Morning endurance fans…

From the windswept Brittany coast to the fast roads of Denmark, the endurance world delivered once again as the WTCS headed to Quiberon, and IRONMAN 70.3 Elsinore provided another crucial chapter in the Pro Series race.

Throw in Challenge Gdansk, an incredible Tour de Suisse from Tadej Pogačar, and suggestions that HYROX might yet play a key role in the future of triathlon, and you have another cracking edition of the Daily Split.

Here’s what we have lined up for you today…

❌ GUTTED: Kiwi Hayden Wilde has ruled out a late bid to challenge for this season’s WTCS championship title because of his illness woes. Read HERE.

🇺🇸 CONTENDERS: Who are the five USA men most likely to break the European stranglehold on the 70.3 world title this season? Read HERE.

🤞🏻 HOPING: Ten of the women racing at this week’s IRONMAN 70.3 in Nice will be battling for the final World Championships place. Read HERE.

🎽 RECORDS: Ultrarunner James Gibson has made history by setting new records for three brutal mountain challenges in six months. Read HERE.

PRO WOMEN: Cassandre Beaugrand put in a performance befitting of the Olympic champion as she saw off rising star Tilda Månsson (SWE) to the delight of her French fans at WTCS Quiberon.

Månsson claimed her first WTCS win in Yokohama last month while Beaugrand triumphed in Alghero, and we were treated to a showdown between the pair on the run in what was a sprint-distance race, with the Frenchwoman proving strongest as she won her fourth straight event on home roads.

Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen claimed her first individual WTCS podium in third after being prominent throughout.

Women’s results (750m – 22km – 5km)
🥇 Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) 09:46 – 31:21 – 15:51 = 58:29
🥈 Tilda Månsson (SWE) 09:53 – 31:03 – 15:49 = 58:37
🥉 Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) 09:48 – 31:25 – 16:05 = 58:42

PRO MEN: Dorian Coninx evoked memories of his dramatic World Triathlon Championship Series overall victory in 2023 when he got the better of a thrilling sprint finish against Vasco Vilaca (POR) to win WTCS Quiberon.

The French coastal town was a new addition to the WTCS schedule, as it hosted the first sprint-distance race of the campaign, and it had a popular home winner as Coninx just outgunned Vilaca, who had been bidding for a hat-trick of WTCS wins in 2026 after his victories in Samarkand and Alghero.

Ricardo Batista (POR) rounded out the podium in third, but it proved another frustrating day for Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR), who again stepped off the race course on the run after being distanced in the swim and on the bike.

Men’s results (750m – 22km – 5km)
🥇 Dorian Coninx (FRA) 09:51 – 27:41 – 14:28 = 53:16
🥈 Vasco Vilaca (POR) 09:53 – 27:38 – 14:27 = 53:17
🥉 Ricardo Batista (POR) 09:48 – 27:43 – 14:28 = 53:19

MIXED TEAM RELAY: France underlined their strength in depth with a dominant victory in the Mixed Team Relay at WTCS Quiberon on Sunday.

This was the start of the relay qualification cycle for the next Olympics, and France completed a clean sweep, having won the two individual races on Saturday.

They were able to leave out Olympic champ Beaugrand for the relay but still won with ease thanks to Leonie Periault, Yanis Seguin, Emma Lombardi – whose rapid T1 on the third leg arguably proved race-defining – and Coninx, who added to the glory of his individual win by anchoring them to victory by a whopping 24 seconds.

Italy were a distant second, just ahead of Spain in the 16-team field, with Brazil a late withdrawal after Manoel Messias suffered a knock in the individual race on Saturday.

Mixed Team Relay results (4x legs of 250m – 8km – 1.25km )
🥇 France 21:42 – 19:56 – 22:19 – 19:46 = 1:23:42
🥈 Italy 21:59 – 20:02 – 22:18 – 19:49 = 1:24:06
🥉 Spain 21:59 – 20:04 – 22:21 – 19:43 = 1:24:07

ELITE WOMEN: Kat Matthews ticked off ‘Plan B’ in her IRONMAN Pro Series tilt in some style with victory at 70.3 Elsinore on Sunday.

The Briton has won the Pro Series – and the $200,000 prize that goes with it – in each of the last two years, but her hat-trick bid was dealt a serious blow by a race-wrecking puncture at IRONMAN Texas.

But she pivoted to add an extra 70.3 into the equation just two weeks before her Challenge Roth debut, and the move paid dividends as she collected the maximum 2,500 points on offer.

She had just under two minutes to make up after the swim, and that had risen to three minutes after the bike, but she erased that within 9km of the run and spent the rest of the half-marathon high-fiving her way around the course as she kept her rivals at arm’s length.

Katrine Græsbøll Christensen (DEN), just two weeks after finishing third at IRONMAN Hamburg, went one better here with second place despite a penalty in T1, with Lena Meißner (GER) third.

Women’s results (1.9km – 90km – 21.1km)
🥇 Kat Matthews (GBR) 26:04 – 2:15:10 – 1:16:36 = 4:02:57
🥈 Katrine Christensen (DEN) 28:08 – 2:09:56 – 1:19:31 = 4:03:33
🥉 Lena Meißner (GER) 24:17 – 2:14:16 – 1:21:13 = 4:04:55

ELITE MEN: Marten Van Riel made it six wins out of six in IRONMAN 70.3 races with a clear-cut success at Elsinore, the eighth stop in this season’s IRONMAN Pro Series.

Plenty was riding on it for the brilliant Belgian too, as this was his last chance to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in Nice – but, in truth, he looked in complete cruise control throughout.

He was in the front group in the swim, and then he and home hope Valdemar Solok (DEN) shattered the bike course record to open up a significant advantage before they closed it out on the run, Van Riel winning by 1:14 in a new overall record time of 3:36:03.

Simon Vlain (FRA) ran through the field to round out the podium in third.

Men’s results (1.9km – 90km – 21.1km)
🥇 Marten Van Riel (BEL) 21:55 – 1:58:04 – 1:16:36 = 3:36:03
🥈 Valdemar Solok (DEN) 21:56 – 1:58:18 – 1:19:31 = 3:37:18
🥉 Simon Viain (FRA) 22:42 – 2:02:25 – 1:09:25 = 3:39:00

Aurélia Boulanger of France and America’s Ari Klau were the winners of IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant near Quebec in Canada.

The fields were almost exclusively North American at what was virtually the last chance to seal a place at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Nice.

But Boulanger was one of two Europeans in the women’s line-up and finished more than five minutes ahead of her nearest rival, while Klau claimed his first-ever pro win, a month after his runner-up spot at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga.

Challenge Gdańsk 2026 delivered competitive racing across both professional fields, with Ognjen Stojanović (SRB) and Marta Łagownik (POL) taking the wins in 3:43:41 and 4:07:43, respectively.

Simon Davis (GBR) and Florent Lefebvre (FRA) rounded out the men’s podium, while Rebecca Anderbury (GBR) and in-form Italian Elisabetta Curridori took second and third in the women’s race.

Not since 1959 had the Tour de Suisse seen dominance like it did last week. The organisers had planned for a race, but instead they got an exhibition. On his debut appearance, Tadej Pogačar’s overall victory was crushing: he won by six minutes and 32 seconds, the race’s largest winning margin in 67 years, and in fewer stages – just five compared to the usual eight. Pogačar won three of them.

At times, it seemed effortless for the world champion. On stage one, he charged out of the peloton, like a seal swimming through a shoal of fish, to win with a 71km solo that earned him the race lead and a two-and-a-half-minute advantage.

Victories for Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then interrupted the Pogačar show, before regular programming resumed; he won stage four’s time trial by four hundredths of a second ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), and then tagged and swallowed the escaped Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) on the final day to stamp the GC with a stage win. It was, in ice skating parlance, the final twirl at the end of a gold-medal-winning routine.

For more on this story, read Cycling Weekly, HERE.

World Triathlon President Antonio Fernández Arimany believes the future growth of the organisation extends far beyond traditional triathlon alone and will likely see innovative partnerships forged with up-and-coming endurance sports bodies.

As we edge towards the launch of a brave new dawn with the Triathlon World Tour in 2027, it seems there is plenty more going on behind the scenes, which should whet the appetite for fans of the multisport genre.

At the top of the list is the prospect of joining forces with some of the emerging endurance disciplines such as HYROX, fitness racing and Swimrun – moves Arimany says reflect a much broader vision for the federation itself.

Speaking in a recent interview with the Tri247 News Director, Jonathan Turner, he explained why it was so important for the organisation to look beyond its own sporting boundaries.

“We are a multi-sport federation,” he said. “That’s why when we saw these opportunities, and they wanted to be recognised. This is the place where they can be recognised because it matches our DNA.”

The comments underline how World Triathlon increasingly sees its role within the wider endurance landscape.

Among the most eye-catching developments is the federation’s growing relationship with HYROX, the rapidly expanding fitness racing format which has exploded in popularity globally over recent years.

“It’s growing worldwide – it’s amazing how much it is growing,” Arimany says. “This is the opportunity for us, but also for them, to be recognised by official sports institutions.”

World Triathlon believes the discipline’s endurance focus aligns naturally with its broader sporting identity.

“We are endurance,” Arimany explained. “That’s why we can recognise HYROX today, because it has its endurance part. Not only are we incorporating a rapidly growing discipline, but we are also opening the door to a new community that may feel attracted to our sport.”

The expansion also reflects a wider ambition to position World Triathlon at the centre of a broader participation and wellness movement, rather than purely as the governing body for Olympic triathlon.

“The future of the sport is really in the multi-sport events,” Arimany said. “That’s what people are trying to do.”

Alongside HYROX, World Triathlon has already moved to recognise Swimrun as part of its growing portfolio of disciplines.

The strategy comes at a time when participation-driven endurance formats continue to experience major growth globally, fuelled by increasing interest in fitness, wellness and community-based events.

The federation also sees commercial opportunities in broadening its reach across multiple endurance sports.

“We want to have presence in all the markets,” Arimany said. “Our target is to have millions of audience on television and social media – we have to talk about millions, not hundreds of thousands.”

While triathlon remains firmly at the centre of the organisation’s Olympic strategy, Arimany also suggested formats such as T100 could eventually become part of future Olympic discussions if they continue growing commercially and globally.

“We have to make these events commercially valuable,” he said. “If we succeed on that, I think our events will be attractive to be in the Olympic programme.”

The shift towards becoming what Arimany repeatedly describes as a “multi-sport federation” highlights how dramatically the endurance landscape is evolving.

Rather than seeing new formats as competition, World Triathlon increasingly appears to view them as part of a wider ecosystem connected by endurance, participation and mass appeal.

Of course, they have long been in charge of the likes of aquathlon and duathlon and, earlier this year, organised the Winter Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships in Padola, Italy.

But as the road to LA28 continues apace, the organisation’s ambitions appear to be stretching further than ever before.

The rivalry between triathlon royalty, Kristian Blummenfelt and Sam Laidlow, is cranking up as the pair put the finishing touches to their Challenge Roth preparations.

From the day that defending champion Laidlow announced he was headed back to Bavaria this season, there has been a toing and froing of playful banter on social media between the duo.

Laidlow kicked it off when he said: “Unfortunately for Kristian Blummenfelt, I will be back to defend my title, to break the record and – most importantly – to break Kristian Blummenfelt and all the other amazing pros that are on the start list. I’m coming for you!”

Big Blu recently admitted on camera that he was ‘nowhere near’ the shape he would need to be in to beat Laidlow, and this week they traded ‘blows’ once again.

Accompanying a series of images from his altitude training camp in St Moritz, he wrote: “15 days until @challengeroth, @samlaidlow 👀”, making sure to link to his rival so that he saw all the work that KB has been undertaking.

Laidlow replied with just two words. A tongue-in-cheek “I’m scared”, only adding to the (fun) war of words between these two great competitors. We really cannot wait to see them get it on in just two weeks!!! 🤩

Knee pain is one of the most common complaints among triathletes, particularly during the cycling leg. While some discomfort may seem like a normal part of training, persistent knee pain should never be ignored.

The good news is that most cycling-related knee pain is preventable. In many cases, it stems from factors such as bike-fit issues, training errors, muscle imbalances, or poor recovery habits rather than serious injury.

By understanding the common causes and making a few strategic adjustments, triathletes can reduce knee stress and enjoy more comfortable, productive training sessions.

UNDERSTAND WHERE THE PAIN IS LOCATED: The location of knee pain often provides clues about its cause. For example, pain at the front of the knee may indicate saddle height issues or excessive workload; outside knee pain can sometimes be linked to IT band irritation; inside pain to alignment problems; and back-of-the-knee issues can occur when the saddle is too high.

Identifying the source of pain is the first step toward solving the problem.

GET A PROPER BIKE FIT: One of the most common causes of cycling-related knee pain is poor bike positioning. Small adjustments can significantly influence your joint angles, pedalling mechanics, and force distribution.

Check your saddle height, saddle fore-aft position, cleat alignment, and reach to the handlebars. Athletes who focus on how to mount and dismount their bike smoothly in a race often discover that bike setup influences far more than race-day transitions. A proper fit supports both comfort and performance.

AVOID INCREASING LOAD TOO QUICKLY: Many knee problems develop when training stress increases faster than the body can adapt. Examples include sudden mileage increases, extra hill sessions, more frequent rides, and high-intensity intervals.

Athletes should understand that fitness develops most effectively when workload progresses gradually. The body needs time to adapt.

IMPROVE PEDALLING TECHNIQUE: Efficient pedalling helps distribute forces more evenly through the legs. Many cyclists benefit from focusing on a smooth power application, ensuring a consistent cadence, and avoiding excessive force at low cadences. Efficiency is just as important as strength.

WORK ON MOBILITY AND STRENGTH: Limited mobility can alter cycling posture and pedalling mechanics. Areas worth addressing include the hips, ankles, quadriceps, and hamstrings. Improved mobility may help athletes maintain more efficient positions on the bike. Small restrictions can create larger issues when repeated thousands of times during long rides.

EIGHT COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID:

So you’ve done a T100, finished a 70.3, and even crossed the line at a full-distance IRONMAN… but have you ever thought about doing a race in Antarctica?

Organisers of the very first White Continent Triathlon have opened applications for their second race, which is due to take place on January 18, 2027 – and places are limited to just 20 athletes.

Last year, six athletes competed in the inaugural White Continent Triathlon held on December 8th, 2025, on King George Island, Antarctica. All six completed the gruelling endurance event, which is the first swim/bike/run triathlon competition to be held on the continent of Antarctica.

The triathlon consisted of a 400m swim, a 20km bicycle ride, and a 5km run, held in temperatures ranging from 25 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit, with winds of up to 35 miles per hour.

Two of the finishers, Dave Mandelkern (Hillsborough, California, USA) and Lori Elliott (Jacksonville, Florida, USA), became the first man and woman to complete a swim/bike/run triathlon competition on each of the seven continents.

The inaugural White Continent Triathlon took over six years to plan and complete. Conducted under permits issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the triathlon was carefully planned for athlete safety and designed to have no negative impact on the Antarctic environment.

“This was an epic adventure and historic journey to one of the most unforgiving places on the planet to hold an endurance athletic event,” said race director Steve Hibbs. “The six triathletes participating were risk-taking pioneers who demonstrated an amazing sense of adventure, athleticism, and adaptability.

For more information on how to sign up, click HERE.

… But maybe you should watch this video first. ❄️🥶☃️

Together, we go the distance. — @247_endurance 🏃‍♂️🚴‍♀️🏊‍♂️