The reigning Ironman world champion \u2013 who famously rode a road bike to win the 70.3 worlds in Nice in 2019 \u2013 says he wouldn\u2019t be repeating the trick on Sunday <\/p>
The men\u2019s Ironman World Championship takes place on Sunday<\/a> and with the event being hosted outside of North America for the first time, much has been made of how the 112-mile bike route in the south of France might affect the outcome.<\/strong><\/p>\n With the undulating loop involving a lengthy climb from the swim start in Nice into the Maritime Alps and encompassing 2,427m (7,963ft) of ascent compared to Kona\u2019s 1,772m (5,813), there has been speculation that athletes might swap their regular triathlon time-trial bikes<\/strong><\/a> in favour of road bikes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> But according to reigning champion Gustav Iden<\/strong><\/a>, who won\u2019t be defending his title having chosen to concentrate on trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics next year, any change of plan would be a mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be on a TT bike,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m very confident in my riding abilities and the downhill is less percentage [of the race] now than [it was in] the half Ironman [in 2019 in Nice]. So, I would do the TT bike for sure, and I don\u2019t think I would do any modifications.\u201d<\/p>\n Footage has emerged of triathletes adapting their set-ups as they tested the terrain ahead of Sunday\u2019s race, including France\u2019s 2022 runner-up Sam Laidlow<\/strong><\/a> who was riding his Canyon-branded bike with a time-trial cockpit equipped with drop handlebars rather than bullhorns.<\/p>\n But if anyone is well placed to make the call, it\u2019s Iden. Last year\u2019s Kona winner defeated double-Olympic medallist Alistair Brownlee<\/strong><\/a> to become Ironman 70.3 world champion in 2019 aged just 23 \u2013 and achieved it on a road bike with clip-on aerobars.<\/p>\n While Iden was still a relative novice at the distance in 2019, he had won his first 70.3 as a 20-year-old in Norway in 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cThe choice I made then was pretty good,\u201d he added. \u201cBut then you were also still allowed to sit on the top tube [to gain an aero advantage \u2013 it has now been outlawed] and it actually makes a bit of a difference. So, if I was going back to 2019, I think I\u2019d still choose a road bike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Changing set-ups to suit the course<\/strong><\/h2>\n