Talking Triathlon

Ruth Astle has been diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid, after years of searching for answers through countless tests and specialist appointments. It's a significant moment for an athlete who has spent too long being told everything looked normal.

Jelle Geens has shelved his Kona ambitions to chase an unprecedented third consecutive 70.3 World Championship title in Nice, something no man has ever done. We discuss what that decision means and whether he can do it.

Ironman Leeds had its swim cancelled due to a blue-green algae bloom in Waterloo Lake, with athletes racing a duathlon instead. It's the latest in a growing pattern of swim cancellations driven by extreme heat.

Cassandre Beaugrand continues to rewrite what a triathlete can be. We look at her new approach since relocating to Girona, how competitive athletics is feeding back into her triathlon, and what it means for her dominance heading into the rest of the season.

At Ironman 70.3 Northern California, the Long versus Sanders rivalry took another twist as both were beaten by Jason West, with Grace Alexander dominant in the women's race.

Laura Philipp sends an ominous Kona warning with a course record at Ironman Kalmar, while Jonas Schomburg takes a dominant men's win in his first ever Ironman victory, completing the Kona qualification picture.

Julie Derron returns to winning ways at T100 Vancouver, chasing down Kate Waugh to take the victory, with Georgia Taylor-Brown third and Paula Findlay fourth.

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We look at Mika Noodt's recovery from his crash at Ironman 70.3 Swansea, where he hit an ambulance while leading with 10km to go, and what the journey back to racing has looked like since.

Hayden Wilde has been announced for the Supertri Pro Series Final in Jersey, setting up a reunion with Alex Yee and Matt Hauser. We dig into whether the grand final concept actually works, if Yee versus Wilde is still a storyline anyone cares about in 2026, and what Supertri needs to do to make it matter.

Ironman 70.3 Northern California features a mouth-watering head-to-head between Sam Long and Lionel Sanders, who makes his return from injury, with both men bringing serious form into the race.

Ironman Kalmar rounds out the Kona qualification picture, completing the women's Pro field for October's World Championship, with Katrine Christensen defending and Laura Philipp among the key names.

T100 Vancouver rounds out the week, with Alanis Siffert, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Paula Findlay and Kate Waugh among the headline names.

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Harry Palmer has ended his season early with a stress reaction, unfortunate news after a brilliant run of form through the summer.

World Triathlon has submitted a formal bid for triathlon to return to the Commonwealth Games at Amdavad 2030.

Alanis Siffert wins the Alpe d'Huez Triathlon for the third consecutive year, an extraordinary hat trick on one of the hardest courses in the sport. She had a notable issue in T2 that could have cost her, but pulled away to win regardless.

Alistair Brownlee finished second at Norseman, making defending champion Kristian Grue work hard for his title. He's no longer competing as a professional but it's great to see one of the all-time greats taking on a race like this.

Looking ahead to the 70.3 World Championships in Nice, the women's field is stacked, with Lucy Charles-Barclay, Taylor Knibb, Solveig Løvseth, Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews all lining up. On the men's side, the spotlight is on Hayden Wilde as world number one and the pressure is on him to deliver, alongside Geens, Van Riel, Stornes, Blummenfelt and Iden.

Ironman Kalmar is also on the radar, offering the final women's Kona qualification slots ahead of October's World Championship.

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Tilly article: https://www.triathlete.com/culture/news/how-tilly-offord-survived-a-near-fatal-crash-and-found-her-way-back-to-triathlon/

Tyler Mislawchuk makes amends for his near miss in Edmonton by winning Supertri Toronto in front of a home crowd, with Zuzana Michaličková taking the women's race.

The big news of the week is the announcement of the Triathlon World Tour, which rebrands the WTCS as the T50 World Championship Tour and expands the overall structure to around 100 events per year from 2027.

At WTCS London, Beaugrand ran away from a stacked women's field to continue her dominant season, and Matt Hauser made it yet another win over Vasco Vilaca, with Csongor Lehmann completing the podium.

Sam Long dominated the bike at Ironman 70.3 Boise to win comfortably, while Kirsten Kasper stormed back on the run to take the women's title.

Sam Laidlow has confirmed he will skip the 70.3 World Championships in Nice, choosing Challenge Samarkand as his final hit-out before Kona. And Alistair Brownlee heads to Norway to tick Norseman off his bucket list.

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WTCS Abu Dhabi, originally postponed from March due to unrest in the Middle East, has a new date of November 13-14 and will now also offer Olympic qualification points. And Ironman 70.3 Versailles, cancelled due to the heatwave back in July, has been rescheduled for October 11 at the Château de Versailles.

After the break we recap Ironman Lake Placid, where Marten Van Riel converted his 70.3 form into a dominant full-distance win, setting a new course record on debut at the distance. Paula Findlay made an equally impressive full Ironman debut, winning the women's race on her first attempt.

We then preview WTCS London, where Alex Yee races in front of a home crowd and we ask whether the women's start list, featuring Beaugrand, Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Lisa Tertsch, is the best we've seen all year.

We close with a look at the Canadian racing weekend, where Tyler Mislawchuk came within 0.01 seconds of winning the Edmonton World Cup, losing in a sprint to GB's Solomon Okrafo-Smart, and a quick mention of Taylor Knibb maybe being the most versatile athlete in the sport.

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It's a big one this week.

Three major retirement announcements drop almost simultaneously.

Joe Skipper calls it a day after a career that included ten full-distance wins, finishing his final race on home roads in Norfolk at Outlaw Holkham.

Patrick Lange announces his farewell tour, targeting one more Kona this October and a final race at Challenge Roth in 2027.

Dame Flora Duffy, four-time world champion and Bermuda's Olympic gold medallist, confirms she is stepping away after injuries made it impossible to train at the level she demanded of herself.

We also cover the late postponement of Ironman 70.3 Versailles, pulled just days out due to a heatwave and concerns over a cyanobacteria bloom in the swim venue.

After the break we recap WTCS Hamburg, where Matt Hauser made it three straight wins on that course by outsprinting Vasco Vilaca, and Leonie Périault took the women's race. France then completed the weekend with a thrilling Mixed Relay World Championship win, booking their automatic LA2028 Olympic qualification spot.

Then we look back at Alex Yee and Cassandre Beaugrand stepping onto the Diamond League track in Monaco, where Beaugrand smashed the French 3000m record by 30 seconds in a stunning run.

We recap Ironman 70.3 Swansea, where Harry Palmer made it three wins in a row in a race full of drama, and Lizzie Rayner took her first Pro Series win after race leader Mika Noodt crashed out.

We close on Challenge Roth, where Sam Laidlow set the fastest ever full-distance triathlon time to defend his title, and 24-year-old Swiss athlete Alanis Siffert produced one of the upsets of the year to beat Lucy Charles-Barclay and Kat Matthews.

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This week Belinda Granger joins as guest co-host, bringing her perspective from inside the commentary box and from her role as pro liaison at Challenge Roth.

We spend a big chunk of the episode talking through the 2026 WTCS season with Belinda, covering Beaugrand's continued dominance, Vasco Vilaca leading the men's standings, what Alex Yee's DNF in Quiberon means for the rest of the season, and what it's actually like to call these races up close.

Then we get into Ironman Frankfurt, where Casper Stornes backed up his Kona title with a win over Gustav Iden in a race shortened to a 125km bike and a half marathon due to extreme heat, with Antonio Benito Lopez rounding out the podium.

The back half of the episode is all Challenge Roth, and with Belinda involved in the race it's about as good an insider preview as you'll get. On the women's side, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Kat Matthews headline as the two to beat. On the men's side, we dig into whether Kristian Blummenfelt can deliver, and where Sam Laidlow and Patrick Lange fit into the picture on one of the fastest courses in the world.

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We open with a full recap of WTCS Quiberon, where Cassandre Beaugrand was in superb form, putting the race to bed as soon as she kicked to beat Tilda Mansson. In the men's race, Dorian Coninx outsprinted Vasco Vilaca in a thriller reminiscent of his 2023 title run, while Alex Yee was forced to DNF. We also break down the Mixed Team Relay, where France completed a clean sweep of the weekend, winning comfortably even without Beaugrand in the lineup.

After the break, we cover Ironman 70.3 Elsinore, where Marten Van Riel made it six wins from six in 70.3 racing this year, setting a new course record alongside Kat Matthews, who ran away from the women's field for victory. Both results lock in important qualification slots heading toward the 70.3 World Championships.

We close with previews of two of the biggest races coming up: Ironman 70.3 Nice, where the final women's slot for the 70.3 World Championships will be decided, and Ironman Frankfurt, where Casper Stornes, Gustav Iden, and a long-awaited season debut from Magnus Ditlev headline the men's European Championship field.

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We open with news that Olympic champions Alex Yee and Cassandre Beaugrand are heading to the Diamond League, with Yee racing the 5,000m and Beaugrand the 3,000m at Monaco on July 10, marking Yee's first Diamond League appearance since 2019 and a first-ever start for Beaugrand. Then we cover Taylor Knibb, who claimed her second US Pro Road Nationals time trial title in Charleston, continuing her run as one of the most dangerous dual-sport athletes in the world. We also break down the announcement that Chattanooga will host the Ironman 70.3 World Championship again in 2027, locking in a new five year agreement with the qualifying cycle kicking off on July 5.

After the break, we recap Ironman Cairns, where Nick Thompson and Penny Slater both picked up maiden Ironman wins, with Slater inheriting the lead after Regan Hollioake was forced to retire with a torn hamstring while well clear on the bike. We then run through Happy Valley 70.3, where Trevor Foley finally got the better of Sam Long in their fourteenth head to head meeting, and Paula Findlay ran away with a dominant women's win.

We close with a preview of WTCS Quiberon, breaking down the start lists and storylines heading into the men's and women's races this weekend.

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We open with an update on Jelle Geens, who has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his femur that has put his season on hold, including his pursuit of an Ironman World Championship qualification slot. Then we get into Lionel Sanders, who has confirmed he is working again with Mikal Iden after a difficult stretch dealing with RED-S and injury. Sanders is leaning into the Norwegian method as he targets Kona 2026.

The big story of the week is Ironman Hamburg, where metal shards were deliberately spread across the bike course in the Kirchwerder area, causing an estimated 400 punctures and forcing more than 100 age groupers to DNF. Police have launched a formal investigation. Despite all of that, the pro race went ahead and Solveig Løvseth took her fourth consecutive full-distance Ironman win, holding off Laura Philipp by just over a minute to claim the European Championship title.

We then recap T100 San Francisco, where Rico Bogen backed up his 2025 win with another dominant performance, going early on the bike and never looking back. Hayden Wilde, dealing with illness, had no answer for him.

We close out looking ahead to Ironman Frankfurt on June 28, where Gustav Iden and Casper Stornes lead the field, and Magnus Ditlev finally makes his long-awaited 2026 season debut, plus a look at other upcoming start lists.

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