EHe bares his teeth, bites and then, when it’s done, he splutters. A year and almost nine months after his last finish, triathlon champion Jan Frodeno is finishing a race for the first time at this moment. A total of 100 kilometers of swimming, cycling and running lie behind him, he congratulates the winner exhaustedly and then sinks to the ground at the gang. Four of them finally sit there: Frodeno, the only one over 40, and the three who were better that day, all under 30. Hands reach for him from behind: His wife Emma and the two children are standing there, daughter Sienna Sofia ( 5) crawls over the gang to him and sits next to him. Jan Frodeno is back, even if he has to watch the award ceremony.
The PTO European Open this Saturday in Ibiza was a festival for fans of this sport: exciting and peppered with big names. It was Frodeno’s return to the competitive stage. The first and possibly last meeting of the triathlon greats Frodeno and Kristian Blummenfelt, the only two athletes with Olympic gold and an Ironman World Championship title. And in addition: the two-time Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and many young guns. “There’s nothing bigger than going up against Jan and Alistair,” Blummenfelt predicted. “It’s not just about winning races, but also about winning against the best.”
In the end, the race has a surprise winner in the Australian Max Neumann, Blummenfelt shows a grandiose catch-up race and the day turns out to be an instructive, exhausting, but also encouraging return for Frodeno. There is still a lot to do before his career finale, the Ironman World Championship in September.
Actually, according to Frodeno’s original plan, he wanted to end his career with a bang in October 2022 in Hawaii. Preferably, according to his goal at the time, with the Ironman World Championship title number four. But 2022 turned out to be a year of epidemics for him: Achilles tendon problems, then incorrect treatment of this injury and the cancellation of the start of the Ironman World Championships in Utah in May. The comeback attempt in July in Roth ended in pain after a few kilometers of running, Frodeno gave up, no risk for Hawaii. Then a wheel crash with serious consequences, the consequences of which almost forced him to end his career. Hip surgery, forced break, spectator role in Hawaii – Frodeno was served.
2023 didn’t start much better: the 2008 Olympic champion fought back in training, but had to cancel the start of the season in the USA at the beginning of April due to a virus. The time had come in Ibiza, and the big question was: How fit is Frodeno actually after being able to train with restrictions, in pain or not at all for a year? In the meantime he is in top form again and was able to cope with all the stress in training without any problems, but he has a lot of catching up to do. Before the race he said: “The last few weeks have been great, so I’m cautiously optimistic.” And: “It’s still the case that I make relatively big leaps in fitness from week to week, which of course also means that the fitness is not at the end point.”
Frodeno strong while swimming, then a blunder
Throwback to the morning of the race in Ibiza: At 8.15 a.m. this Saturday, the presentation of the athletes begins, with Frodeno being the first to enter the stairs on the Platja de ses Figueretes beach. He jogs over a blue carpet and through a line of spectators to the water. More top-class artists follow. Like Blummenfelt. Like Alistair Brownlee and the Dane Markus Ditlev. Patrick Lange had to cancel due to injury.
Two laps of 1000 meters each, interrupted by a short shore leave, lie ahead of the athletes. Frodeno and Brownlee are swimming at the front of the field, for Blummenfelt it’s about not losing too much time. After halftime, the Australian Aaron Royle is about the same as Frodeno, the German Florian Angert is also involved in the front, Blummenfelt is about 30 seconds behind. And keeps losing in the second half. Royle (22:38 min.), Frodeno, Brownlee and the New Zealander Kyle Smith get out of the water almost at the same time.
Frodeno rushes through the transition zone, runs his bike to the start of the track and is the first to get on, but then the champion stumbles briefly: he can’t get into his shoe attached to the bike, slips and the other three pass. Frodeno follows immediately. Other athletes follow within the next 20 seconds or so. Blummenfelt is 1:10 minutes behind, Ditlev almost 1:30 minutes. Your race to catch up begins with the first step on the pedals.
Ditlev at an average of 44.69 km/h
Four laps, each with only 161 meters of altitude difference, have to be completed, a total of 80.2 kilometers. While a distance of twelve meters must be maintained in races in the Ironman series, it is even 20 meters here. As in some of the previous races of the season, the RaceRanger will be used on Ibiza to check the slipstream zone. The device, developed by the New Zealand triathlon professionals Dylan McNeice and James Elvery, is intended to check the slipstream rule and ensure more transparency and fewer discussions. To put it simply, sensors are attached to the front and rear of the pros’ bikes, which measure the distance to the competition and emit light signals. Until now, athletes and judges could only guess.
Ditlev rolls up the field from behind, seemingly effortlessly passing one athlete after the other. Blummenfelt also reduced the distance to the top. Frodeno is at the front for a long time, but then has to be torn down. The question is: Can’t or won’t he follow? The same applies to Blummenfelt, who has also come further up the field, but hasn’t rushed through to the top like Ditlev.
Smith was first, followed shortly afterwards by Brownlee, Hawaii fourth-placed Max Neumann and Ditlev got off their bikes within ten seconds. Ditlev set the fastest average speed of 44.69 km/h. A good 50 seconds behind, Thomas Bishop and Royle roll into the transition area. And then comes the duo that everyone has been looking at in the past few days: Frodeno and Blummenfelt have found each other on the bike, but are a good minute behind when they put on their running shoes.
Blummenfelt with enormous speed, Brownlee breaks in
What’s next? A total of six laps totaling 17.8 kilometers are run. At the front, Brownlee makes an impressive pace and breaks away. A little further back Blummenfelt wins the duel against Frodeno in the second round – the German fights.
Then Brownlee gets it. The Brit has to pay tribute to his high speed, Neumann comes up from behind and they continue running side by side. The British Olympic champion was beaten just a few 100 meters away – and is now running away from Blummenfelt. Because the Norwegian is fighting his way up, is 4.5 kilometers from the finish and 39 seconds behind in second place.
1:42 minutes behind Neumann, Frodeno achieves a success for self-confidence: he runs past Brownlee, with whom he fought more than ten years ago on the Olympic distance. Frodeno is now running at a pace of 3:40 minutes. Up front, Blummenfelt hasn’t given up on winning, but is slowly approaching the Australian. 19 seconds to go and 1.5 kilometers, he sees Neumann in the distance, trying what seems almost impossible. And then has to realize that the 27-year-old Neumann can no longer be caught.
The Australian runs rough, but doesn’t break down, grabs a last drink – and jubilantly saves himself to the finish after 3:13:47 hours. When he can speak again, he says in a halting voice, “You don’t get many chances to compete against these athletes. It’s a privilege to compete against Jan, Kristian and Alistair. I never expected to win.” Ditlev finished the race in third place. And then, 2:16.40 minutes after Neumann, Frodeno follows.
He is back. Not in top form yet, but that would be presumptuous. The triathlon world has moved on, Frodeno has to defend himself against a young guard of strong athletes – and the race has shown how difficult that will be. But also that it is possible. Especially since the fight at Ironman Hamburg and then the World Championships in Nice will last more than twice as long.
The women’s race is still on.
