While Frodeno\u2019s three victories in 2015<\/a><\/strong>, 2016<\/a><\/strong> and 2019<\/a><\/strong> all came on Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, this time it\u2019s the mountains in the south of France and a star-studded line-up he\u2019ll have to conquer if he\u2019s to go out on a high.<\/span><\/p>\n After the initial non-wetsuit swim in the Mediterranean, the course<\/a><\/strong> is defined by a long climb after 25 miles on the bike leg before rolling terrain in the Maritime Alps and a sharper five-mile ascent around 75 miles before the fast section back into Nice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen a world-class field come together on a course like this,\u201d Frodeno said. \u201cThat will change the dynamics and there are certain athletes who are going to be very aggressive. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe first climb is going to be decisive in terms of how much energy you spend and how you arrive at the next climb.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While being many people\u2019s top choice, Frodeno believes two-time Challenge Roth winner Magnus Ditlev<\/a><\/strong> (DEN) will take some stopping.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Frodeno has prospered over the 25-year-old twice this season at the PTO Opens in Ibiza and Milwaukee, but did watch on as Ditlev beat Frodeno\u2019s course record in Roth<\/a><\/strong> by a startling 11mins to 7:24:40 in June.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe one that stands out is of course Magnus,\u201d Frodeno said. \u201cWith his performance and biking ability, and being able to run strong off a very hard bike, he has to be the favourite going into this race.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s talk about his technical skill, but that\u2019s to be seen. He\u2019s somebody who meticulously prepares. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI definitely can\u2019t match his pure outright power, but I can descend better than most. It will be who can show that on race day like always.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Despite his initial disappointment that Ironman had chosen to split the venues for the men\u2019s and women\u2019s race, Frodeno isn\u2019t prepared to hold on in the sport for another 13 months and wait for the men\u2019s contest to return to Hawaii.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve made peace with Kona. When I look at what it takes, my motivation and hunger and where I\u2019m at in life. I made peace with the fact that I\u2019ve had a beautiful ending there.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI ended with what at the time I thought was the perfect race and created beautiful memories. Hawaii can be very rewarding, but it can be very brutal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd apart from the motivation, I\u2019m not sure my body is up for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When Frodeno won on the Big Island in 2019, he set a then course record of 7:51:13 in a show of complete domination. If he thought it was the perfect race four years ago, does he need to go beyond that on Sunday?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPerfect is hard to define because you only race who\u2019s there on the day and I believe the overall level and depth of competition has gone up, so it will require stepping up the game. Whether it will be a more perfect race for me or not is to be seen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a feel thing for me, I don\u2019t necessarily look at the numbers, but I know that in terms of the numbers I\u2019m capable of doing what I did there and more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As with his previous races this year, Frodeno has stayed and trained at altitude until midway through race week. For Nice, he flew in from home in Andorra in the Pyrenees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the build-up has remained consistent \u2013 although this time with a \u201cproper taper\u201d \u2013 the emotions accompanying the final block of training ahead of the last race of his career are unfamiliar.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere have been a lot of sentimental sessions. Realising it will be the last time I\u2019m swimming 30 x 100m in the pool, running 15 x 1km on the track. They are moments that have shaped my character in a certain way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a certain degree of happiness, sadness, wishing it weren\u2019t so, really looking forward to what is to come, so it\u2019s a whole boiling pot of emotions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After a start to 2023 where Frodeno placed fourth in both the PTO European Open in Ibiza<\/a><\/strong> and Ironman European Championship in Hamburg before a comparatively low key victory in Ironman 70.3 Andorra, he was <\/span>visibly euphoric following his win in the PTO US Open in Milwaukee<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt did matter a lot, and the nerves show me it definitely does [still matter],\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got butterflies, I wake up at night, I haven\u2019t slept well in a week, so there is definitely something that matters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut there is an element of peace in me that I don\u2019t recognise. It\u2019s an unfamiliar thing and it brings a certain happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure it\u2019s the right thing for winning championships in general, but I think it\u2019s the right kind of mindset that makes one big last performance inevitable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe work has been done. I need anger and frustration to get me into shape, but I\u2019m here now and being here and being at peace is what\u2019s new to me. I think and hope that is what brings me the right cocktail for Sunday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Top image credit:<\/strong> Eric Alonso \/ DPPI<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The 42-year-old German will attempt to win the Ironman World Championship for a fourth time in his final race on Sunday and says a calmness has joined the nerves <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25365,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/09\/jan-frodeno-theres-an-element-of-peace-in-me-that-i-dont-recognise.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The 42-year-old German will attempt to win the Ironman World Championship for a fourth time in his final race on Sunday and says a calmness has joined the nerves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/25364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Sizing up the competition<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Making peace with the end<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/08\/jan-frodeno-triathlete-87ce372.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"IRONMAN")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Contrasting emotions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2023\/08\/PTO-US-Open-Milwaukee-5-Aug-23-2-1-c546321.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C426\" "\\"PTO")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"