Can Jan Frodeno win the Ironman World Championship in Nice?

There are more than a few who are happy to refer to him as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT). Olympic gold medalist in 2008. A three-time Ironman world champion. A two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion. Just last month he took on many of the world’s top middle-distance stars at the PTO US Open and beat them all, proving that almost four-years after his last Kona victory, through almost two years of injury, he could still compete with the very best. Thirteen months ago he was in a hospital bed, recovering from a hip injury. Now he’s looking to truly make his mark on the sport.

We caught up with Frodeno tonight at a press event he held in the mountains overlooking Nice – you can see that interview below.

 

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The Saturn V

Since they were sure it was likely to be his last race bike, the designers at Canyon pulled out all the stops for the Speedmax CFR disc bike they delivered to the German star before the Ironman European Championship in Hamburg. While there was the striking gold decals on the gleaming white and blue paint job that looked sharp, it was the smaller details that really told the story. The top tube features a picture of NASA’s Saturn V rocket from the 1960s, the most powerful machine ever built. Other decals on the bike commemorate his three Kona wins and his Olympic gold from Beijing. There’s even an image of his unique, custom-build Oakley helmet orbiting the earth.

With Frodeno set to retire after this Sunday’s Ironman World Championship in Nice, the new Canyon bike serves as the perfect metaphor for the 42-year-old’s final race. In April SpaceX’s Starship rocket was put through a test launch and, while it did explode, the mammoth rocket that is the only machine ever built more powerful than the Saturn V made it off the ground and appears ready to take men to the moon, and possibly even to Mars in the future.

Just like the Saturn V, time is finally catching up with the man many consider to be the greatest triathlete of all time. In Kona last October, an injured Frodeno had to watch as winner Gustav Iden, runner-up Sam Laidlow, third-place finisher Kristian Blummenfelt and fourth-place finisher Max Neumann all surpassed his course record.

Jan Frodeno’s race gear for the Ironman World Championship in Nice

In his return to competition in May, at the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) European Open in Ibiza, Spain, Frodeno would take fourth. Neumann would be the surprise winner on the day, ahead of Blummenfelt and Magnus Ditlev, with the German star finishing just over two minutes behind. At Ironman Hamburg in June, Frodeno would fade on the run and take another fourth. That was followed by a win at Ironman 70.3 Andorra, then that breathtaking win at the PTO US Open in August.

Is Frodeno ready to call it a career with another huge win on Sunday?

Moonshot

It’s hardly a secret that Frodeno has never been a fan of the Ironman course here in Nice. Sure, he loves to climb on his bike during training, but when it comes to racing, he’s happiest on a rolling course. A course with 2,400 m of climbing? He’ll pass.

So, when Ironman announced that the men wold be competing in Nice rather than Kona, Frodeno’s first reaction was, well, let’s just say he wasn’t particularly happy.

Rather than take too much time sulking about it, though, Frodeno turned the new venue into a challenge. He decided to take his own “moonshot” and do everything he possibly could to prepare himself to win in Nice. He moved to Andorra to live at altitude and in the mountains. He is lighter than ever before. He refined his running technique to avoid injury.

“I did the whole Rocky thing,” Frodeno said during tonight’s press conference.

Will that be enough to win on a course that doesn’t suit him, against a crop of young athletes desperate to make their own mark on the sport? Can Frodeno, at 42, hold off the incredible cycling talent of Magnus Ditlev, or the impressive running talents of his countryman Patrick Lange or home country favourite Denis Chevrot? Can an all-around talent like last year’s Kona runner-up Sam Laidlow prove he’s not a “one-hit wonder” with a big day in his home country?

That SpaceX Starship rocket did crash, signalling that while there’s a new stronger, more powerful rocket coming, the Saturn V hasn’t completely been replaced as the most powerful rocket ever. Maybe the Canyon engineers got it all right. We’ll find out on Sunday.