Morning, endurance fans…

What a weekend in Nice! Hayden Wilde and Taylor Knibb delivered masterclasses on the French Riviera, powering their way to IRONMAN 70.3 world titles against two exceptionally strong fields – although one of them had to do it without a watch.

This week’s Daily Split looks back at all the drama, decisive moments and standout performances from the Côte d’Azur, going beyond the results to bring you the stories and tactical insights that mattered most.

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

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🔥 SEASON: Every race of next year’s IRONMAN Pro Series will include both men’s and women’s races as part of a new-look event calendar. Read HERE.

🎽 SIGNED: Salomon will become the new title partner of the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona after agreeing a five-year deal. Read HERE.

😊 SATISFIED: French superstar Cassandre Beaugrand says she could end her season now and be happy with what she has achieved. Read HERE.

👟 RECORD: Philemon Kiriago smashed the course record as Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga continued her superb World Cup at Trofeo Nasego. Read HERE.

🤯 HISTORIC: Megan Eckert became the first woman in history to run more than 1,000km in six days at the EMU-GOMU Championships. Read HERE.

WOMEN’S RACE: Georgia Taylor-Brown returned to the top step of a WTCS podium for the first time in more than three years with a superb victory on a rain-soaked, incident-filled day in Karlovy Vary.

The Briton’s previous Series win came at Cagliari in May 2023, and she ended that wait in style, combining a decisive three-athlete bike break with a commanding run.

Taylor Spivey (USA) finished runner-up here for the second successive year, while reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER) surged through on the final run lap to claim third.

This was the last regular-season scoring opportunity before the Grand Final in Pontevedra, adding extra significance to the battle behind absent Series leader Cassandre Beaugrand.

WOMEN’S RESULTS:
(Swim: 1.5km - Bike: 40km - Run: 10km)
🥇 Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) 18:03 - 1:09:32 - 34:32 = 2:03:05
🥈 Taylor Spivey (USA) 17:56 - 1:09:38 - 35:10 = 2:03:41
🥉 Lisa Tertsch (GER) 17:55 - 1:12:14 - 33:34 = 2:04:33

MEN’S RACE: France’s Dorian Coninx held off an extraordinary charge from Olympic champion Alex Yee to win a dramatic WTCS Karlovy Vary, as the Briton almost overturned a deficit of more than two minutes on the run.

Coninx was part of what proved a decisive four-man bike break on the demanding Czech course, while multiple crashes disrupted the chase behind and took the number of DNFs into double figures.

Yee, who has had a tough time of things this season, began the 10km run 2:12 behind but produced an astonishing comeback, cutting through the field and closing relentlessly on the leaders with a run of 29:16 on the hilly, technical course.

He passed Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) for second with around a kilometre remaining, but Coninx had just enough in reserve to celebrate down the finishing chute and win by 10 seconds.

Kaindl held on for his first WTCS podium in third, ahead of Ricardo Batista (POR) and Tim Hellwig (GER), as the final regular-season scoring race before Pontevedra delivered a spectacular finish.

MEN’S RESULTS:
(Swim: 1.5km - Bike: 40km - Run: 10km)
🥇 Dorian Coninx (FRA) 16:19 - 1:02:39 - 31:04 = 1:50:50
🥈 Alex Yee (GBR) 17:13 - 1:03:45 - 29:16 = 1:51:00
🥉 Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) 16:54 - 1:01:55 - 31:35 = 1:51:07

Sam Laidlow overcame nutrition issues which forced him to stop and walk on the run to claim a dramatic victory at Challenge Samarkand, while Australia’s Natalie van Coevorden won the women’s race despite being ill all week.

Laidlow’s early advantage on the bike unravelled when he ran into trouble at the start of the half marathon, allowing defending champion Will Draper and last-minute entrant Emil Holm to join him at the front.

But the Frenchman recovered to pull clear of Holm in the closing stages and take the win in 3:34:57, with the Dane just 40 seconds behind and Britain’s Draper completing the podium.

Next up for Laidlow is the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona after he elected to swerve the 70.3 Worlds in Nice.

Van Coevorden meanwhile emerged from a close battle with defending champion Sara Perez Sala (ESP) and Britain’s Daisy Davies to win in 3:58:41. Davies secured second ahead of Perez Sala.

The drama, skill and incredible endurance on show more than matched the pre-race hype in Nice, as we were treated to two races befitting the star-studded ensemble of world-class athletes.

From the immense pedal power of women’s champion Taylor Knibb to the sublime saddle skills of Hayden Wilde, there was no doubting where their crowns were won, as once again this incredible course on the French Riviera bared its teeth on the Col de Vence.

The bike, however, was only one key aspect of a weekend which gave triathlon fans so much to ponder and plenty to look forward to as we edge ever closer to the big one in Kona next month.

Here are our five things that we learned in Nice at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship:

Having proved himself at the short-course racing with an Olympic silver medal and at the middle distance with titles in both T100 and now IRONMAN 70.3, what are the chances of the Kiwi completing the set and going all in for a shot at full-distance triathlon?

The New Zealander certainly has the cycling ability to make the step up and proved on Sunday that he can run strongly over longer distances and under pressure, so how about it? Could he soon be making an appearance on the Big Island?

Such a question was posed to him by Triathlon Insider on Sunday after his epic 70.3 win, and it seems that switching to full distance is indeed on the cards – but not until he has completed his LA28 Olympics schedule.

When asked if he wanted to try a full-distance IRONMAN, he replied: “Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s my goal to do Kona, to do Roth. It’s those two, I guess, which are the big A-races at that distance. I really want to compete at the highest level in IRONMAN. And yeah, it may or may not suit, but I guess we’ll find out in a few years.”

His ‘few years’ caveat pretty much confirms that the Olympics will come first… then thoughts may just turn to those bigger endurance challenges.

From the looks of her performance at the weekend, it is hard to imagine anyone getting the better of Taylor Knibb… no matter the distance or, for that matter, the sport.

A unique athlete with skills that can easily transfer from triathlon to the cycling world, she will now head out to Montréal this weekend to compete in the Individual Time Trial at the UCI Road World Championships, before then returning to multisport for another shot at Kona.

You don’t need to spend hours looking through the record books to know that such an incredible hat-trick has never been done before, but should she follow up her 70.3 title with wins in Canada and then Hawaii, it will surely be one of the most incredible feats our sport has seen.

Becoming the first woman to achieve the 70.3 and IRONMAN world championship double since Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf achieved it in 2018 is not beyond the realms of possibility, but being able to mix it with the best of the best in the saddle at what is effectively the UCI’s world cup of cycling? That is going to be a much stiffer test.

When asked recently what her goal for Kona was this year, she replied, ‘to finish the race’. Having come so close in 2025, only to blow up when it seemed glory was within her grasp, she will arrive on the Big Island next month with realistic dreams of doing much more than simply finishing.

It would seem that Blummenfelt’s rival athletes have hit upon a game plan to beat him – despite the Norwegian’s infamous ‘beast mode’ running style almost being enough to get him out of even the toughest of scrapes.

Early in the season, Big Blu was seen chasing wins from behind at IRONMAN Texas and the two 70.3s at Geelong and Oceanside, with that incredible running power crucial to hunting down the leaders.

At Roth and now at the 70.3 World Championships on Sunday, the pace of the swim and bike was such that he was left too far adrift coming out of T2 and simply ran out of road as he pounded the streets in a desperate attempt to catch Sam Laidlow and Wilde.

Blummenfelt admitted that he lost the race on Sunday whilst in the saddle, Wilde grasping his opportunity to open up the crucial gap with a stunning climb and masterful descent of Col de Vence.

Expect a similar tactic from the field when they head out to Kona on October 10… but also expect Blummenfelt to be aware of it and look to counter. He certainly won’t want to be caught out in the same way again.

When the 24-year-old Swiss athlete won at Challenge Roth earlier this season, it was clear that she had something about her, something which made her an athlete you’d want to watch over and over again.

Be it the enthusiasm with which she races, the sheer energy that she exudes or the relentless running style which held off star names like Lucy Charles-Barclay in Germany and Solveig Løvseth in Nice… There is certainly plenty to like about Alanis Siffert.

And just as Løvseth burst onto the scene last year with her incredible World Championship win, it would surely be no surprise to see Siffert return next year and pick up where she left off with multiple wins in the biggest races on the triathlon calendar.

Kat Matthews started the season in imperious form with three wins from her opening four races and only the DNF in Texas blotting her copybook.

It seemed she was nailed on to finally achieve what her form over the last two seasons has deserved – a win at one of the IRONMAN majors.

However, a troublesome Achilles tendon issue seems to be hampering her progress at precisely the time in the campaign when she needs to be fit, healthy and happy with her preparations.

After finishing 11th on Saturday, she explained how she ‘hit a point of risk-reward’ very early in the run and ‘opted for caution’ by lowering her pace and saving herself for another assault on the World Championships, where she has finished runner-up two years on the bounce.

While she will need to be at her very best to take that elusive tape on the Big Island, there is no doubt that she is certainly capable of finally achieving her dream.

As she posted on Instagram this weekend: “Let’s hope (with me, please 🙏🏻) that it was a positive decision for the outcome of Kona in 4 weeks.”

Amen to that.

WOMEN’S RESULTS: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship:
(Swim: 1.9km - Bike: 90km - Run: 21.1km)
🥇 Taylor Knibb (USA) 25:59 - 2:32:07 - 1:17:56 = 4:19:24
🥈 Julie Derron (SUI) 27:20 - 2:39:40 - 1:13:04 = 4:23:30
🥉 Alanis Siffert (SUI) 26:03 - 2:37:40 - 1:18:06 = 4:25:10
4️⃣ Solveig Løvseth (NOR) 27:29 - 2:38:46 - 1:16:03 = 4:25:50
5️⃣ Marjolaine Pierré (FRA) 27:21 - 2:35:23 - 1:20:27 = 4:26:38

MEN’S RESULTS: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship:
(Swim: 1.9km - Bike: 90km - Run: 21.1km)
🥇 Hayden Wilde (NZL) 23:44 - 2:16:50 - 1:07:21 = 3:50:51
🥈 Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 23:50 - 2:19:02 - 1:05:12 = 3:51:09
🥉 Jelle Geens (BEL) 23:39 - 2:18:51 - 1:07:12 = 3:52:40
4️⃣ Gustav Iden (NOR) 24:40 - 2:16:43 - 1:08:51 = 3:53:16
5️⃣ Lasse Nygaard Priester (GER) 23:41 - 2:17:13 - 1:10:22 = 3:54:08

We already know the Norwegians are close… But did Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt really arrange their pre-race shake-out run so that they could coincide it with an opportunity to cheer on their friend and training partner Solveig Løvseth?

OK, so it was more likely fortuitous timing than insightful planning, but it was still a lovely moment as the boys twirled their T-shirts above their heads to give Solveig a boost in her valiant chase for a podium finish.

Enric Mas has won his first Grand Tour at the 16th attempt with victory in the Vuelta a España.

The Spaniard may have inherited the red jersey when Tadej Pogačar crashed out on stage eight, but he showed himself worthy of the prize across the following fortnight and rightfully ascended to the top step of the podium in Granada.

Read more on this story at Cycling Weekly, HERE.

Triathletes need enough carbohydrate, protein, fat, fluids and micronutrients to support training across three endurance sports. Nutrition should match the duration and intensity of each session rather than following one rigid diet. This guide explains how to fuel everyday training, recover effectively, and prepare for demanding workouts.

MATCH FOOD INTAKE TO TRAINING DEMANDS: Triathlon training can vary considerably from one day to another. Your nutrition should reflect that. A recovery day may require less carbohydrate than a day containing a long ride or demanding brick workout. Instead of eating the same amount every day, consider what your body requires in the conditions.

MAKE CARBOHYDRATE A MAJOR TRAINING FUEL: Carbohydrates are stored primarily as glycogen in the muscles and liver and provide an important fuel source during endurance exercise. Sources include:

EAT BEFORE IMPORTANT TRAINING SESSIONS: A pre-training meal can provide energy and reduce the likelihood of starting an important workout under-fuelled. Emphasise carbohydrates for longer or harder sessions; a meal eaten a few hours beforehand can help but should contain moderate protein and foods you know are comfortable to digest. Examples include:

Closer to training, smaller carbohydrate-rich snacks may be easier to tolerate. Avoid experimenting immediately before an important session.

FUEL LONGER BIKE SESSIONS: The bike provides one of the best opportunities to practise race fuelling because eating and drinking are generally easier than during running. Long rides can be used to test sports drinks, gels, bananas, sandwiches and fluid intake.

Start fuelling before you become extremely hungry or depleted.

DO NOT NEGLECT FUEL WHEN RUNNING: Long runs can substantially reduce carbohydrate stores. Depending on duration and intensity, consuming carbohydrate during running can help maintain energy.

Gels, sports drinks, chews, and other easily digested options are commonly used because carrying and chewing solid foods can be more difficult while running.

PROTEIN SUPPORTS RECOVERY AND ADAPTATION: Protein provides amino acids needed for muscle repair, maintenance, and adaptation. Options include eggs, milk, yoghurt, fish, poultry, lean meat, tofu and tempeh, beans and lentils and soy products, as well as suitable protein supplements when convenient.

DON’T OVERCOMPLICATE THINGS: After demanding training, prioritise carbohydrate, protein, and fluids. A recovery meal might be:

INCLUDE DIETARY FAT: Endurance athletes still need dietary fat. Fat supports normal physiological functions and provides energy, particularly across everyday life and lower-intensity activity. Useful sources include:

Avoid making your diet unnecessarily low in fat simply because carbohydrate and protein receive more attention in endurance nutrition. Before intense training or racing, however, very large high-fat meals may digest slowly for some athletes. Timing and individual tolerance matter.

MICRONUTRIENTS STILL MATTER: A varied diet helps provide iron, calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients needed for health and performance. Include a range of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy or suitable alternatives, protein foods, nuts and seeds.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT ELECTROLYTES: Sweat contains electrolytes, particularly sodium. During longer or hotter sessions, replacing some sodium may be useful alongside fluid intake. Sports drinks, electrolyte products, and appropriate foods can provide it. The amount required varies substantially between athletes.

DO NOT DEPEND ON SUPPLEMENTS: Sports foods can be useful because they are convenient and designed for exercise. They are not a substitute for a balanced everyday diet. Gels, powders, bars, protein shakes, and electrolyte products are tools. Use them when they make fuelling easier.

ADJUST NUTRITION WHEN TRAINING VOLUME CHANGES: Food intake should change when training changes. During high-volume periods, you may need larger meals, more snacks, and greater carbohydrate intake.

A fell runner who was given just a two per cent chance of survival after being found with no signs of life in the Lake District has completed the Bob Graham Round.

Tommy Price returned to Keswick on September 6 and finished the iconic 42-peak challenge in 23 hours and 35 minutes, beating its famous 24-hour target.

It completed an extraordinary full-circle journey for Price, who nearly lost his life while recceing part of the same route in January 2022.

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