Jelle Geens: Kona Remains His Biggest Goal

Just hours ago, two-time 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens posted a YouTube video titled Ironman Texas Didn’t Go to Plan…Now What? While he acknowledged disappointment with his result in Texas, he also pointed to the positives, including being in contention at the front of the race for roughly six hours, and discussed the lessons he is taking away as he continues pursuing success over the full distance and a qualification slot for the Ironman World Championship.

A Breakdown of Ironman Texas

“[It was] obviously not how I envisioned it or thought it would go,” Geens said. “I was up there for probably six hours, maybe a little more, doing a really good job, but very quickly it went downhill from there.”

He reflected that Ironman is “a very different beast” and explained that he believes his current limiters – and the key areas he plans to address before his next full-distance race – are muscular endurance and executing a more pronounced taper. He believes both factors become significantly more important over a race lasting more than seven hours.

“[It was] a disappointing race obviously…I really wanted to go there and prove straight away that I could be fighting for the win in Texas,” he said.

At the same time, he explained that the experience both humbled and motivated him. Having already achieved extensive success over the middle distance, Geens said it is now the challenge of the full Ironman distance, and ultimately racing well in Kona, that most strongly drives him.

The Plan to Qualify

Geens shared that his upcoming schedule is expected to include the T100 San Francisco as well as Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley, with these races taking place on back-to-back weekends in June. He then plans to target his next full-distance start at Ironman Lake Placid on July 19th as he continues his pursuit of a Kona qualification slot.

“I might race more conservatively [in Lake Placid] and really go for the Kona slot,” Geens shared. He added that he hopes to take away more Ironman-specific lessons from Lake Placid “and then hopefully [arrive] in Kona being a bit of a wiser man already.”

“Nailing the Ironman distance is what motivates me now,” he continued, expressing confidence that with more experience over the distance and a few adjustments to his training and race execution, he can become a legitimate contender at the front of Ironman racing, ideally as soon as this season in Kona.

And while Geens may have found his limit a little too early in Texas – or, as he suggested, lacked the muscular endurance to sustain that pace over the final 12km – the way he raced also reflected the qualities that have made him one of the sport’s most dangerous middle-distance athletes: confidence, courage, and a willingness to commit fully to the front of the race.

If Texas was a lesson in the demands of Ironman racing, it also served as a reminder that Geens has both the talent and mindset to eventually become a major factor over the full distance.