With a blistering run that race commentators and spectators considered to be unsustainable, Blummenfelt scored his first big win of the 2026 triathlon series, a come-from-behind triumph at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong race. “Big Blu” surged ahead midway through the 13.1-mile run and went on to earn redemption after a sixth-place finish at Ironman New Zealand two weeks earlier.
Following the 1.2-mile swim in Port Phillip Bay, the pro men’s field exited the water to begin their 56-mile bike leg in foggy conditions. As the fog lifted and the hot Australian sun emerged during the ride, Blummenfelt put himself in fourth position after a 28.56 mph pace aboard his CADEX Tri frameset with a Max Aero Disc rear and Aero 4-Spoke front race wheel. He entered T2 more than a minute and a half behind T100 Triathlon World Tour champion Hayden Wilde (New Zealand) and nearly a minute back from Ironman 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens (Belgium).
From there, the hard-charging Norwegian opened his stride and rapidly chased down the leaders, taking the lead halfway through the run with a powerful pace that would set a Geelong 70.3 run record of 1:06:39, averaging 5:05 per mile. Even after slowing to celebrate with the crowd on the finishing straight, Blummenfelt’s run time was just 37 seconds shy of the fastest 70.3 run ever recorded, a 1:06:02 by Casper Stornes in 2021.
Blummenfelt’s winning margin would ultimately be 59 seconds over Geens and 1:27 over Wilde, setting an overall course record of 3:30:25. All three men finished under the previous Geelong course record.
“It was a fun battle to get out on top of,” Blummenfelt said. “I’m very happy with how I felt on the run, it felt like I was flying there, quite the contrast to how it was two weeks ago. It brings a good momentum heading into Oceanside.”
With the victory, Blummenfelt returns to the top of the Ironman Pro Series standings, a season long series championship he won in 2025. He next competes at the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, scheduled for March 28 along the northern coast of San Diego, where his fellow Norwegians Gustav Iden and Stornes are also set to line up.
