Morning endurance fans…

What. A. Weekend.

From the brutal volcanic trails of Transvulcania Ultramarathon to the high-speed chaos of the Giro d'Italia and the heat, humidity and hammer blows of IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast, endurance sport served up another relentless few days of drama, dominance and debate.

There were breakthrough performances, big statements and more evidence that the current generation of endurance athletes is operating at a frightening level across every discipline. But as the dust settles on another packed weekend, one conversation has burst back into life louder than ever before: who really is the GOAT of men’s triathlon?

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

💪 RETURN: Jelle Geens is to give his Kona qualification one more shot after signing up to compete in IRONMAN Lake Placid. Read HERE.

🇳🇴 TRAINING: Lionel Sanders has reacted to the disappointment of IRONMAN Texas by hiring Norwegian coach Mikal Iden. Read HERE.

🚴🏻 ENDURANCE: Athlete Caroline Livesey is putting the finishing touches to her world record attempt at the NC500 bike ride. Read HERE.

🎽 MARATHON: What next for the sport after Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha smashed through the two-hour barrier? Read HERE.

🥾 MAJOR: The largest trail-running event in the Southern Hemisphere, HOKA Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB, returns this week. Read HERE.

Americans Sam Long and Grace Alexander took the wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast on Saturday.

Long was the winner the last time this event featured a men’s pro race in 2023, and the ‘Big Unit’ was the favourite to defend his title going into this year’s renewal.

He was 1:22 behind after a shortened swim but produced his customary strong bike leg to power into the lead and closed it out on the run to see off Seth Rider and Marc Dubrick on an all-American podium.

Alexander, meanwhile, overhauled Danielle Lewis (USA) early on the run and then held off a charging Vittoria Lopes (BRZ) to win by 20 seconds.

Both Long and Alexander will now aim for quickfire doubles as they head to 70.3 Chattanooga this weekend, bidding to repeat last year’s victories there.

Pro Men (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Sam Long (USA) 8:33 - 1:49:32 - 1:10:38 = 3:11:41
🥈 Seth Rider (USA) 7:16 - 1:51:07 - 1:11:40 = 3:13:01
🥉 Marc Dubrick (USA) 7:15 - 1:53:17 - 1:10:26 = 3:14:09

Pro Women (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Grace Alexander (USA) 8:12 - 2:06:03 - 1:24:41 = 3:42:31
🥈 Vittoria Lopes (BRZ) 8:05 - 2:09:28 - 1:21:45 = 3:42:51
🥉 Danielle Lewis (USA) 9:40 - 2:04:12 - 1:28:39 = 3:45:49

Britain’s Will Draper continued his Challenge Family success story: taking the win in the men’s race at Challenge Salou-Costa Daurada on Sunday, while in the women’s race, it was defending champion Elisabetta Curridori of Italy who struck again.

This is the latest Challenge success for Draper after victories at Almere, Samarkand and Gran Canaria last season, while Curridori retained her Salou crown ahead of Milan Agnew (AUS) and home favourite Marta Sánchez, who had led the way for much of the race.

Pro Men (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Will Draper (GBR) 23:20 - 1:57:48 - 1:12:01 = 3:36:11
🥈 Jack Hutchens (GBR) 22:28 - 2:02:07 - 1:10:11 = 3:37:47
🥉 Arthur Berland (FRA) 22:29 - 2:03:28 - 1:09:31 = 3:38:23

Pro Women (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) 26:23 - 2:15:04 - 1:19:20 = 4:04:02
🥈 Milan Agnew (AUS) 25:54 - 2:15:25 - 1:19:59 = 4:04:42
🥉 Marta Sánchez (SPA) 24:00 - 2:16:52 - 1:23:32 = 4:08:23

The World Cup event in Chengdu in Southwest China attracted a stellar field and a finish to match in the women’s race as Germany’s Laura Lindemann just got the better of a three-way sprint against Valentina Riasova (AIN) and Kate Waugh (GBR).

The men’s race was almost as close as Australia’s Luke Willian held off a late charge from Nils Serre Gehri (FRA) by a single second, with the same margin back to Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) in third.

Elite Women (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Laura Lindemann (GER) 9:59 - 27:47 - 16:24 = 55:27
🥈 Valentina Riasova (AIN) 10:07 - 27:43 - 16:24 = 55:27
🥉 Kate Waugh (GBR) 9:59 - 27:47 - 16:28 = 55:28

Elite Men (Swim - Bike – Run = Overall)

🥇 Luke Willian (AUS) 9:01 - 26:04 - 14:03 = 50:14
🥈 Nils Serre Gehri (FRA) 9:08 - 25:52 - 14:08 = 50:14
🥉 Marta Sánchez (SPA) 8:59 - 26:05 - 14:04 = 50:16

Results from the big three races on La Palma in the Canary Islands.

Transvulcania Uphill (7km): The fourth stage of the 2026 WMRA Mountain Running World Cup kicked off on Thursday evening as La Palma, widely regarded as the steepest island in the world, provided an uncompromising backdrop for the competition.

A high-calibre elite field took to the start line in the Port of Tazacorte for a 7.3-kilometre course demanding 1,200 metres of vertical ascent, and both the women’s and men’s course records fell to Kenyans Joyce Muthoni Njeru (Atletica Saluzzo) and Richard Omaya Atuya (Run2gether On Trail), respectively.

Transvulcania Long Distance (25km): The finale of both races delivered high drama. In the men’s race, Philemon Ombogo Kiriago (Run2gether On Trail) showed his dominance on the downhill, running a perfect final section, overtaking teammate Richard Omaya Atuya and opening the smallest of gaps. Anthony Felber also overtook Atuya and pushed Kiriago all the way to the finish at El Pilar. But Kiriago couldn’t be beaten, and he won in 2:07:43, a new course record, with Felber second in 2:07:47.

Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga (Run2gether On Trail) showed a similar level of dominance on the descent in the women’s race and also demonstrated what a rising star she is on the circuit, winning in 2:22:50, another new course record. Joyce Muthoni Njeri took second, finishing in 2:25:39. Skye Dickson held strong in third, finishing in 2:33:21.

Transvulcania Ultra (72km): It was a day for course records in the longest event of the week. David Sinclair (Craft) took the men’s title in the Transvulcania Ultramarathon in 6:33:24. That was a massive 19 minutes better than the previous mark.

Petter Engdahl was second in 6:41:19, while Nadir Maguet was third in 6:42:31.

There were no fewer than six men under the prior course record of 6:52 – by Transvulcania legend Luis Alberto Hernando – the others being Damien Humbert, Ben Dhiman and Andreas Reiterer in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

And it was an almost identical story in the women’s race, as current UTMB champion Ruth Croft’s course best of 8:02 was shattered. Blandine L’Hirondel (Kiprun) took the title in a brilliant 7:43:47. Lucy Bartholomew was second in 7:49:26, also well under the previous mark. And Emelie Forsberg rounded out the podium in third in 8:14:40.

It is the kind of question that triathlon fans might spark up while enjoying a post-training coffee or protein shake… Who is the sport’s Greatest Of All Time male competitor?

Anyone listening to the brilliant Jan Frodeno podcast ‘Going Mental’ this week will have caught his fascinating conversation with fellow great Kristian Blummenfelt – the man who has set the 2026 season alight with a string of incredible performances.

When asked who his favourite competitors were as a young athlete growing up in Norway, Big Blu pointed to Britain’s double Olympic champion, Alistair Brownlee, as the man who most inspired him.

Together with brother Jonny, the two Yorkshire lads not only influenced a young Blummenfelt, but they also energised a generation to take up a sport which was suddenly earning TV coverage around the world, thanks, in no small part, to their incredible success.

The naming of Alistair, however, sparked an even more intriguing conversation as host Frodeno suggested that – despite his lack of long-distance success – the elder of the Brownlee brothers deserved his place alongside Mark Allen and Dave Scott as the GOATs of triathlon.

Frodeno himself, of course, is a man who deserves his place among the best of the best, while there is also an argument to suggest that Blummenfelt has already qualified to stand among the giants of triathlon… despite his career not being finished and there surely being more prizes and honours to come.

But why Alistair Brownlee?

“I think it was the aggressiveness, like the way he was vocal in the races and dictating what everyone was supposed to do,” says Blummenfelt. “When he was walking into the race, he was controlling the room. He was a bit like an Alpha… pure aggressiveness.

“Maybe not the best in long-distance in terms of pacing, but for short course, the pure class of just attacking from the gun was something that was so cool to watch. I was first aware of the World Series in 2010/2011, and that was the time when he, Jonny and Javier Gomez were really dominating the sport.

“I was more into the Olympics at that time; I didn’t really care about IRONMAN or Kona, it was just the World Series. I was a die-hard fan, and if we could watch triathlon at that time, then the only athletes who got screentime were Alistair, Jonny and Javier.

“They were in the front from the whole race, from the gun. You could see from the facial expressions that Javier looked so controlled, Jonny was sort of in the middle, and with Alistair, you could see that he would rather die than lose that race. Maybe that was something similar to the way I was racing. I would rather die than lose in that race.”

Frodeno replies with: “That guy had us under such control. The term GOAT gets thrown around everywhere and anywhere, but Alistair, to me, definitely has a claim to that title.

“I know he never had any long-distance success, but at Olympic distance it was quite something to witness because the facial expression, the aura and that anger he brought to it was definitely quite something.”

It certainly sparked a debate in the Daily Split office yesterday as to whether Brownlee deserves his place amongst the GOATS… and for the sheer impact he had on the sport, we really couldn’t find any grounds for him to be excluded.

Below are our top five GOATS of men’s triathlon. On Saturday, we will take a look at the women…

The Giro d'Italia has arrived. New stars have been crowned. Hot favourites have bared their teeth, and their rivals have responded. And, unfortunately, there have also been incidents that both fans and riders would rather forget.

So far, we have enjoyed the three stages of the Bulgarian Grande Partenza, with a Monday rest day followed by the resumption of proceedings later today.

Cycling Weekly has picked some of the race's most memorable moments and people from the first few days.

Paul Magnier: having worn the first maglia rosa of the race and taking a brace of stages with it. He now leads the points classification, ahead of some of the luminaries of the sprinting world, like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). Magnier has won races before, but never at this level.

Adam Yates: Following a devastating crash involving multiple riders on stage two, Yates, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s main GC hope, limped to the finish but showed ‘delayed concussive symptoms’ according to the team, and did not start the next day.

Jonas Vingegaard: Lacking any major climbs or time trials, the Grande Partenza in Bulgaria was not one for the GC contenders. Nevertheless, that did not stop hot favourite Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) from showing off some fine condition and asserting his skills on stage two. The Dane is clearly in form and ready to race.

Thomas Silva: Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Silva of Uruguay declared himself ‘speechless’ after winning stage two. The XDS-Astana rider won the uphill sprint in Veliko Tarnovo at the end of what was probably the most memorable day so far – for both positive and negative reasons.

For a full report of the Giro d’Italia, go to Cycling Weekly, HERE.

There is not much we love more here at the Daily Split than to see our pro athletes having fun and enjoying themselves on the big stage – and it seems triathletes don’t need asking twice when it comes to breaking out some interesting dance moves.

The walk-ons at pro events have been ramping up in terms of fun and frolics for much of this season – remember the dancing Sam Long??? – and the competitors at this weekend’s World Cup event in Chengdu took things that little bit further once again.

From Britain’s shoulder dips to America’s piggybacks and the Canadian’s volleyball-themed smash, there was plenty of fun had on Saturday morning in southern China.

Our top three were the hosts, China, showing us their love; the Portuguese calling on the spirit of footballer Ronaldo to perform his ‘Su’ celebration; and the wonderfully elegant twirls and bows of the Mexicans.

Do let us know if you disagree… 💃🕺

German ultra-runner Arda Saatçi completed his brutal 600km challenge of 14 marathons in 123 hours and 21 minutes – and then delivered a message of inspiration to more than one million people around the world.

After battling 5,967m of elevation gain, soaring temperatures and severe sleep deprivation, he told his legion of followers: “It always pays off to reach for the stars. Even if it doesn’t work out perfectly. Always make sure to hold your dream in your heart.”

Pushing through the pain barrier, he crossed the finish line at Santa Monica Pier, having run through Death Valley, across desert highways, and along sections of the historic Route 66.

Watched by more than one million people on his YouTube page, the 28-year-old was greeted at the finish by his mother and immediately sank into her arms as the two celebrated his latest achievement.

“What am I supposed to say? We made it. We actually made it,” said Saatçi. “It’s crazy how many people are here to support me, and Mum, I think it’s time to celebrate with an ice cream. Thanks so much for all the support both here and on social media. It really means everything.”

In 2024, Saatçi ran from his hometown of Berlin to New York City, covering the 3,000km distance in just 74 days, while last year he ran the length of Japan from north to south, also around 3,000km, in just 43 days.

You can read more on this story at redbull.com, HERE.

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