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Colossal Comebacks, Spectacular Sprint, and Broadcast Blunder Highlight 70.3 World Championships

Colossal Comebacks, Spectacular Sprint, and Broadcast Blunder Highlight 70.3 World Championships

70.3 Worlds recap, budget-friendly fueling, and treadmill risk!

Matthew Sharpe
November 12, 2025

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Good morning everyone,

Well, we were knocked so far back from the incredible races at this past weekend’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Champs that we needed an extra day to get the newsletter out!

Haha, not quite. Things just got a little hectic at Tempo HQ (more on that soon), and this edition had to be pushed back a day.

But plenty to talk about from the weekend that was. So let’s get into it!

In today’s edition:

🥇 Colossal comebacks, spectacular sprint, and broadcast blunder highlight 70.3 World Championships
🍌 Budget-friendly fueling.
☣️ And is there a risk to using a treadmill?

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free.

ONE BIG THING

Colossal Comebacks, Spectacular Sprint, and Broadcast Blunder Highlight 70.3 World Championships

IRONMAN

What is it: This past weekend, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships took place in Marbella, Spain. And as the athletes delivered historic performances on-course, fans at home were screaming at their screens - for all the wrong reasons.

Charles-Barclay’s Colossal Comeback

Less than a month ago, Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) was slumped on the side of the road at the IRONMAN World Championships, forced to quit after showing signs of severe heat stress.

And now, almost improbably, she is a two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion.

Swim: The doubts of LCB’s form were washed away in the Mediterranean chop as the Brit took an early solo lead.

She would exit the water 50” up on chasers Taylor Knibb (USA) and Jessica Learmonth (GBR).

Watch: Charles-Barclay blasts the swim in Marbella

New IRONMAN World Champion, Solveig Løvseth (NOR), was 2’ in arrears alongside other favorites Paula Findlay (CAN), and Kat Matthews (GBR).

Bike: In what felt like a Kona deja vu, Knibb bridged to Charles-Barclay in the early stages of the bike. And like Kona, they would push the pace, creating a significant gap over the chasers.

But after both athletes’ Kona collapses, would they have the strength for another championship run?

Behind, Løvseth would fall off the main chase pack containing Learmonth, Findlay, Matthews, and Sif Bendix Madsen (DEN). They would enter T2 almost four minutes behind the leaders.

Run: After taking an early 20-second lead, Knibb once again fell back to Charles-Barclay. With both athletes on pace for the top two podium spots.

At the 6km mark, Charles-Barclay caught Knibb. One km later, she had dropped her.

Matthews’ hopes of another World Championship podium were dashed when the Brit shockingly dropped out of the race with an injury. So did Findlay. Third place was wide open.

Watch: Kat Matthews suffers mid-race calf injury

As the run progressed, Charles-Barclay would not relent. She would break the tape over 3’ ahead of Knibb. Her Kona devastation turned into Marbella elation.

Watch: An emotional Charles-Barclay wins the 70.3 World Championships

🥇 Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
🥈 Taylor Knibb (USA)
🥉 Tanja Neubert (GER)

Full race results

Geens Bests Blummenfelt

In what may have been the most competitive long-course triathlons ever, Jelle Geens (BEL) fought through setbacks and a bitterly determined Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) to take back-to-back 70.3 World Championship titles.

Swim: Predictably, there was little separation in the water as 40 athletes exited within 90 seconds of each other.

Race favorites Geens, Blummenfelt, Magnus Ditlev (DEN), Caspar Stornes (NOR), Gustav Iden (NOR), and Rico Bogen (GER) all exited within a minute of the leader and flew out of T2 ready to hit the brutal hills of Marbella.

But before the hills, Geens would hit the pavement.

Watch: Jelle Geens crashes early on the bike.

Bike: Quickly remounting his bike after the crash, Geens would make a beeline for the front of the race. At the same time, Nice breakaway buddies Jamie Riddle (ZAF), and Jonas Schomburg (GER) were attacking the initial climb.

They would jettison most of the large front pack. And at the top of the second climb, about 30km in, a “terrific ten” of Riddle, Schomburg, Geens, Blummenfelt, Bogen, Ditlev, Stornes, Simon Westermann (SUI), Mathis Margirier (FRA), and Panagiotis Bitados (GRE) formed at the front.

Attacks by Ditlev and Margirier helped drop Bitados - but couldn’t shake Geens.

Watch: Mathis Margirier attacks the front pack.

Run: Last year’s champion rolled into T2 - bruised but not beaten - and ready to unleash his knockout punch on the run.

But Blummenfelt wasn’t ready to hit the mat. And had the Belgian against the ropes in the opening mile.

Geens would slowly return to the front of the race. And after 3km Riddle and Schomburg dropped off the pace leaving the Belgian and Blummenfelt to duke it out.

Watch: Geens closes early run gap.

5km in and there was no daylight between the two. The same halfway through. Surely Geens would make his move soon?

But Blummenfelt was locked in. His Nice disappointment fueling a run performance for the ages.

Then, Geens attacked. But Blummenfelt brought it back. Only 5km remained.

Then 3km left- still together.

1km to go. They were neck and neck. Setting up a sprint for the ages.

Just ahead of the finish straigh,t Geens made the decisive move and took the inside line. With the finisih line in sight he blasted ahead of Blummenfelt, taking his second 70.3 World title.

Watch: Geens wins World Title in thrilling finish

🥇 Jelle Geens (BEL)
🥈 Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
🥉 Casper Stornes (NOR)

Full race results

Tempo’s take: In the past month and a half, there were four IRONMAN World Championship races. And they were some of the best we’ll ever see.

An all-day battle in Nice, collapses in Kona, Charles-Barclay’s collossal comeback, and one of the best sprint finishes we’ve seen…sort of.

“First one of those I’ve watched. Feel sorry for the fans if the coverage is like that every time”
“1km to go, hey let’s show the viewers the boats. Buildings. Mountains. Let’s ignore the fact there’s a battle going on.”

Just as the boys were winding up for an all-time sprint, the coverage cut out to footage of the Andalusian surroundings.

Here’s what IRONMAN missed showing live to an incredibly captivated audience.

In our modern media environament, attention has never been harder to get. And if you are able to acquire it, it needs to be respected. With these kinds of unforced errors, we’re starting to wonder if IRONMAN actually cares about its audience?

The live broadcasts usually gets a certain amount of hate, but this time feels different.

CEO Scott DeRue has an incredible track record of responding to athlete feedback. Bad swag? Addressed.

Race conditions causing chaos? No questions asked refunds.
Seperate World Championships not working? Move them back to Kona.

With the Pro Series over, he now has time to make an effort to fix the broadcast. Does it need to be perfect? No, this isn’t the NFL.

But it needs to be better.

Do you think IRONMAN's broadcast need an overhaul?

Is the AI Bubble About to Burst? (95.2% Accurate Forecast)

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Will Jensen stun Wall Street again?

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Top forecasters are already positioning.

See Latest Earnings Forecasts

FAVORITES

🍳 Your protein needs: Dialing in your protein consumption can help you stay healthier and put you on the right track to achieving your goals. But do you know how much you actually need? Find out in this insightful protein guide for athletes. [irunfar]

🍌 Budget-friendly fueling: Does it feel like you need to take out a second mortgage to fuel your training? With these simple, budget-friendly grocery ideas, you can fuel your training AND save that second mortgage for a new bike! 😂😭.

☣️ Treadmill risk: For many, treadmill season is here. But can skipping out on snow and ice actually increase your risk of injury? Sort of! This article explains why and how you can avoid a treadmill-induced injury. [Run]

🗺️ Your longevity blueprint: An IRONMAN World Champion at 80 years old. Yes, Natalie Grabouw is the oldest female IRONMAN World Champion - ever. And the life lessons she shares in this article serve as a guide on how to win your own longevity journey. [Women’s Health]

🥇 World Champ unlocked: Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Greg van Avermaet just did the one thing he couldn’t do during his pro cycling career - win a World Championship! In Marbella he fianlly snagged one in the 40-44 age group! [Cycling News]