IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside results: Lionel Sanders storms to an INCREDIBLE win

Lionel Sanders rolled back the years in incredible style to claim a fourth victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Canadian superstar, winner here in 2016, 2017 and 2024, added another success with a spectacular run to glory, coming from 2:47 back in T2 to grab a famous win.

All the talk beforehand had been about whether the Norwegian pair of Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden could/would return to top form after a tough 2024, but while Gustav did grab a podium spot it was another day of disaster for Kristian.

After the misery of 12th place at Paris 2024 and a 35th-place finish at Kona, Blummenfelt began 2025 by finishing down the field here after a flat tyre cost him more than 14 minutes during the bike leg.

Sanders meanwhile was simply brilliant, starting his year in marvellous fashion to come home alone after a rousing run to the tape.

Swim – US star Harper blasts off

US swim star Greg Harper, who had led the field out of the water at December’s 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in New Zealand, repeated the dose here as he came out just ahead of short-course aces Magnus Manner (GER), Seth Rider (USA) and Casper Stornes (NOR).

Ben Kanute (USA) – the winner here in 2019 and 2022 – was 41 seconds off the pace in seventh while Iden and Blummenfelt exited the water together – 57 seconds away from Harper. They were just behind another American star in Rudy Von Berg, and just ahead of New Zealand’s Braden Currie. Aussie Cam Wurf was also just over a minute off the pace.

IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange was just under two minutes away in 27th with Canadian fan favourite Sanders 3:11 back in 33rd position.

Bike – Misery for Blummenfelt

Blummenfelt wasted no time in blasting his way to the front of the field early on the bike leg, but soon the Norwegian great would endure a complete disaster which would ruin his victory hopes. He pulled up with a flat front tyre and lost more than 14 minutes before he could get back racing.

There was a nightmare of a different kind meanwhile for short-course star Jacob Birtwhistle, who had been up with the leaders after an excellent recent second at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong. But he then picked up a three-minute penalty for drafting, likely dealing a fatal blow to his podium chances.

At the front meanwhile it was now Justin Riele (USA) and the other Norwegian superstar Iden cutting out the pace, at the head of a lead group which was almost into double figures. Rider, Stornes, Von Berg and Kanute were all part of that group. Wurf meanwhile was at 1:24 back and Sanders at 2:47, while Lange had fallen to 6:06 away.

By the time the field approached the halfway stage of the bike leg, Sanders had started to make inroads on the lead group – now 2:14 away and up into the top 10. At the front it was still Birtwhistle (yet to serve that penalty) and Iden heading Von Berg and Kanute to lead a nine-man lead group.

The closing stages of the bike leg started to separate the contenders from the pretenders as Riele really put the hammer down at the front. He gapped the rest of that front pack and led Von Berg by 31 seconds in to T2. Stornes was third, just over a minute off the pace, but he lost more time with a botched transition as he tried to dismount too early. Rider, Kanute and Iden had all dropped back to around 1:40 off the lead.

Sanders meanwhile entered T2 some 2:47 back and in eighth place, while Birtwhistle served his drafting penalty to drop to 10th – 3:16 away.

Run – Sanders is amazing, again

The early stages of the run were shaping up for an epic battle to victory here, with a number of athletes all moving up into a position to contend for the win. Notably big guns Iden and Sanders were now second and fourth with the top seven separated by under a minute.

As the leaders passed through the 5-mile point we had three men together at the front in Rider, Von Berg and Iden – with a charging Sanders now just 26 seconds back in fourth. It was absolutely game on with a classic finish in prospect.

Fast forward a couple more miles and Sanders had now joined the leaders and immediately moved aggressively to the front to inject more pace into proceedings. It was too much for Rudy, who started to drop back, soon followed by Gustav. What a race and finish we had in prospect, with Lionel leading Seth by 6 seconds through 8 miles.

Sanders was really continuing to pour on the power and the rest of the field were struggling to stay anywhere near him. By the 9-mile mark he had an 18-second advantage over Rider, with another 10 seconds to Von Berg and Iden.

This was an incredible performance from Lionel from 2:47 down heading into T2, and he was continuing to stretch further clear – the lead was 41 seconds with just over 3 miles remaining. Von Berg was heading the battle for second ahead of Rider and Iden.

There was no stopping Sanders and he would not be denied, surging through the final stages to take the tape after a brilliant 1:11:28 half-marathon to close the show. Von Berg got the better of Iden in the battle for second.