A Race for the Ages: Jelle Geens Secures 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champs Title in Footrace to the Fin

Jelle Geens (BEL) made it back-to-back IRONMAN®?70.3® World Championship titles in Marbella, Spain, edging out Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) by the narrowest of margins to win the 2025 Precision Fuel & Hydration IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. 

 

Geens claimed the world title by just three seconds, the second closest finish in the history of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, with Geens and Blummenfelt pushing each other until the very end on the streets of Marbella. 

 

The defending IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion crossed the line in 3:42:54 to win, putting behind him a rollercoaster of a day where he crashed in the early stages of the bike leg creating mechanical issues and held off a hard charging Blummenfelt during the run.  

 

“This was the whole goal of the season, I went with the family to Andorra for altitude camp and I actually had a really good block leading into this race,” said the newly re-crowned IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion, Jelle Geens. “The goal was to defend the title but there is a lot that happens during the race. I had a crash on the bike, so I thought it was over there for the win. It is incredible...Being able to do it while having a family and doing everything with the family makes it all the more deserving. My little girl was there shouting ‘daddy, daddy,’ hopefully she can look back in ten years and be proud.” 

 

 

With air temperatures notably a little cooler than Saturday, and a breeze in the air, the professional men charged into the Mediterranean for the 1.9km (1.2 mile) ROKA swim at the 2025 Precision Fuel & Hydration IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Jamie Riddle (ZAF) and Alessio Crociani (ITA) exploded off the line, with the Italian surging to an early lead before chaos erupted at the first turn buoy, where Geens found himself jostled in the melee. By the halfway mark, Crociani was joined by Vincent Luis (FRA) and Panagiotis Bitados (GRE) at the front, with Jonas Schomburg (DEU), Cameron Main (GBR), Seth Rider (USA), and Casper Stornes (NOR) swimming strongly in pursuit. Fabian Kraft (DEU) drove the chase pack hard, while Blummenfelt sat deep in the second group around 30th, alongside Geens, Magnus Ditlev (DNK), and Mathis Margirier (FRA), as Rico Bogen (DEU) dangled off the back. Crociani held firm, powering clear over the final stretch to exit first in 22:21 with a 28-second advantage over a 15-strong chase pack featuring Luis, Main, Bitados, Stornes, Riddle, and Schomburg. Further back, race favourites were poised to strike on the bike – Geens at +00:58, Ditlev +01:01, Margirier +01:12, Blummenfelt +01:16, Bogen +01:32, and Gustav Iden (NOR) a distant +02:27. Of the 58 pros that started the race, 43 entered T1 within a minute and 10 seconds creating a frantic bid for prime bike positions. 

 

Once on the 90km (56-mile) Zoot bike course, Sebastian Wernersen (NOR), Luis and Main would negate Crociani’s lead out of the water as they worked their way out of town. Just after leaving transition, Geens trying to catch the lead pack would misjudge and early turn causing him to crash and damage his bike. The damage reduced him to a single gear on his bike until stopping again to make repairs as he started climbing out of town. The biggest mover in the first segment was Bogen, who flew up from 44th to third within the first 7km. Following a strong swim Magnus Ditlev put his strong bike form to work, climbing from 26th to the front of the pack by the 20km mark. Frenchman Mathis Margirier was also working his way through the group, taking the lead at the 40km mark, with nine men all within 11 seconds of the lead. 

 

As the leading pack entered the final third of the bike leg, 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Rico Bogen moved to the head of the group, ahead of Ditlev, Riddle and Geens who somehow was able to stay in the mix despite his early issues, and Blummenfelt drifting out to 20 seconds off the lead. With the kilometres ticking down the front group continued to grow, with Schomburg, Simon Westermann (SUI) and Stornes making it a group of nine all within 17 seconds of each other. Returning to the crowd-lined streets of Marbella, Riddle was first off the bike, a second ahead of Bogen, with Blummenfelt and Geens hot on their heels. 

 

The early stages of the run would prove frenetic, with positions constantly swapping. Bogen shot off ahead with Blummenfelt and Riddle keeping the pressure on. After the first kilometre Riddle, Schomburg and Blummenfelt cleared out ahead of the pack, before Geens joined in on the fun, with the leading quartet putting 20 seconds in Stornes. As the race headed back along the long, straight, stretch of road a block behind the seafront for the first time Geens and Blummenfelt cleared out ahead, settling into their rhythm and never letting the other get more than a couple of seconds ahead. With kilometres running out to the finish line, the leading duo pushed on, opening up a one minute lead over Stornes heading into the closing stages. As Geens and Blummenfelt entered the final kilometres along the waterfront if became a game of cat and mouse, with neither athlete showing their hand, powering towards the finish line. As they made the final turn onto the finish straight Geens would go toe-to-toe with Blummenfelt eventually pulling in front to take the win by just three seconds over Blummenfelt, with Stornes one minute further behind in third.  

 

?Name	Country	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish
Jelle Geens	BEL	23:19	2:09:38	1:07:35	3:42:52
Kristian Blummenfelt	NOR	23:37	2:09:12	1:07:54	3:42:55
Casper Stornes	NOR	22:57	2:09:51	1:08:28	3:43:52
Jonas Schomburg	DEU	22:54	2:10:03	1:09:17	3:44:37
Rico Bogen	DEU	23:53	2:08:54	1:11:30	3:46:29