Challenge Roth Finalizes Elite Field

The world’s largest full-distance race is always an incredible spectacle – every year over 5,000 athletes take part and tens of thousands of spectators line the course at Challenge Roth. From 1998 to 2001 Roth was the host of IRONMAN Europe, but when race director Detlef Kuhnel got wind that IRONMAN was negotiating with Frankfurt to put on an event, he and the owners, the Walchshofer family, decided to go their own way and put on their own triathlon. It’s no secret that since it debuted in 2002, Challenge Roth looks to put on the biggest long-distance triathlon show in Germany every year. In addition to all the athletes and spectators the event routinely attracts, the race traditionally has an incredible pro field. This year, despite not having either defending champ on the start list (Magnus Ditlev and Anne Haug are both skipping the race to focus on the IRONMAN World Championship – well, for now, anyway!), organizers have managed to attract a strong field with some big names. Here’s a look at the athletes we can expect on the start line in Roth on July 6.

World Champs

As we reported last month, Laura Philipp (GER), the reigning IRONMAN World Champion, will be back in Roth looking to improve on her runner-up finish behind Haug’s world-best performance last year. Yesterday it was announced that 2023 IRONMAN world champion Sam Laidlow (FRA) will also be competing at “the most important race of the season next to the IRONMAN World Championship.” Laidlow followed: “a win in Roth would be a dream.”

(It is important to note that Laidlow has reported on his social media channels that he’s been struggling with his health since last year’s IRONMAN World Championship in Kona. Will he be in reasonable form by July?)

Podium (Or Near Podium) Finishers

Last year’s men’s runner-up, Tom Bishop (GBR), is back. Last year he beat Rudy Von Berg (who won’t be back) to the line by just 34 seconds and was 63-seconds ahead of Germany’s Jan Stratmann, who would very much like to get on the podium this year. There are a couple of other men who did well at the 2019 race who are back for another shot – that year’s winner Andi Dreitz (GER) and the runner-up from that year, Jesper Svensson (SWE).

On the women’s side, Great Britain’s Fenella Langridge took second in 2022, third in 2021 and fourth in 2023, so she’s no stranger to racing at the front in Roth.

Full-Distance Debuts

Two-time world champion Vincent Luis has already enjoyed some success over the 70.3 distance with a pair of wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain. The Frenchman watched his father compete in Roth 20 years ago, so he has a soft-spot for the event. He’ll be joined in his first full-distance race by a couple of men he competed with at the 2016 Olympics – South Africa’s Henri Schoeman (who took the bronze in Rio) and Australia’s Aaron Royle.

Two other athletes who have enjoyed success over the half distance, Aussie Grace Thek and Germany’s Frederik Funk, will also make their full-distance debuts in Bavaria in July.

Roth Debuts

There are a few athletes who have enjoyed IRONMAN success who will make their first appearances in Roth. Heading the list is American Matt Hanson, who is an eight-time IRONMAN champ renowned for his running prowess. France’s Denis Chevrot has four IRONMAN titles to his name, while the Netherlands’ Menno Koolhaas won Challenge Almere-Amsterdam in 2023 and took fifth in Kona last year. Kiwi Jack Moody won the Challenge Family World Bonus last year and took third at IRONMAN New Zealand earlier this month.

On the women’s front, Nice fifth-place finisher Nikki Bartlett will be in Roth for the first time, as will France’s Justine Mathieux (third in Cozumel last year) and Switzerland’s Alanis Siffert, who won the Challenge Family World Bonus last year and took sixth in her full-distance debut in New Zealand earlier this month.

Other Names We’ll Be Watching

Martin Schulz: The two-time Paralympic gold medalist (Rio and Tokyo) won bronze in Paris last year. He’s Germany’s most successful paratriathlete and will no doubt garner lots of attention.

Pieter Heemeryck: While the Belgian athlete didn’t fare well in his previous Roth appearances (two DNFs and a 19th), he showed he could race with the world’s best with a few top T100 finishes last year including a third in Singapore.

Laura Siddall: The popular British pro has finished fourth three times and second twice in Roth. This will be her final pro appearance at the event.

Bart Aernouts: The 2017 champ is also competing in Roth for the last time as a pro.

The Competition

As mentioned, there’s always an unofficial competition between Roth and the two IRONMAN European Championship events in Hamburg and Frankfurt. The Hamburg race serves as a women’s only pro event, while Frankfurt will host the male pros this year. We already know that reigning Kona champ Patrick Lange is heading to Frankfurt, and it’s not a stretch to imagine he’ll be facing a tough field. It’s still too early to know exactly who will be in Hamburg, but, once again, with so many big names gunning after the IRONMAN Pro Series title this year, one would imagine there will be a decent field there, too. Both those races offer US$87,500 in prize money.

Challenge Roth has dramatically upped its prize purse for this year to €160,000 compared to last year’s €74,500, with each of the champions earning €30,000, second-place finishers taking home €20,000, third earning €10,000, and €7,000 and €5,000 going to the fourth and fifth across the line. The prize money at the IRONMAN events (when combined since there is only one gender at each race) is still greater than Roth, with the winners in Hamburg and Frankfurt will taking home $28,000, with the prize money going 10 deep at all the events. There are added bonuses for a “world best” times in Roth, too.

All the events will be streamed live – last year’s Roth show was received better than the IRONMAN Pro Series coverage, well, at least by Slowtwitch’s David Pinsonneault in his race recap:

The live stream lost power a couple of times but the coverage of today’s race should be raised up. The commentary, featuring Belinda Granger and Sebastian Kienle, was engaging from start to finish. They gave us multiple cameras on the athletes at the front of the race and did not miss any of the key moves that were made. PTO and IRONMAN should take some notes from this broadcast.

In addition to having a much larger field than either of the IRONMAN events, Challenge Roth is also renowned to have one of the biggest expos in the sport, which features considerably more vendors than either of the IRONMAN events.

In terms of crowd sizes, all three events are renowned for huge spectator support. While the run course and finish lines at the two IRONMAN races are renowned for having huge crowds, it just seems to get taken to another level in Roth, especially on the Solar Berg climb. (Pictured above.)

The Roth field will definitely miss the two “world record” holders from last year, but there are more than a few names to make up for Haug and Ditlev missing out on this year’s race. Suffice it to say that Challenge Roth will, as always, be quite a show. You can look forward to our coverage from Roth in July.

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