Home > Racing

Can Lionel Sanders win his first Ironman race since Arizona, 2017?

We preview this weekend's next stop for the Ironman Pro Series - Lake Placid

Photo by: Kevin Mackinnon

The Ironman Pro Series has proved to be considerably more competitive than many triathlon fans and pundits had anticipated, and this weekend’s Ironman Lake Placid event serves as ample proof. The huge pro field includes both defending champions – Alice Alberts (USA) and Joe Skipper (GBR) – but both will be pushed by a deep and competitive field vying for a share of the US$125,000 prize purse. Highlighting that field will be popular Canadian Lionel Sanders (pictured above winning Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant), who is one of the sport’s most popular athletes, but hasn’t enjoyed an Ironman win in almost seven years.

Fields for Vitoria-Gasteiz and Lake Placid show big names continue to flock to Ironman Pro Series

This weekend is the 25th anniversary of Ironman Lake Placid, which became only the second Ironman qualifier in North America in 1999 (after Ironman Canada in Penticton).

Sanders confident in his training

With two impressive 70.3 wins to his name already in 2024 (Ironman 70.3 Oceanside and Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant), Lionel Sanders has bounced back from the broken ribs that sidelined him for part of the season. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Sanders said that he feels like his preparation for the race has been excellent.

Despite two big 70.3 wins, Lionel Sanders is “still afraid to go to the Ironman”

He attributes part of that to focussing on “five per cent less effort, five per cent more technique” rather than overtraining, and to the support team he’s put in place – “the team I’m working with now … I’m confident I am going to race good Ironmans,” he said.

To take his first Ironman win in over 2,400 days, though, Sanders will have to come up big against the likes of Skipper, American Matt Hanson, who currently sits atop the Ironman Pro Series ranking, Canadian Jackson Laundry, who’s third in the standings and New Zealand’s Braden Currie, a third-place Ironman World Championship finisher and mutiple Ironman winner. Others in the field who could be in the mix for either the win or a podium finish include Belgium’s Bart Aernouts, the runner-up in Kona in 2018, multiple Ironman champion Chris Leiferman, France’s Arnaud Guilloux, and American Matthew Marquardt.

You can see the full pro field here.

Can Hering take another big win?

Jackie Hering is all smiles as she takes the Ironman European Championship Hamburg. Photo: Ironman

Fresh off a big win at the Ironman European Championship Hamburg last month, American Jackie Hering could put herself in a great position in the Ironman Pro Series with another full-distance win. Another to watch in the race is Australia’s Kylie Simpson, who had led the Pro Series until a few weeks ago. (Denmark’s Maja Stage Nielsen moved ahead in the standings after finishing seventh at 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne-Vendee.)

Others to watch in the field include last year’s Ironman European champ, Sarah True, defending champ Alberts, the Netherlands’ Lotte Wilms, American Danielle Lewis and super-swimmer Lauren Brandon.

How to watch

The live coverage of the race starts at 6 AM EST and can be seen on:

The “Voice” returns

The 2,600 registered athletes will enjoy the return of the “Voice of Ironman” – Mike Reilly, who is coming out of retirement for the 25th anniversary event.

Mike Reilly, the “Voice of Ironman” announces retirement