IRONMAN Arizona: Menno Koolhaas Wins First IRONMAN Title, Simone Dailey Flies to Victory with Top Marathon

Simone Dailey wins the final race of her professional career. Photos: Eric Wynn

After two decades of welcoming triathletes from around the globe, IRONMAN Arizona saw its final running on Sunday in Tempe. The pros and age groupers laid down one last round of fast times on the Arizona course, with Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands taking the win on the men’s side, while Great Britain’s Simone Dailey topped the pro women’s field.

Koolhaas Grabs the Win

Fans of triathlon know that Koolhaas is a threat in any long-distance event he enters. He was the European long-distance champion in 2023 and, a year later, finished fifth in his Kona debut. However, entering Sunday’s race in Arizona, he had never won a full IRONMAN.

Additionally, Koolhaas was winless so far in 2025, but he still had several strong results in middle-distance races, including a pair of fourth-place finishes at the T100 events in London and Wollongong. He didn’t race in Nice at the IRONMAN World Championship this year, but his win in Arizona secured him a spot in Kona next October.

Ben Kanute was among the top men in the swim.

He started the day off at the front of the race, climbing out of the water in first after swimming 48 minutes on the dot. He wasn’t alone, though, and found himself entering transition with eight other men. That group stuck together for a while on the bike, but about a third of the way through the ride it had dwindled to just four: Koolhaas, Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg, American Ben Kanute and Josh Lewis, who hails from Guernsey (one of the British Channel Islands).

That foursome remained intact for quite a while, with American Sam Long leading the chase in fifth for much of the ride. With 20 miles to go, Koolhaas and Kanute had managed to drop Salvisberg and Lewis, who lost significant time over the closing stages of the bike.

By the time the men hit T2, it was Koolhaas with a slight lead of 16 seconds over Kanute. Salvisberg was in third, more than two minutes back, while Long leapfrogged Lewis to move into fourth, three and a half minutes from the front.

Although Kanute was within striking distance of Koolhaas to start the run, it didn’t take long for the Dutchman to widen the gap. After four miles of running, he was ahead by a minute. At the 10-mile checkpoint, Kanute’s deficit to the lead was 3:25. By that point, Long had passed Salvisberg, and he was gaining on his fellow American.

Sam Long came out of the water four minutes back of the lead, but he made plenty of passes on the bike.

Long looked good, but Koolhaas was stronger, and his lead only continued to grow over the second half of the marathon. By the time he crossed the line, he had more than eight minutes on Long (thanks to a 2:35:47 marathon split). Koolhaas broke the tape in 7:28:52 to win the first IRONMAN title of his career. Long grabbed second place in 7:37:22, and Kanute dug deep to hold onto third, crossing the line in 7:38:57.

With their podium finishes, Koolhaas, Long and Kanute all booked their tickets to Kona for 2026.

Koolhaas wins his first IRONMAN title.

Dailey Says Goodbye to Racing

Koolhaas spent the last chunk of his race in first place, but the women’s race saw much more movement near the front. The day started with Spain’s Lara Hernandez-Tome climbing out of the water in first, posting a 49:45 split. This gave her an advantage of almost a minute over second place, and close to three minutes over third.

Alice Alberts climbed to first place on the bike in Arizona.

Hernandez-Tome rode alone at the front of the race for a long time, extending her lead even more. By the halfway point on the bike, she was three and a half minutes clear of second-place Rachel Zilinskas of the U.S. American Alice Alberts was in third at the point in the ride, sitting five minutes behind the Spaniard. Ninety seconds behind her were a pair of Brits – Jodie Stimpson and Dailey.

Hernandez-Tome may have been a bit overzealous in the lead, however, as she started losing serious time to Alberts in the back half of the ride. By the 90-mile mark, Alberts had caught her, erasing the five-minute gap she had faced only an hour earlier. Dailey and Zilinskas also caught and passed Hernandez-Tome before the end of the ride.

Zilinskas had a great run in Tempe.

As the pro women set out onto the run course, it was Alberts with a lead of more than two minutes over Zilinskas. Dailey was in third place at that point, 3:25 back of the lead. Alberts looked strong, but Zilinskas ate into her lead with every passing mile.

After just eight miles of running, a gap that had once been 132 seconds was down to 17. A couple of miles later, it was Alberts who found herself that far behind the lead, as Zilinskas had caught and blown by her. Meanwhile, further back in third, Dailey was powering along comfortably, and she was suddenly less than a minute behind the lead.

In the next few miles, there was a shakeup on the leaderboard once again, with Dailey first passing Alberts and then catching Zilinskas. After that, it was all Dailey. She cruised along the run course while her competitors faded behind her, ultimately building up a lead of more than four minutes.

Curridori said she even surprised herself with her podium finish in Arizona.

Propelled by a 2:59:45 marathon, Dailey crossed the line in 8:37:17. Zilinskas held on for second place in a final time of 8:41:41, but Alberts fell to fourth after she was caught by Italy’s Elisabetta Curridori, who took third in 8:44:46.

Like the top three men, the women’s podium finishers all earned their slots in Kona for 2026. Dailey, however, will not be taking the trip to the start line in Kona, as she announced that Arizona will be the final race of her pro career, making what was already a great day something of a storybook ending for the IRONMAN champion.

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