The IRONMAN European Championship for professional men took place in Frankfurt today, making the 11th race of the IRONMAN Pro Series. In a nail-biting race right up to the bitter end, it was Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt who took the tape, claiming his second straight win in Frankfurt, and second regional IRONMAN Championship title this year. Kristian Høgenhaug (DNK), who arguably had the race of his career, led from the early stages of the bike until the final lap of the run came in second, and Casper Stornes (NOR) enjoyed his second IRONMAN Pro Series podium, finishing in third.
Clear skies and calm, warm waters greeted athletes at the secluded Langener Waldsee in Frankfurt’s city forest—a stark contrast to the electric and fiery racing that was about to unfold. Jonas Schomburg (DEU) took the lead early on in the swim with Johannes Vogel (DEU) and Ben Kanute (USA) on his toes, Schomburg continued to maintain his lead and by the Aussie exit led a pack of nine out of the water, including the likes of Vogel, Wilhelm Hirsch (DEU), Kanute, Andreas Salvisberg (CHE) and Kieran Lindars (GBR). It was Salvisberg who clocked the fastest swim of the day (47:42), as he was first to exit the water closely followed by Hirsch, Kacper Stepniak (POL) and Schomburg.
Hirsch led the pack out of T1 and onto the bike, but Schomburg quickly made it to the front of the pack only to be met with misfortune soon after as his TT bar came lose, meaning he lost two and a half minutes. Despite mechanical support, the problem persisted, and the German was forced to stop. Meanwhile, an Kristian Høgenhaug seized his moment and took the lead on the bike, with a chase pack of Vogel, Stornes, Hirsch, and Stepniak in his wake.
By the end of lap one, Høgenhaug had a three minute 39 second lead on the chase pack, which was now led by Stornes. Ditlev began to pick off the field, sidling into second place at around the157km mark. Other big movers on the second lap included Rudy Von Berg (USA) and Daniel Bækkegård (DNK).
With each kilometer that passed, Høgenhaug continued to eke out a bigger and bigger gap on his competitors as he reached T2 with an eight minute 33 second lead on Bækkegård, who was closely followed by Ditlev and Stornes. Despite having one of the slowest swims of the day and coming out of the water in 31st position, Cameron Wurf (AUS) put on his pedigree bike form to make his way through the field, eventually clocking the second fastest bike split of the day (3:52:46) and coming off the bike in fifth. Iden followed in sixth, with Von Berg slipping down to seventh.
Hometown favorite, Lange, got off the bike just over 14 minutes back from the lead, and then had to serve a one-minute penalty in T2 due to a swim skin violation.
On the run, Ditlev gradually began reeling in his compatriot ahead, while behind him, a fierce foot race ignited among the Norwegian trio—Blummenfelt leading, Stornes on his shoulder, and Iden looming dangerously close.
By the second lap, a thrilling battle had unfolded with all three Norwegians overtaking the Great Dane as they began their campaign to hunt down Høgenhaug who had continued to maintain a strong steady pace as he lapped up the epic spectator support from downtown Frankfurt. Blummenfelt was the first to break away, holding firm to his relentless pace and making the decisive move with five miles to go. Høgenhaug held on for second, while Stornes completed the podium.
Top Five Male Professional Results – Mainova IRONMAN European Championship Frankfurt
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Pro Series Points (unofficial)
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Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
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News and Notes????
- Kristian Blummenfelt beats his own course best which he set last year, storming to victory in an incredible 7:25:57. In sizzling temperatures, Blummenfelt also beat his run course best by over two minutes, completing the marathon course in a time of 2:30:59.
- Blummenfelt’s victory marks his second IRONMAN European Championship title (2024, 2025) and second regional title this year, after becoming IRONMAN North American Champion in Texas back in April.
- Stornes clinches his second consecutive IRONMAN Pro Series podium finish after coming second at IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence triathlon last month.
- Andreas Salvisberg (SUI) had the fastest swim of the day in a time of 47:42, and Høgenhaug had the fastest bike of the day, with a speedy 3:52:10, five minutes faster than his split from last year’s race.
- Jonas Hoffman was the fastest German of the day in a time of 07:35:55, and Patrick Lange was the second fastest in a time of 07:41:38.
IRONMAN Pro Series Standings?
The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based triathlon race series with professional triathletes being able to earn points at 18 select races in 17 locations globally. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series ushers in a new era of IRONMAN racing where Every Second Matters™ with every second behind the race winner equating to a point earned or lost. For any athlete, only their top five event results count towards their overall Pro Series points and standing, of which a maximum of three IRONMAN results can be counted. How it works can be found
here.???
Blummenfelt walked away with the maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points available for an IRONMAN triathlon of 5,000. Athletes finishing behind Blummenfelt saw their points diminish by one with every second that ticked off behind the race winner.
Kristian’s third consecutive win in the IRONMAN Pro Series boosted him four places in the standings to first, with the other big movers and shakers including Cameron Wurf (moved up two places to second); Casper Stornes (moved up seven places to third), Gustav Iden (moved up ten places to fourth) and Paul Schuster (moved up eight places to fifth).
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Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After 11 Events)???
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Total IRONMAN Pro Series Points (Max Top 5 events)
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Total Eligible Races Scored
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Eligible IRONMAN Races Scored
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Eligible IRONMAN 70.3 Races Scored
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Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
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Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Event Prize Money
In addition to the IRONMAN Pro Series’ $1.7M year-end bonus prize pool, there is an event pro prize purse payout of $2,450,000, distributed across IRONMAN Pro Series events. With eleven races now compete, a total of $975,000USD has been earned by professional athletes so far – leaving just under $1.7million USD to be claimed at the remaining events.?
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Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After 11 Events)???
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IRONMAN Frankfurt Prize Money??
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Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
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Next IRONMAN Pro Series Events Coming Up
Next up, the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series heads Wales for the first time for IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea on Sunday July 13.
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