jake Birtwhistle (AUS), Seth Rider (USA), Alessio Crociani (ITA), and Miguel Hidalgo (BRA), among others.
Menâs provisional start list â Sun 9th Nov
Bib Number First Name Last Name Country Represented  1JelleGeensBEL2RicoBogenDEU3KristianBlummenfelt NOR4GustavIdenNOR5MarcDubrickUSA7PanagiotisBitadosGRC8VincentLuisFRA9CasperStornesNOR10SamLongUSA12KristianHÞgenhaug DNK14NickThompsonAUS15RudyVon BergUSA16JonasSchomburgDEU17MattHansonUSA18JamieRiddleZAF19MagnusDitlevDNK20HenrikGoeschFIN21KacperStepniakPOL22CameronMainGBR23JarrodOsborneAUS24TrevorFoleyUSA25SamDickinsonGBR26FabianKraftDEU27JakeBirtwhistleAUS28SamAppletonAUS30LeonardArnoldDEU31JasonWestUSA33SethRiderUSA34ColinSzuchUSA35JacksonLaundryCAN36LasseNygaard PriesterDEU37KenjiNenerJPN38RostyslavPevtsovUKE39AndrewHorsfall-TurnerGBR40BenKanuteUSA41NathanGuerbeurFRA42RobertKallinSWE43MatthewCollinsGBR44AntonyCostesFRA45GregorPayetLUX46WilhelmHirschDEU47KevinMcDowellUSA48DanielBÊkkegÄrd DNK49DylanMagnienFRA51SimonViainFRA52BartAernoutsBEL53EmilHolmDNK54Valdemar SolokDNK55MatthewRalphsZAF56Mathias LyngsÞ PetersenDNK57MicheleBortolamedi ITA58AlessioCrocianiITA59MiguelHidalgoBRA60MaxStapleyGBR61MathisMargirier FRA62TaylerReidNZL63SimonWestermannCHE64LouisWoodgateGRC66SamOsborneNZL67AndreasDreitzDEU68MaxNeumannAUS69GabrielSandörSWE70DieterComhairBEL71JohnKilleenUSA72MartinDemuthAUT73TomHugDEU74Anders ToftNielsenDNK75Martin Baeza MunozCHL76NickEmdeDEU77SebastianWernersenNOR
