IRONMAN World Championship 2025: Six Men Ride Into T2, Setting Up Thrilling Finish in Nice

Sam Laidlow overcome early-race struggles to move into the lead group on the ride.

The 2025 IRONMAN World Championship is flying by, with the pro men already out on the marathon course in Nice. It took a while, but the three Norwegians and Sam Laidlow (and Australia’s Nick Thompson) finally caught long-time leaders Jamie Riddle, Marten Van Riel and Jonas Schomburg late in the ride. They managed to drop Riddle and Schomburg, but Van Riel stuck around and rode into T2 in first. The six-man group finished the ride with a lead of five minutes over the first chasers.

As we noted in our swim recap story earlier today, Laidlow had a rough start to his race. Normally a frontrunner in the early stages of any race he enters, Laidlow had a surprisingly slow swim. In T1, he looked to be dealing with back issues, but once he got out onto the bike course, he seemed to return to his usual form.

Kristian Blummenfelt made sure to stick with Laidlow on the bike course.

The Riddle-Schmoburg-Van Riel trio wasted no time moving into the lead on the ride, dropping the rest of the men with whom they’d exited the water. At the start of the ride, they had a lead of around a minute over Kristian Blummenfelt and Casper Stornes, another minute over Gustav Iden and an additional 45 seconds over Laidlow.

The group of three men worked together, moving well and actually putting time into the Norwegians and Laidlow in the first 16 miles of the ride. Over the next 10 miles, though, Laidlow bridged the gap to the Norwegians, and that was when it looked like the race would change.

After 42 miles of riding, Stornes, Laidlow, Blummenfelt and Iden sat just over a minute back of the leaders, riding with Australia’s Nick Thompson. The gap had closed significantly in just 10 miles or so, but the lead three apparently weren’t ready to give up their positions, because they surged over the next eight miles, not just maintaining their lead, but extending it back up to two minutes once again.

Marten Van Riel refused to give up his lead.

With 70 miles behind them, the men approached a long descent, and Van Riel took this opportunity to drop his fellow leaders. Just a couple of minutes back, Laidlow and Blummenfelt did the same, speeding ahead of Iden, Stornes and Thompson.

Now working alone, Van Riel had a tough task ahead of him as the 2021 and 2023 IRONMAN world champs chased him down. By 80 miles, his lead was down to 26 seconds. Blummenfelt and Laidlow had firmly taken hold of second and third place, with Iden and Stornes in fifth and sixth further back, their eyes on a fading Riddle.

At around 94 miles, the duo caught Van Riel, but instead of letting them pass, he found another gear and held his position at the front of the race. Checkpoint after checkpoint, Van Riel continued to lead. In the final miles of the ride, Iden, Stornes and Thompson closed the gap, making it a six-man race going into T2 with only 23 seconds separating each of them. Ultimately, it was Laidlow who had the best ride of the day, covering the 112-mile course in 4:29:29.

All that stands between any one of these men and a world title is a marathon. There is still quite a way to go until the finish, but the run is sure to be fast, fun and exciting.

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