Today over 2,600 athletes, including over 80 pros raced in the sunny southern region of France, Aix-en-Provence. As the race meandered through scenic lakes, vineyards and historic old towns, athletes flew through the streets. The victory was taken by Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) and Marjolaine Pierré (FRA). Marjolaine Pierré took the tape in a time of 4:11:22, with Lizzie Rayner and Lena Meißner completing the podium. Kristian Blummenfelt kept the pressure on all throughout the race, with a 1:07:12 run to top it off, completing the course in a time of 03:40:56. Casper Stornes (NOR) and Simon Viain took second and third spots respectively.
In the women’s race, a group of six, made up of Olympian Lisa Perterer (AUT), Lena Meißner (DEU), Julie Lemmolo (FRA) and Lizzie Rayner (GBR) fronted the lead pack, as they led the way out of the water, with favorites Marjolaine Pierré and Nikki Bartlett (GBR) one minute and 50 seconds behind. Lena Meißner clocked the fastest swim of the day with an incredible 25-minute split, with the rest of her pack seconds behind. French favorite, Marjolaine Pierré, rapidly made up the deficit from the swim and took the lead on the bike within the first 20km, then cruised at the front the rest of the way. Sliding into T2 with a 2:21:11 bike course best, Marjolaine Pierré was first out onto the run course. Following her onto the HOKA Run Course was Lizzie Rayner (GBR), Lena Meißner and Marta Sanchez (ESP). Marjolaine continued to lead the race throughout the run, with Lizzie Rayner, Lena Meißner and Marta Sanchez, who kept up the pace and remained in the top spots.
In the men’s race, Jonas Schomburg (DEU) led most of the swim, swimming a 22:32 and was one of the first out of the water. Sam Dickinson (GBR) and Cameron Main (GBR) were among the athletes first into T1, with favorites Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) & Ruben Zepuntke (DEU) further behind. It didn’t take long for Blummenfelt and last year’s champion Zepuntke to make up for that time they lost in the swim, with both firmly sitting in the top five for the rest of the bike. Straight into T2, Ruben Zepuntke (DEU) was first out and onto the HOKA Run Course, closely followed by Nathan Guerbeur (FRA), Kristian Blummenfelt and Simon Viain (FRA). With a two minute 47 second deficit to catch up on, Blummenfelt went on the hunt to chase down Guerbeur, and ran with Viain working together to keep up the pace.
In an aggressive take over, Viain and Blummenfelt successfully knocked Zepuntke off the top spot midway through the run, and Casper Stornes (NOR) climbed his way up too. However, it was the Norwegian Olympic Gold Medalist and 2021 IRONMAN World Champion, Kristian Blummenfelt who would take home the crown.
Blummenfelt commented: “I felt strong throughout the whole day, coming off the bike, felt super comfortable from the beginning ...I was quite pleased with how my legs felt when I was turning up the pace...great fun out there on the course... great to have 2 Norwegians back on the podium”
Marjolaine Pierré said: “I am so happy and glad to put my name to the race, in such a stacked field. I struggled a lot with training because of injuries, I doubt myself a lot, so winning here is so special.”
Top Five Male Professional Results – IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence
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Pro Series Points (unofficial)
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Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
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Top Five Female Professional Results – IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence
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Pro Series Points (unofficial)
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News and Notes????
- Lena Meißner secured the fastest swim of the day, clocking in at 25:00 with Marta Sanchez only 2 seconds behind. For the men Jonas Schomburg (DEU) secured the fastest swim at 22:32 and led the swim most of the way with Sam Dickinson just a second behind.
- Marjolaine Pierré secured the fastest bike split of the day, with a time of 2:21:11 setting a new course best, Pierré made up nearly a 2-minutet deficit coming out of the swim, and once in the lead on the bike, remained at the top spot all the way to the finish. For the men, Nathan Guerbeur (FRA) raced the fastest bike time of 2:05:36.
- The win is especially momentous to Pierré as she came second in her age-group debut in this race back in 2019, and she also studied in Aix-en-Provence.
- Kristian Blummenfelt landed the fastest run of the day, with a time of 1:07:12, with Casper Stornes a few seconds behind in 1:07:17 Pierre Le Corre put on his pedigree run form to run the third fastest run split of the day (1:07:18) but ran out of road to make up the deficit. For the women, British triathlete, Nikki Bartlett ran a 1:17:54, making her the fastest run of the day.
- Biggest movers and shakers in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings are Marta Sanchez moving seven places to number one while Kristian Blummenfelt moved five spaces to the top spot.
- Kristians Blummenfelt’s second victory for the season, with the first being Memorial Hermann
IRONMAN Texas North American Championship.
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.???
Kristian Blummenfelt and Marjolaine Pierré both walked away with the maximum IRONMAN Pro Series points available for an IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon of 2,500. Athletes finishing behind the race winner saw their points diminish by one with every second that ticked off behind the race winner. The Norwegians have made big moves in the IRONMAN Pro Series standings as a result of this race, Kristian Blummenfelt has moved up five spaces, taking no.1 in the standings. Fellow Norwegians Casper Stornes and Gustav Iden each move six places to 4th and 5th, respectively. Jonas Schomburg and Leon Chevalier (FRA) both move up, now standing at 2nd and 3rd. In the women’s standings, Marta Sanchez jumped seven places to no.1.
Overall IRONMAN Pro Series Standings – Top Five Male (After Seven 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 Standings – Top Five Female (After Seven 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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????
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 the first seven IRONMAN Pro Series race complete, a total of $625,000 USD has been earned by professional athletes so far – leaving just under $2 million USD to be claimed at the remaining events.?
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Top Five Male Prize Money Earned (After Seven Events)???
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IRONMAN 70.3 Aix Prize Money??
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Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
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Top Five Female Prize Money Earned (After Seven Events)???
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IRONMAN 70.3 Aix Prize Money??
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Next IRONMAN Pro Series Events Coming Up
Next up, the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series heads to the Germany for IRONMAN Hamburg European Championship triathlon on Sunday, June 1st.
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