Jelle Geens Defends 70.3 World Title, Wins Epic Sprint Finish in Marbella

Jelle Geens wins the 70.3 World Championship. Photo: Eric Wynn

Belgium’s Jelle Geens won the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain, on Sunday, crossing the line in 3:42:52 after an incredible battle on the run with Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt. This is the second 70.3 world title of Geens’s career (and his second in a row), and it didn’t come easily, as he didn’t drop Blummenfelt until the closing metres of the race. Blummenfelt finished three seconds behind, and the Norwegian’s friend and training partner Casper Stornes rounded out the podium in third.

Crociani Leads Out of the Water

Italian Olympian Alessio Crociani led the men out of the water on Sunday, covering the 1.2-mile swim in the Mediterranean Sea in 22:21. The next-closest athlete was a Norwegian, but not any of the three that triathlon fans are most familiar with — it was Sebastian Wernersen, who emerged from the water 28 seconds behind the Italian.

Crociani’s sizeable lead evaporated in T1, and by the time he hopped on his bike, he found himself accompanied by a long train of about 20 men, all of whom were within 30 seconds of one another. That group included two-time World Triathlon Championship Series champion Vincent Luis of France, Germany’s Jonas Schomburg, Stornes, Geens and more.

Casper Stornes at the swim start in Marbella. Photo: Eric Wynn

Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev was 48 seconds back as he started the ride, and Kristian Blummenfelt was just a couple of seconds behind him. Rico Bogen, the 2023 70.3 world champion, was a little over a minute back of the lead as he set out on the bike, while Gustav Iden found himself over two minutes back.

Group Riding

Iden had a rough day, losing a lot of time over the course of the 56-mile ride (he left T2 12:30 behind the leaders), but the other big names who had gaps to overcome after the swim made up the time very quickly. Geens had some mechanical issues early in the ride, but after stopping twice to sort things out, he climbed back through the rankings and joined the lead pack.

After 12 miles on the stunning bike course in Marbella, South African Jamie Riddle was in the lead, but he was followed closely by Geens, Bogen, Blummenfelt and Schomburg. Stornes wasn’t too far back, either, riding 30 seconds down.

Kristian Blummenfelt on the ride. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

At T2, the lead pack consisted of nine men separated by only 18 seconds. That group included four IRONMAN or 70.3 world champions in Geens, Bogen, Blummenfelt and Stornes. There was a lot of fire power and run speed in that lead group, leaving just 13 miles of running to decide who would go home with the 2025 70.3 world crown.

Further back in the race, Greece’s Panagiotis Bitados was alone in 10th, sitting four minutes behind the lead, and the next chase group was a full minute behind him.

Although it was still up in the air as to who would win out of those top nine men, it was clear that the podium would include three of them, as the chasers were all too far back to have an impact on the final standings.

Grinding Out the Run

After slower transitions from a few men, the pack separated a bit. Blummenfelt and Riddle wasted no time powering to the front as they got to work on run course, followed by Bogen and Schomburg not far behind and Geens and Stornes around 20 seconds back each.

Schomburg made a push at the front for a bit, dropping Bogen and joining Blummenfelt and Riddle, but he couldn’t keep the pace for too long. Geens also hopped into that front group, and soon enough, he was alone at the head of the race with Blummenfelt.

Stornes had an amazing back half of the run to climb to third. Photo: Eric Wynn

After three miles of running, it was still Geens and Blummenfelt duking it out for the lead. Schomburg was 15 seconds back, and although Stornes was gaining on the German, he was making no progress in his chase-down of the lead two men.

Schomburg ran alone, 18 seconds behind the lead duo, with Stornes gaining on him in fourth. Bogen was in fifth, but about a third of the way through the run, he was already a full minute back. Barring any massive collapses, the podium would be populated by three of those four leading men.

At the halfway point on the run, the lead pair hadn’t changed. Geens had a lead of about a single stride, as Blummenfelt seemed content to stay tucked in just behind him and follow along. They were side by side, but since Geens got onto the run a bit after Blummenfelt, his opening 10 km split was quicker. He clocked a scarily fast time of 31:54. Blummenfelt’s 10K time was almost as impressive at 32:10.

Geens and Blummenfelt ran next to one another for pretty much the entire half-marathon. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Stornes caught Schomburg just before the 10K checkpoint, but the German somehow managed to find another gear, refusing to let the current IRONMAN world champion get away from him. Schomburg stuck with Stornes for a while, but the Norwegian dropped him with a little over four miles to go.

At that point, Stornes had been a minute back of the lead, but a mile later, Stornes had clawed back to within 40 seconds from the front. Geens and Blummenfelt were intent on beating one another down at the head of the race, but they suddenly had another man to worry about not too far behind them.

Geens Sprints for the Win

Over the course of the run, Geens made multiple attempts to pull away from Blummenfelt (often on uphills). Blummenfelt never let him get far, however, and he would pull back even with the defending champion on the subsequent flat or downhill.

This led to an incredible finish. With one mile to go, the two men were still side by side. They were still running slower than Stornes, who was 25 seconds back, but at that point, it seemed like the win was out of his reach. At a quick out-and-back stretch on the water, Stornes passed Blummenfelt and Geens as they made their way back toward the finish. He shouted to Blummenfelt, cheering his friend on as they entered the last kilometre of running.

In the end, Geens took the win, defending his 70.3 world title from 2024. Photo: Eric Wynn

Blummenfelt moved to the front with a half mile left, but Geens stuck with him. The pair brushed elbows in the final few turns as they approached the finishing chute. It was incredibly tight, but with under a hundred yards to go, Geens pulled away, beating the Norwegian by three seconds to win back-to-back 70.3 world titles.

Geens ran a 1:07:35 half-marathon to give him the win in a final time of 3:42:52. Blummenfelt posted a run split of 1:07:54 and crossed the line in 3:42:55, while Stornes locked up third in 3:43:52. Schomburg held on for a stellar result in fourth place, with Bogen crossing the line in fifth.

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