Hayden Wilde claimed his maiden IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, crossing the line in 3:50:51. The New Zealander held off Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt by just 18 seconds to rewrite a script that had twice seen him fall short on the world stage.
A charge from deep in the field
The race did not begin on Wilde’s terms. He exited the Mediterranean swim in 22nd place, 16 seconds adrift of leader Seth Rider. On the bike he started a patient climb back through the field, reaching the summit of the Col de Vence in seventh, 37 seconds off the pace.
His descent was ferocious. Wilde recorded the second-fastest bike split of the day, 2:16:50 at an average speed of 40.75 km/h, and entered the second transition only 11 seconds behind. That set up a half-marathon showdown with the sport’s fiercest runners.
Blummenfelt hunts, Wilde holds
Wilde surged early on the run to break clear while Blummenfelt, who left transition 16th, began carving through the contenders. The Norwegian stormed past Lasse Nygaard Priester and reigning champion Jelle Geens in quick succession, then locked onto the leader.
With 1.2 miles remaining, Wilde’s lead had shrunk to 30 seconds as both men hovered around 4:50 per mile. Blummenfelt, running a blistering 1:05:12 half-marathon, gnawed the gap down to 24 seconds, then 18, as the crowd noise swelled along the Promenade.
Wilde glanced back twice, but he would not yield. He hit the finish chute and lifted the tape for a first world title at the distance, two years after a painful near-miss on home soil in Taupō. A lung condition had disrupted his season, yet the Kiwi still produced a 1:07:21 run — more than two minutes quicker than the time that won on the same Côte d’Azur roads in 2019.
The podium reflected the depth he overcame. Blummenfelt took silver in 3:51:09, and Geens — the back-to-back champion from 2024 and 2025 — finished third in 3:52:40. A disjointed schedule had kept Wilde out of Marbella the year before, but in Nice he finally ran down the one that got away.
