Casper Storns won the shortened Ironman in Frankfurt while the Norwegians won first place

Casper Stornes (NOR)’s impressive form continued as he was crowned Ironman European Champion in Frankfurt after better adapting to the changed race format less than 48 hours before the start: swim 3.8km, bike 125km and run 21.1km due to the heat.

The race eventually ended after a four-man group broke away in the final stages of the bike, splitting the large front group that was struggling from the swim. From there, Stornes was very quick on the run, producing the fastest split of the day to win by two and a half minutes over fellow Norwegian Gustav Eden.

Only seven men from the 49-man start list actually secured their places in Kona before the gun went off, and with the remaining opportunities from Ironman Lake Placid and Ironman Kalmar, the importance of this race cannot be understated.

Among the large number of athletes still to qualify were Jonas Hofmann (Germany), Jimmy Riedel (RSA), Antonio Benito Lopez (Spain) and the big name Magnus Detlef (Denmark), who finally returned to racing after the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Marbella last November.

An unusually warm 84 degree swim started the day off hot from the start, and with the bike and run being shortened, the swim was always going to be relatively more important. It is likely that athletes such as Vincent Lewis (FRA) and Riedel enjoyed the opportunity to apply pressure from the rifle.

However, midway through the swim, near the Australian exit, both athletes were among a huge group of 25 men who would all reach T1 within 30 seconds. The pace was clearly off, likely due to the heat, with the fastest final splits nearly four minutes off the previous course record.

Ditlev and Iden took advantage of this and brought up the rear of that front group, still in a perfect position to start the bike. However, Detlef lost five places during the transition, while Eden gained seven places.

Hence, it was no surprise that these two were among the quickest early on the bike, with the tall Dane quickly taking up nine places. But it wasn’t enough, as Eden only managed to make it less than a third of the way to the bike.

This breakaway, led by Frenchman Nathan Gerbourd and including Norwegians Jamie Rydell and Benito Lopez, looked set to continue, but the strong riders behind them meant they would be caught up at the end of the first lap.

However, again in the final third of the race, Gerbour made his decisive move.

This time it was completely one-on-one, with the trio initially holding it for 30 seconds before the gap swelled to over 80 seconds by the time they were out on the run. This was despite Gerbour suffering from a loose aerobar at the end of the bike, although, fortunately for him, it did not force him to ride entirely on his main bar.

Going back, there was another two minutes behind the next group behind Storrance, Eden and Riddell, while Lewis and Detlef started the run with five and six minutes respectively.

Stornes was first to respond to Guerbeur, and quickly moved into second place ahead of Riddle, who was outpacing Gustav Iden at the time.

Five miles into the race, Stornes was free and clear, having already taken two minutes outside of Guerbeur by that point. By the halfway point, he was one minute ahead of Eden as the battle for the podium between Gerbour and Riedel heated up, with Benito Lopez closing quickly from the chasing pack.

After a few miles, it was clear that Riddle felt it. He dropped to sixth behind Lewis while Benito Lopez moved up to third with Kacper Stepniak (POL) hot on his heels.

In the end, Stornes ran an impressive half marathon distance of 1:12, especially considering the full swim and two-thirds of the Ironman bike beforehand, to win by two and a half minutes over Eden. Benito Lopez worked his way up to third and booked his place in Kona, where the positions dropped to 11th, with Detlev taking the final spot.

After the race, Stornes said he simply settled into his own pace and felt “in control” while running, as he had been very disciplined in the past. And although he is now ideally positioned to capture the Pro Series title ahead of teammate Kristian Blummenfelt, Stornes said his entire focus remains on the Kona, with the Pro Series merely a “bonus.”

Ironman Frankfurt 2026 results: