Rico Bogen, the Youngest 70.3 World Champion, Goes Long at Challenge Roth 2026

July 4, 2026

Last year he completely reset his training and racing life, joining the Erdinger team alongside three-time Kona champ Patrick Lange, moving to St. Moritz and starting to work with coach Philip Seipp, Laura Philipp’s husband and coach. He left bike sponsor Ku and started riding a Canyon and signed with the T100 Tour. He continues to be a force on that tour, having won San Francisco the last two years thanks to dominating rides and a solid run.

The men’s race here in Roth promises to be an interesting one, and one man who is expected to be a key component to the fun hasn’t ever done a long-distance race. Rico Bogen, who burst onto the long-distance scene in 2022 when he came third at the Bilbao Triathlon. A year later he would win IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau and then take the 70.3 world title in Lahti, Finland. At the time he was just 22 – the youngest champion we’ve ever seen at the 70.3 worlds.

Seen on Site: New Canyon Speedmax!

Now Bogen is gearing up for his first full-distance race, and everyone expects him to be very much involved with the day’s action. The vision is that Bogen will join strong swimmer/ bikers Sam Laidlow and Jonas Schomburg as part of a breakaway bike group determined to pull clear of Kristian Blummenfelt. If he’s part of that group and they do get clear heading into T2, Bogen will then find himself taking on the marathon in a very unforgiving environment – having to run with the likes of Laidlow and Schomburg, all while holding off two of the fastest runners the sport has ever seen – Patrick Lange and Blummenfelt.

All told it makes the young German a definite X-Factor for tomorrow’s race. Earlier today we had a chance to check out Bogen’s brand new Speedmax that’s ready to power him into new territory.