Morning endurance fans…

This is the one we’ve been waiting for.

A stacked start list, big names wherever you look and a course built for fireworks – IRONMAN Texas has all the makings of a season-defining showdown, and we are only just into April!!!

From the opening strokes to the final miles on the run, this race is primed to be decided on the finest of margins. Will it blow apart on the bike? Come down to a war of attrition in the heat? Or be settled, once again, in those brutal final miles?

So settle in as we take you through the key battles, and look at where this mouthwatering clash could be won, lost… and remembered. 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️.

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

✅ READY: Former IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow is one of the few big names not competing at Texas this weekend – here’s why. Read HERE.

🇨🇳 RETURN 1: Beijing will once again host a triathlon event after World Triathlon announced the dates for a World Cup race in October. Read HERE.

🏙️ RETURN 2: New York, one of the most iconic race venues in the world, will host a new triathlon event planned for October of this year. Read HERE.

🙋‍♂️ OPTIONS: All eyes may be on Texas this weekend, but there is another full-distance race taking place in South Africa – see who is competing. Read HERE.

⚠️ DANGEROUS: Why Lucy Charles-Barclay’s injury setback could result in her being even more of a threat when she returns this season. Read HERE.

The 40th anniversary of the ‘toughest foot race on earth‘ saw outright triumphs for Morocco’s Mohamed El Morabity and France’s Maryline Nakacke.

It’s a second victory for El Morabity following 2023 and came after he got the better of his record-breaking 11-time-winning brother Rachid.

But the women’s race was one-way traffic, Nakache in complete control as she won by well over three hours to add to her 2023 and 2025 titles.

For both of them, the longest-ever stage in the history of the MDS Legendary of 100km on Thursday had meant that Friday and Saturday’s final two stages of 42km and 23km were relative formalities – in as much as anything can be in the searing heat of the Sahara…

Ethiopian Shure Demise set a new course record as she completed a commanding victory in the French capital on Sunday.

The 30-year-old beat the previous best time by more than a minute as she crossed the line in 2:18:34, ahead of compatriot Misgane Alemayehu and Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai.

The men’s race was won by Italy’s Ethiopian-born Yemaneberhan Crippa, who clocked a time of 2:05:19, beating Ethiopia’s Bayelign Teshager and Kenya’s Sila Kiptoo.

Americans Heather Jackson and Spencer Shellberg ran out the winners of the feature 100K races at the Desert RATS Trail Running Festival by UTMB over the weekend.

The event kicked off the North American UTMB World Series season as 1,800 runners converged on the high desert of southwestern Colorado to take on four distances – 10K, 21K, 50K, and 100K – with all having to navigate singletrack trails offering expansive desert vistas and dramatic clifftop views overlooking the Colorado River.

Jackson, the former top IRONMAN triathlete and now elite trail runner and gravel bike rider, led the women’s race from the outset and went on to cross the line in nine hours, 45 minutes and 12 seconds – nearly seven minutes in front of Tay Calvett, with the pair well clear of third-placed Corinne Shalvoy.

In the men’s race, it was local favourite Shellberg who triumphed in a time of 8:19:29 as he completely dominated, finishing over an hour in front of Michael Mitchell in 9:21:20 and Cody Cook in 9:24:25.

PARIS-ROUBAIX (MEN): Wout van Aert finally won Paris-Roubaix, outsprinting Tadej Pogačar in the mythical velodrome after a brutal, epic race.

In what was the fastest ever edition of a Sunday in Hell, Visma-Lease a Bike's Van Aert and UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Pogačar distanced themselves from the other favourites with just over 50km to go.

Pogačar tried to get rid of Van Aert a few times, knowing that the Belgian would have the upper hand in a finish-line sprint, but he was unable to shake his rival off his wheel.

The biggest victory of van Aert’s career, it also marks his second Monument title, six years after his first – the 2020 Milan-San Remo.

👩‍💻 Read a full report on this race at Cycling Weekly, HERE.

PARIS-ROUBAIX (WOMEN): FDJ United-Suez's brilliant season continued as Franziska Koch outsprinted Marianne Vos in the velodrome to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

The German 25-year-old beat the greatest women's cyclist of all time by half a wheel length after animating the race throughout. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot finished third, as Visma, just over an hour after the Dutch team won the men's race through Wout van Aert, failed to make their numerical advantage count.

👩‍💻 Read a full report on this race at Cycling Weekly, HERE.

One of the most eagerly anticipated races of the modern triathlon era is now just days away, as a star-studded line-up of the sport’s biggest names heads to Texas for what promises to be a showdown for the ages.

Stacked with the world’s best men's and women's athletes, this cast of champions is ready to do battle over swim-bike-run in a race that many have already dubbed a ‘Kona 2.0’.

The cosmos has seemingly aligned to serve us up a mouthwatering prospect… So let’s get stuck into some of the key issues which we believe could prove crucial in the Lone Star State.

With six wins between the three of them at such an early stage of the season, it is really hard not to look at Kristian Blummenfelt, Kat Matthews and Taylor Knibb as the main contenders this weekend.

Big Blu may have struggled in his opener at New Zealand – where bike mechanics and nutrition issues played a part in his sixth-place finish – but he has since been in imperious form by winning two 70.3 events (at Geelong and Oceanside) with incredible running performances.

If the Norwegian gets it right, then it is hard to see anyone beating him, but will Taupō be playing on his mind? Ridiculous as it sounds, he will be under a certain amount of self-imposed pressure to show that he can be just as dominant at full distance as he has been at 70.3.

The battle between Matthews and Knibb is quite possibly the most eagerly anticipated one of the day, with both incredible women having won their opening brace of races this season – Matthews at Taupō and Geelong, Knibb at the T100 on the Gold Coast, and the 70.3 at Oceanside.

Knibb has set herself a crazy schedule this season, where she is keen to do battle on all fronts, including a push for the LA28 Olympics, and she will be keener than ever to lay down a marker on Matthews, one of her main Kona world championship rivals.

Indeed, while Knibb finished second at Texas last year, she has not competed at this distance since she blew up on the Big Island in the finals last October, allowing Solveig Løvseth to come through and steal the crown.

Last year’s Pro Series winners, Blummenfelt and Matthews, will undoubtedly start as favourites, but they won’t need reminding that the calibre of competitors racing against them is of the highest standard.

The beauty of this race is that there truly could be challengers from anywhere in the field, be that in the men’s or women’s races.

We have pulled together our own ‘Daily Split top tens to look out for’ below, but if we were pushed into making a prediction, then our three picks to challenge Big Blu would be his Norwegian pal Casper Stornes and the German duo of Jonas Schomburg and Patrick Lange.

As for the women’s race, it is very difficult to look outside of Matthews, Knibb and Løvseth, as all three are in fantastic form – Løvseth coming very close to catching Knibb at Oceanside, proving that her training schedule with the Norwegian boys is clearly paying off.

Another name to throw in the mix is Australian Grace Thek, who ran extremely well at Geelong to finish second behind Matthews and who was fourth at Oceanside, while Kiwi Hannah Berry also came in behind Matthews, this time at Taupo.

A fit and fully firing Lionel Sanders is undoubtedly a major threat to anyone in this race, and it will be fantastic to see him back and competing against the biggest names of the sport once again.

His battle with the nutritional condition RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency) was well documented on his YouTube channel and resulted in a complete change in both calorie intake and training regime.

Let’s be honest, he looks in incredible shape, and he battled to a 70.3 win at Dallas Little-Elm last month, which will have given him some confidence that the bad days are behind him.

A man who has made no secret of the fact that he wants to win the World Championship knows that time is running out for him to achieve that goal, and he will be desperate to show both his opponents and himself that he is on the right track for such success.

Undoubtedly one of the best short-course and middle-distance competitors in the world, the Belgian has chosen this weekend’s race in Texas to be his first-ever attempt at a full-distance race.

He admits to having never run 42km or, for that matter, ever cycled 180km… now he is planning to do them both for the first time straight after one another.

For most other athletes, the idea of jumping into such an unknown with such exalted company around to expose your faults and weaknesses would be enough for them to question whether competing was still such a good idea, especially when there is a less-stacked full IRONMAN taking place in South Africa on the same weekend.

But for Geens, the idea of testing himself against the best of the best is something which excites him, and we are backing him for a top ten finish… possibly even top five.

The athletes will no doubt be checking the forecast with eager eyes over the coming days, especially as they know Texas can be brutal in terms of both temperature and humidity.

Early indications are that this weekend will be no different, with the mercury nudging 30C and the prospect of light rain showers growing throughout the morning. Humidity is expected to be around 73%, which will undoubtedly require pacing and nutrition to be spot on.

Spare a thought for Jason West, who arrived in Texas this week to find that he was missing a front wheel for his bike… and desperately called on his social media fanbase for some support.

We do hope there was someone able to help him, because it’s a long ride on a unicycle!!!

French Veteran runner André Ozanne proved once again that age is no barrier as he completed the Paris Marathon with an impressive time of 3:33:10 on Sunday.

The effort in his nation’s capital came hot on the heels of last month’s record-breaking Issy-les-Moulineaux, where he became the first man from France aged 80 or over to break the 45-minute barrier for a 10K race.

While his 3:33:10 would certainly have been looked upon with envious eyes by many a younger athlete over the weekend, it was still slightly slower than his national record for the 80-84 marathon age group, which currently stands at 3:30:23 and was achieved at the Côte d’Amour Amarris Marathon.

And he was typically modest when asked about his achievement over the weekend.

“It’s not exceptional. It’s just the continuation of regular entertainment for over 40 years. I must have good genes,” he quipped.

What an incredible athlete… 💪 👏 🙌

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