2025 Ironman Frankfurt Pro Preview

Last year, a major soccer tournament forced the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt to be delayed until the middle of August. This year, it’s back at its traditional date in late June, and the two major German full-distance races in Frankfurt and Roth are once again only one week apart. Following the female European Championships in Hamburg four weeks ago, Frankfurt will host the male version with more than 50 registered pro athletes.

Of course, it’s also an Ironman Pro Series event, meaning there will be a live broadcast of the race. The race plays an important role in deciding the Pro Series: Magnus Ditlev (DNK) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) are expected to score well at the 6,000-point Ironman World Championship race in Nice, and both arrive in Frankfurt with a 2025 Ironman win. For now, Blummenfelt has the better scores from 70.3s and could take the lead in the series after Frankfurt. Then there are at least seven athletes expected to start Ironman Frankfurt from the current men’s top 20 in the Pro Series, starting with Matt Hanson, who is currently ranked second. Frankfurt should create the last big shake-up before the two Ironman World Championship races in Nice and Marbella.

Review the full start lists and find livestream information. Watch the action live on Outside TV on June 29 starting at midnight Eastern time, and 9 p.m. Saturday, June 28, Pacific time.

Ironman Frankfurt course

The dynamics of the Frankfurt course typically favor the patient runners who can stay with the lead group in the swim and on the bike. Last year, Blummenfelt used that strategy to win the race with a fantastic 2:32 marathon. The swim in “Langener Waldsee” – likely non-wetsuit, at least for the pros – usually creates no major gaps that often get further reduced in the first fast 10km downhill into Frankfurt. Similar to last year, the bike course will be a few kilometers short, making it even harder for the athletes who are stronger on the bike to make a difference. Last year, Kristian Hogenhaug (DNK) was the fastest on the bike and had a four-minute lead into T2; this year, Ditlev might be looking for an even larger gap. Can he ride away from the field as he did in the last three years in Roth, and how well can he run against Blummenfelt, Patrick Lange (DEU), and all the other strong marathoners?

As a regional championship for the men, there is a prize purse of $87,500 going to the top 10 finishers, with $28,000 awarded to the winner. This late in the season, there are already a lot of athletes qualified for Nice, and the slots may roll down quite far – or a lot of new names have a great day to snag the slots as last year when 10th place wasn’t enough to qualify.

Favorites

As most Pro Series races, Frankfurt is going to have a huge pro field: Last year there were 77 starters, this year there are likely going to be around 50. There might be a few athletes off the front of the swim, but most of the field is likely going to exit the swim after 46-52 minutes – creating a very crowded situation at the start of the bike. Hopefully, the referees, with the help of RaceRanger, can help to ensure a fair race. With such a big field, there is a long list of athletes who will try to impact the race – we’ll look at four favorites and another four wildcards below. But there’s almost always one more athlete who races above his previous level in such a big race – who is it going to be in Frankfurt 2025?

Kristian Blummenfelt

31 years old, Norway

For 2025, Blummenfelt planned his year with a clear focus on winning the Ironman World Championships and the Ironman Pro Series. Things didn’t start too well with a flat at 70.3 Oceanside, but then things clicked for him: Even though miles behind, he had the fastest run split in Oceanside, then won Ironman Texas with blistering 3:57 (bike) and 2:34 (run) splits. He also took 2,500 Pro Series points by winning 70.3 Aix-en-Provence, practically eliminating his “bad score” of 1,800 points in Oceanside.

Blummenfelt returns to the site of his best result in his 2024 season: his win at Ironman Frankfurt, where he set the pace in the bike chase group and then ran a 2:32 marathon even while vomiting. He’s had similar issues on the bike in Kona, but in the off-season, he treated some sore spots in his esophagus that were causing these issues. So far, there have been no repeats in his 2025 races.

This year, he aims to extend his winning streak for a perfect Ironman Pro Series score. That would require beating Ditlev (who won the last three races in Roth and might be stronger than Blummenfelt on the bike) and Lange (who won Kona last year and might be faster than Blummenfelt on the run). Blummenfelt would love to show that he can force the pace on the bike and run to beat these two and all the other racers in Frankfurt. How aggressive is he going to be in Frankfurt? Will he try to stay with Ditlev when he rides up to him? Or will he be content to limit the time lost to Ditlev on the bike while still putting the pressure on Lange? There are a few possible pathways for Blummenfelt to win in Frankfurt – will he be able to race at a similar level as his other 2025 races? He has a good chance to become the first athlete to defend his Frankfurt title since Germany’s Jan Frodeno in 2018 and 2019.

Magnus Ditlev

27 years old, Denmark

In recent years, Ditlev raced Challenge Roth in the summer, coming away with three consecutive wins and two course records (possibly even world records). However, he seemed to be a bit battle-worn in the fall for the World Championships – third in Nice 2023 and second in Kona last year were great results, but he was probably racing to win. This year, he has chosen a lighter race schedule. So far, he has only two starts: a win at Ironman South Africa in March and a somewhat disappointing 12th place at 70.3 St. George after a blown tire. He was lucky to receive a roll-down slot for 70.3 worlds in Marbella at the end of the season. His bike performance in South Africa was impressive, riding nine minutes into Marten Van Riel (BEL). But it’s next to impossible to compare his 4:07 on a somewhat slow course in Port Elizabeth to Blummenfelt’s 3:57 on a much faster course in Texas. Ditlev will want to show Blummenfelt in Frankfurt that he’s still the stronger athlete on the bike.

Ditlev’s impressive bike often takes away from recognizing that he’s also an excellent runner: His marathon PR is a 2:34 at Roth, and in Kona 2024 he was barely 45 seconds slower than Matt Hanson, even gaining positions against a deep field on a marathon he almost didn’t start at all. Will he want to show his full run capabilities on the flat course in Frankfurt, maybe going a bit easier on the bike? Or will he race the bike all out, shattering the field and putting massive time into his competition? Frankfurt will give us strong hints on who is going to be the top favorite for Nice – will Ditlev play his cards wisely?

Patrick Lange

38 years old, Germany

Lange is often overlooked in deep fields, but he managed to win three times in Kona, making him the only active athlete with that level of palmarès! Part of the reason for this discrepancy is that there seem to be two different versions of Lange: A stronger one in the fall for Ironman worlds, and a less successful one for the rest of the season.

After his win in Kona last October, Lange has raced only once, finishing in a disappointing 17th place in the cold temperatures at 70.3 Oceanside. He also had a slight injury that forced him to cancel his planned start at Ironman Texas, and he hasn’t been able to race since then. He’d like to be in his best shape for Frankfurt to challenge Blummenfelt and Ditlev, especially since Frankfurt is his “home Ironman,” and he hasn’t yet been able to win this race.

To do well in Frankfurt, of course his adductor tendon inflammation must have healed completely, allowing him the run training required for a fast marathon. Before that, there are two important intermediate goals: to swim well, possibly with Blummenfelt and the group he’s in. He’d like to do better than last year in Frankfurt where he lost almost four minutes in the swim to Blummenfelt. The second goal is to stay in the big chase group that typically forms in Frankfurt. Lange managed to achieve both goals when he won in Kona – where he also proved to be the best runner in long-distance triathlon. Can Lange successfully execute that strategy again in his 2025 races? Will he be in shape to do so in Frankfurt in June, or will he need some more time to be 100% ready for Nice in September?

Rudy von Berg

31 years old, United States

With a third place in Kona last year, Rudy von Berg claimed his first podium finish at Ironman worlds, continuing to mature at the full distance. He might not be seen at the same level as Blummenfelt, Ditlev, or Lange yet, but he’s not far off and is at minimum a serious contender for the podium in Frankfurt, too.

Von Berg was probably satisfied with his first two legs at Ironman Texas, swimming and biking with Blummenfelt. Maybe he wasn’t quite ready to try to go with Blummenfelt on the run – a 2:42 marathon in the Texas heat and humidity was good enough for third place and a Kona slot, but still no match for Blummenfelt’s 2:34. But as in Kona 2024, von Berg showed that he is great in close run situations, leaving a few close contenders behind and almost closing the gap to second place.

Will he be prepared to take some extra risks in Frankfurt, and can he come away with a big win in a strong field?

Wildcards

Wildcard 1: Kieran Lindars

28 years old, United Kingdom

2024 was a fantastic year for Kieran Lindars: He was second in Frankfurt running a 2:37 marathon, then finished eighth in Kona after a tight run battle. Compared to that, he still needs to pick up the pace in 2025: After a DNF at Ironman Texas his best result is a third place at The Challenge Championship in Samorin. Lindars is one of the athletes who still needs a Nice slot – can he find the right level of aggression to achieve that outcome, and what role can he play in Frankfurt 2025?

Wildcard 2: Gustav Iden

29 years old, Norway

After disappointing 2023 and 2024 seasons marked with personal heartbreak, injuries and insufficient volume, Gustav Iden is back to training and racing healthy this year. At the start of the season, he was able to run himself onto the podium at 70.3 Oceanside. He was also aggressive on the bike in Texas but then struggled in the second half of the run, indicating that maybe he hadn’t quite made up for all the training he missed last year. Finishing in Texas validated his automatic slot from his Kona win in 2023, and he’s had another two months of training. Can he race in Frankfurt at a level that shows he can be a major player in September in Nice?

Wildcard 3: Kristian Hogenhaug

33 years old, Denmark

Kristian Hogenhaug has great Frankfurt memories: Winning his age group in 2016, finishing second in 2021 after riding away from the field on the bike, and securing a qualifying slot in Frankfurt many times. That will be his base goal for this year as well; for that he needs a solid run of about 2:45 after pushing hard on the bike. Is he going to be the T2 leader as last year, and how much time can he put into his competition?

Wildcard 4: Jonas Schomburg

31 years old, Germany

Jonas Schomburg, a 2021 and 2024 Olympian, was a big surprise at Ironman South Africa at the start of the 2025 season: Leading out of the swim, he rode away at the start of the bike, and it took Ditlev 90km to catch up to him. He also had a solid second half on the bike and ran a 2:41 marathon to secure third place and a Nice qualifying spot. How will he fare in the much deeper field in Frankfurt, and how many points can he score for the Ironman Pro Series where he’s currently in sixth place? And which lessons can he take away for the September race in Nice?