Belgium Jelle Geens Takes Crown at The 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Triathlon in Taupo, New Zealand

December 16, 2024

- Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Léo Bergère (FRA) earn second and third spots on the podium in a thrilling race at the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon - Gregory Barnaby (ITA) finishes ninth and tallies 2,515 points today to secure his place as the first ever IRONMAN Pro Series Men’s Champion

TAUPŌ, New Zealand (Dec. 16, 2024) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – An epic battle unfolded on the second day of the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship triathlon as a field of the world’s top professional and age-group male triathletes took on the stunning course in Taupō, New Zealand. Following a fast morning of head-to-head racing, it was Belgian three-time Olympian Jelle Geens who claimed victory with a time of 3:32:09, a new IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship best time, topping Rico Bogen’s (DEU) time of 3:32:22 set in Lahti, Finland last year.

Geens swam 22:23 over the 1.9 km (1.2-mile) ROKA swim course, biked 1:59:08 across the 90km (56-mile) FulGaz bike course, and ran a 1:07:34 on the 21.1km (13.1-mile) HOKA run course to become the first Belgian to win an IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title. In a repeat of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games triathlon, Taupō born Hayden Wilde (NZL) finished second after laying it all out on the streets of Taupō, and Léo Bergère (FRA) battled hard for the third spot on the podium.

“Crazy day, I’ve been in this sport a long time and I’ve been doing ITU a long time and it’s really had its ups and downs, I would say the last one and a half years in short course racing has been really tough mentally, but to step up now to middle distance racing and in my first try to become World Champion, it’s incredible,” said Geens.

While Geens was crowned the new IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion in Taupō, the race also served as the decider of the inaugural IRONMAN Pro Series. Gregory Barnaby (ITA) was the leader at the start of the day and following his ninth-place finish in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, the 2,515 points secured Taupō that resulted in a total of 19,059 for the season put his champion status as the first professional male to win the overall IRONMAN Pro Series title beyond doubt.

Following yesterday’s exciting women’s race, it was a fast and furious start to today’s race as the world’s top professional male athletes took to the waters of Tapuaeharuru Bay. Once past the first buoy, what was initially a tight group started to split with the likes of American’s Greg Harper and Marc Dubrick separating themselves from the field in the choppy waters of Lake Taupō. Harper was the first to exit the water in a time of 21:48, followed by Josh Amberger (AUS), Léo Bergère (FRA), and Dubrick all within two seconds of each other.

It was Bergère, who arrived on race day undefeated across IRONMAN 70.3 events, that took the early lead on the FulGaz bike course and began to push the pace. With race tactics at play it wasn’t long before attacks started with the likes of local favourites Kyle Smith (NZL) and Wilde, Geens, and defending champion Bogen all jostling for position.

Olympic silver medallist Wilde was the first into T2, finishing the bike in a time of 1:58:51. Wasting no time, Wilde was out of T2 in a flash with a lightning-fast transition time of 57 seconds, just ahead of the chase pack that included Bogen, Geens, Bergère, Smith, and Justus Nieschlag (DEU), who all finished the challenging rolling bike course in under two hours.

Wilde continued to extend his lead over the first 14km and with it, the cheers from the partisan crowd also grew. However, the hometown hero’s sizeable lead and firm grip on the race appeared to fade over the final few kilometres with Geens there to capitalise, closing the gap quickly late into the run. With under 4km to go Geens made the pass and surged into the lead.

Geens would hit the red carpet with over a 50 second lead on Wilde to capture his first IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title while setting a new IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship best time on Tongariro Street in the heart of Taupō. Wilde would maintain enough stamina to capture second with Bergère following shortly behind to take the final podium spot in a race for the ages.

Talking about his race at the finish line, runner-up Wilde said: “I put big ambition out there. Obviously, I went out there, I was naïve, but I wanted to give it a go. I did the training, and I felt I rode appropriately, and I know these roads like the back of my hand, I knew that as soon as we hit View Road there was an opportunity of opening a gap, got that gap, and I felt confident going in [to the run],” said Wilde. “It’s weird to say, and I think the short course guys will say this, it’s really hard to slow yourself down in that first 10km and I just couldn’t do it, I was too excited, I went out probably too hard.”

Bergere added: “I was expecting a good race and targeting the title coming in, but Jelle was so strong today, even on the bike he surprised me, being very aggressive and he just deserved the win. He’s a great athlete with a super mindset and I appreciate that he won it. Special mention to Hayden as well, he was so aggressive all day and he just made the race exciting.”

Top five professional men’s results: 

News and Notes 

• Jelle Geens (BEL) victory in Taupō means he becomes the first Belgian to win the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
• Geens also set a new IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship best time of 3:32:09, surpassing Rico Bogen’s (DEU) time from last year (3:32:22) by 13 seconds.
• Gregory Barnaby’s (ITA) ninth place finish secures him 19,097 points to become the first IRONMAN Pro Series Men’s Champion.
• Follow a fast and furious swim start, American Greg Harper was first athlete out of the water, clocking the fastest swim time of the day in 21:48, followed by Australia’s Josh Amberger (22:00), France’s Leo Bergere (22:02) and American Marc Dubrick (22:02) all separated by a mere two seconds.
• Local hero and household name Hayden Wilde (NZL) secured the fastest bike split of the day with a time of 1:58:51, while the top six off the bike all finished the 90km course in under two hours.
• It was Taupō raised Kyle Smith (NZL) who clocked the fastest transition of the day with a lighting fast time of 50 seconds in T2.
• Geens run split, an impressive 1:07:34, was the fastest run of the day.

Full results for the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship men’s race can be found at www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship-2024-results.

For more information about the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event, please visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.To learn more about the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brands and series of events, please visit www.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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About the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

In 2006 the inaugural IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship triathlon was held in Clearwater, Florida, becoming another test for the world’s elite triathletes. Since that auspicious beginning, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon has grown in stature and popularity moving first to Henderson, Nevada in 2011, where athletes encountered a more challenging terrain and then to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec—its first stop on the new “global rotation” for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship race. The event reached European soil for the first time ever in 2015, with Zell am See, Austria, hosting an epic and memorable event. In 2016, the race moved from the mountains to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. In 2017, the race returned to the United States, taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it became a two-day event for the first time. In 2018, the event reached the African continent for the first time and was hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. Continuing the rotation, 2019 saw the French Riviera and Nice, France play host to the ever-growing IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. After a year in which the event was not able to take place due to a global pandemic, the race returned in 2021 with over 3,500 athletes competing in St. George, Utah. The event again took place in St. George, Utah, returning to a two-day format on October 28-29, 2022. After a successful two-day event in Lahti, Finland the race moves to Taupō, New Zealand on December 14-15, 2024. The event will go to Spain for the first time in 2025 with Marbella earning the right to host the event. Historically, more than 200,000 athletes have participated annually in a series of qualifying races, consisting of over 100 global events. Hosting more than 5,000 athletes from around the world, participants in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon have ranged in age from 18 to 85-plus. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.

About IRONMAN Pro Series

The IRONMAN Pro Series™ is a year-long performance-based world series that will see professional triathletes earn points at 20 select races in 19 locations globally to vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and a share of the lucrative USD $1.7 million year-end bonus prize pool. Athletes will also continue to battle for each individual event’s prize money equating to over USD $2.5 million and coveted world championship qualifying slots. The IRONMAN Pro Series will consist of six full-distance IRONMAN^® triathlons and 10 half-distance IRONMAN^® 70.3^® triathlons in addition to the split location women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship^® triathlons and two-day women’s and men’s VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlons. Open to approximately 1,000 eligible professional triathletes worldwide, the IRONMAN Pro Series will usher 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. Incorporating iconic distances, challenging courses, and stunning destinations, every IRONMAN Pro Series race will be broadcast live and free to a global audience. An additional 18 events throughout 2024 will also offer IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 professional racing and world championship qualifying opportunities, as well as over USD $1.6 million in prize money to create a total 2024 professional prize purse of nearly USD $6 million. For more information, visit proseries.ironman.com/.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, UTMB^® World Series trail-running events including the Canyons Endurance Runs™ by UTMB^®, Tarawera Ultra-Trail™ by UTMB^® and Ultra-Trail Australia™ by UTMB^®, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world, providing participants the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Catering to the full athlete experience, the company portfolio also includes FulGaz^® virtual cycling, the most realistic indoor riding experience connected fitness application aimed at preparing athletes for real-world events. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business, and Orkila Capital, a growth equity firm focused on building great brands. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 14,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.