Bartolamedi Breaks Course Record to Win at IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-En-Provence

May 17, 2026

It wasn’t the warmest day for the European Pro Series opener, with temperatures hovering at a brisk 6C. Forty-four men lined up for the in-water start, and as expected, South Africa’s Jamie Riddle surged to the front early. Swiss athlete Sven Thalmann joined him, and the pair shared the workload in the 17C water. Despite driving a pace of 1:09/100 m, they failed to split the field completely, although the men stretched into a long single-file line with several swimmers dangling off the front. All the race favourites stayed connected, but when the athletes exited the water, a front group of 15 had separated itself, including Rico Bogen, Rudy Von Berg, Justus Nieschlag, Andrea Salvisberg, Antonio Benito, Lasse Priester, and local favourite and reigning XTERRA world champion Felix Forissier. Another race favourite, Kristian Hogenhaug, lost significant time and exited the water more than a minute behind.

T1 descended into absolute chaos. The men sprinted breathlessly to their transition boxes after a 400 m run from the water, fighting for every second as they battled for early bike position. The 6C air temperature tempted many athletes to grab gloves and some to pull on socks, but numb fingers and adrenaline-fuelled decisions reshuffled the order. Riddle suffered the most, stopping to put on socks at a seemingly glacial pace and dropping twelve positions. Bogen, meanwhile, gained six positions and hit the bike course first.

The opening kilometres of the bike featured several spacing issues, especially as the field accordioned into the first climb. The referees appeared content to let the athletes resolve it themselves, and eventually the increasing gradient sorted things out. After the first climb, a front group of four—Bogen, Michele Bartolamedi, Maximilian Sperl, and Nathan Guerbeur—established a breakaway that lasted the entirety of the 90 km ride. The quartet worked smoothly together, pushing the pace and extending their advantage to 3:32.

Hogenhaug worked aggressively early on, climbing ten positions to seventeenth before eventually moving into fifteenth by the end of the bike, leaving himself substantial work to do on the run. Von Berg and Benito found themselves in similar positions after coming off the bike in eleventh and twelfth.

Setting a new course record, Bartolamedi came off the bike first in 2:02:20. The 24-year-old Italian moved quickly through T2, exited first onto the run, and immediately set the pace. The race drama unfolded with 8 km remaining when Bogen, who had built a thirty-second gap, surged past to take the lead. Bartolamedi responded immediately, attacking back to reclaim the front. Through the twists and turns of the city course, the two traded positions repeatedly, with Bogen even losing his footing on a right-hand corner. Bartolamedi launched another decisive attack that finally broke Bogen. By the time he reached the final two kilometres, Bartolamedi could see clear road behind him.

In his Pro Series debut, Bartolamedi broke the tape, shattered Kristian Blummenfelt’s course record, and burst into tears as he claimed his second professional victory.

Behind them, Priester unleashed his short-course speed and attacked the run determined to erase the 4:40 deficit he carried off the bike in sixth place. Frequently the fastest man on course, he closed to within just nine seconds of Bogen to secure third place.

Sperl, Guerbeur, and Forissier secured the three available Nice World Championship slots by finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh.

“Oggi, vinco—today, I win,” Bartolemedi said he told himself on the run during his post-race interview. “Today, I’m stronger. I knew that my legs were perfect, the brain always clear. The second lap [of the run], I saw Rico come strong, but I didn’t have any fear or I wasn’t scared.”

“The first part [of the race] was chaotic. I tried to stay in the group without trying anything but to stay there. Then the middle part, I suffered a lot with the up and down, up and down. But then when I arrived at the big climb, my legs were good. My head told me, ‘Try. Today you have to try.’ I [rode] five-ten minutes strong and I tried to push to make the difference and–I played a good card,” he said about the swim and bike.

Now in his third professional season, Bartolamedi adds this victory to his recent second-place finish at Challenge Gran Canaria.