On 29 June, the city of Frankfurt, Germany will host the men’s IRONMAN® European Championship triathlon. As one of the oldest and most prestigious races on the circuit, the city will once again welcome a world class professional field, made up of three IRONMAN World Champions, the full 2024 IRONMAN World Championship podium, and last year’s IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship podium. Athletes will battle for a piece of the $87,500 prize purse, a maximum of 5,000 points towards IRONMAN® Pro Series™ standings and the title of IRONMAN European Champion. The race will also offer five qualifying slots to the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship® triathlon in Nice, France.
The event can be viewed live in person and will be broadcast across multiple platforms for viewers around the world, for free, including
proseries.ironman.com, Outside TV for US and Canada viewers, DAZN and L'Equipe in France, iQIYI and YouTube among others.
Wearing bib number one will be defending IRONMAN European Champion Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) who last year set a course best time (07:27:21) just two weeks after competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics, cementing his status as one of the best all-round triathletes. Blummenfelt comes hot off victories at both the 2025 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North American Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence triathlons, so no doubt he will be keen to keep up the winning streak and remain one of the biggest threats for this year’s IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Nice.
Three-time and reigning IRONMAN World Champion, Patrick Lange (DEU) is also hoping to make his return to racing after an injury following Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon resulted in a false start to his season. Despite dominating the sport and being one of the fastest runners on the circuit, Lange has unfinished business in Frankfurt and an IRONMAN European Champion title is the one major accolade missing from his trophy cabinet. Lange has raced the event four times, coming eighth last year with his best position being third back in 2018 when fellow German legends Sebastian Kienle and Jan Frodeno edged him out for the win. With fresh racing legs, will this be the year Lange finally takes the victory on home soil?
2022 IRONMAN World Champion and two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Gustav Iden (NOR) will also continue his season in Frankfurt, and the newest threat on the Norwegian train, Casper Stornes, will also be toeing the line following a major confidence boost in Aix-en-Provence just a few weeks away, where he finished in second, just half a minute behind compatriot and training partner, Blummenfelt.
Magnus Ditlev (DNK), last year’s IRONMAN World Championship runner-up, will also be top of many people’s race favourites. Ditlev already has one regional title to his bow, after being crowned the IRONMAN African Champion in Nelson Mandela Bay in March, and will likely see this race as opportunity to test himself against the main competitors ahead of the IRONMAN World Championship triathlon.
Cameron Wurf (AUS) and Jonas Schomburg (DEU) will both be racing hungry for victory, chasing the IRONMAN Pro Series points to maintain their high standings, currently first and third respectively. Last year's IRONMAN Pro Series winner, Gregory Barnaby (ITA) will also be gunning for a top spot, as well as racing for his qualifying slot to the IRONMAN World Championship triathlon.
Other athletes that should not be counted out include Keiran Lindars (GBR) who came second at last year’s race in Frankfurt and gave a career defining performance with a time of 07:32:14 and Rudy Von Berg (USA), who has had a strong start to the season with second place at Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North American Championship triathlon and third at 2025 Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon.
Paul Schuster, Jonas Hoffman, Leonad Arnold, and Finn Große-freese also make up a strong German contingent who will be hoping the hometown support plays in their favor.
The full start list is below (subject to change)