Bahrain Victorious 13 secured two successful title defenses and a silver medal in Marbella, Spain as the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship brought the IRONMAN Pro Series to a close.
In a nail-biting dash to the finish Jelle Geens defended his world title, becoming only the fourth man in history to do so.
The rest of the race was just as eventful for the Belgian. Emerging from the 1.9-kilometre swim 58 seconds down from the leader in 22nd, he then had to weather a string of setbacks on the 90-kilometre bike including an early crash on a roundabout, which caused gearing issues that he had to stop to fix. Even so, Geens bridged across to come into the bike-to-run transition with the day’s fifth-fastest split. On the half marathon, he chased down Kristian Blummenfelt to set up a duel that would be fought all the way to the finish line, with the rest of the field falling off the relentless pace.
In the final stretch, Geens took the inside line on the turn to get three seconds clear of Blummenfelt and grab the tape.
“It was a crazy sprint; at one point elbow-to-elbow because it was quite narrow and I think we both wanted to be first at the U-turn,” he recounted post-race. “The legs were screaming, but the head and the heart wanted it.”
Vincent Luis finished 9th in his Ironman 70.3 World Championship debut, after exiting the water in 6th and staying competitive throughout the day. Kacper Stepniak came out of the swim just behind Geens and ultimately finished 29th.
In the women’s race the day before, Taylor Knibb claimed the title of 2025 vice world champion, while Kat Matthews secured the Ironman Pro Series crown for the second straight year.
Knibb – a three-time Ironman 70.3 world champion – made a late call to start in Marbella. After her DNF at last month’s Ironman World Championship in Kona, she received medical clearance only in the week leading into the race. But the American showed no signs of hesitation early on, emerging from the swim in second behind Lucy Charles-Barclay, with Matthews in the chase pack roughly two minutes back.
Knibb then went toe-to-toe with Charles-Barclay on the bike, clocking the day’s fastest split and starting the run in the lead. The effort, however, proved costly, and she ultimately settled for the silver medal.
“It was liberating to be honest because I couldn’t really have any expectations. I was just really grateful to be here and see how my body did,” Knibb said. “I can go into the off-season now with a little less fear, a little less doubt and uncertainty because I raced again.”
Matthews initially appeared poised to run her way into the battle up front, holding third at a strong pace before a calf injury forced her to withdraw. Yet with her closest rival in the Pro Series finishing too far back to earn the points needed to surpass her, the British star still made history, becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back IRONMAN Pro Series titles.
With six races completed and no finish worse than second aside from her DNF in Marbella, Matthews’ 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series campaign stands out in its consistency and commitment to excellence in execution.
More racing awaits the Bahrain Victorious 13, with the Middle East now in their sights as the team heads to the T100 Triathlon World Tour in Dubai.
