Lionel Sanders withdraws from 70.3 worlds after bike crash
After going back and forth on the idea of the world championship in New Zealand, the Canadian star says he is officially out
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Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for IRONMAN
In a post-race video from Kona, Canada’s Lionel Sanders told his followers that he didn’t plan on racing the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand, in December. Instead, he said he would likely compete at 70.3 Indian Wells. Sanders changed his tune in the weeks following his race in Hawaii, hinting on Instagram that he might toe the line in Taupo after all. Unfortunately, a bike crash in training has led to him pulling the plug on the rest of his season altogether, and he won’t be in New Zealand or Indian Wells.
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Sanders had a great build leading into the final stretch of 2024. He kicked the year off with a big win at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in California, beating American Sam Long and fellow Canadian Jackson Laundry to the line. He followed that up with another 70.3 win in Mont Tremblant in June.
In July, he finished third at Ironman Lake Placid, booking his ticket to Kona, and a month after that, he won Ironman Canada in Penticton, B.C., claiming his slot at the 2025 Ironman World Championship in Nice, France. He looked poised to have a good race in Hawaii come October, but things didn’t pan out the way he had hoped after a long day in Kona.
Sanders finished 32nd in Hawaii, crossing the line in 8:22:06. It was after this race that he said he wouldn’t be travelling to New Zealand for the 70.3 worlds, stating in a YouTube video that he couldn’t afford a trip to the other side of the world.
“I spent all my money on the Kona trip and can’t afford to go to New Zealand anymore because I didn’t make any return on this trip,” he said. However, he seemed to rediscover his competitive fire at some point after Kona, as he was soon posting on Instagram about the 70.3 worlds.
On Monday, any hope that Sanders’s fans had of seeing him compete in Taupo were dashed after he posted on Instagram once more, writing that he had to call his season early. “I was really excited to do 70.3 worlds but unfortunately last week I crashed pretty hard on my bike,” he wrote. “Nothing is broken but I’m still quite banged up so I’ve decided to call it a season and rest up for a successful 2025!”