The Lethal Line-up

In recent years 70.3 Worlds and the Ironman World Championship have been months apart, allowing athletes to prepare 100% for both. This year a bunch of the expected favorites will have Kona in less than 4 weeks at the back of their mind. 

This list includes the 3 Norwegians (Blu, Stornes, Iden), Jonas Schoumburg and Marten Van Riel. Of the the top favorites NOT racing Kona, you have Hayden Wilde, Jelle Geens, Rico Bogen and of course FUSION Athlete, Lasse Priester.

Lasse Priester

If you happened to watch Lasse Priester outrun the defending 70.3 World Champion (top seeded Jelle Geens) by 2.30 min in Zell-am-See, you wouldn’t hesitate to call him a serious title contender, despite a super strong line-up in Nice this Sunday.

Simon Westermann

A bit of a dark horse, as he hasn’t done much 70.3 racing, but undoubtedly has the speed to surprise, if he can transfer his recent 12th WTCS Hamburg performance to Nice. Simon was 8th at the 70.3 World Championships Marbella last year, a very tough bike-course like Nice, where he didn’t lose more than 66 sec to fastest rider of the day (8th fastest bike-split).

Valdemar Solok

Breakthrough season for Valdemar (24) one of the most exciting young athletes to storm through the ranks in 2026, as a top swimmer with incredible speed and power on the bike. His relatively small frame, yet high power-output is a perfect match for the Climbs in Nice.

Kurt McDonald

When Kurt Qualified for Nice in 70.3 Geelong back in Marts, he was 5th but raced against the same guys, who are top seeded favorites this Sunday: Wilde, Blu and Geens!

Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen

The Xterra specialist is still new to road triathlon, but the Nice course will be perfect for his ability to push hard uphill, technical downhill and very fast run. Interesting fun fact-  Jens Emil actually  took his first 70.3 podium in Nice last year, which could be a huge advantage for a smooth and fast descent.

Priester’s power ranking:

According to TriRating, Rico Bogen is expected to have the fastest overall bike-split ~ 2:14:37 and Lasse Priester about 7 min slower (~ -5.22%). This seems a bit much, if you look at Priesters massive bike improvement this year*, and the fact that the two Germans actually went head to head in June (T100 San Francisco ), with Priester only 2.16% slower over 80 km. So what’s going on? Well the data is technically not wrong, as the stats are pulled from all previous 70.3 races, but it doesn’t take into account that Lasse Priester was basically racing as a glorified Age Group’er in 2025 compared to the professional setup he has this season. 

*Priester Bike stats  2026:

August: pl. 1st (+ 2 sec in front of Jelle Geens)

July: pl. 2ND (- 44 sec (0.6 % off ) til Robert Kallin)

June: pl. 2ND (- 2.30 min (2.16 % off) to Rico Bogen)

May: pl. 7th  (- 5.29 min (4.63 % off) to Max Sperl)

April: pl. 3rd (- 4.10 min (3.6% off ) to Laidlow) 

In case you missed it, here is the ultra-short Lasse Nygaard Priester story:

Representing the German National Team for years with Paris Olympics 2024 coming up, unexpected health problems suddenly forced the part german/ part danish athlete to quit his Olympic quest and possibly retire from professional triathlon. Months later, after getting a green light by the doctors, Lasse was inspired by friends to give 70.3 racing a try after 10 years in the Olympic bubble. 

Leaving the national team however, also meant no funding, so a potential new PRO career would have to be built from zero. You can imagine how hard it is to find sponsors without having actually raced 70.3 yet, let alone own a TT bike!!

On borrowed equipment Lasse lined up in the Pro Series (Jesolo, 2025) and had a terrible day ... .not realizing the back wheel was semi-blocked the entire way! 2 weeks later, Lasse finally showed his true talent by winning 70.3 Kraichgau in a course record time.

The bike became his weapon

Being one of the fastest runners in the sport, it’s easy to understand why you might ride with a defensive mindset. But the level in PRO Triathlon rises every year, and even top runners can’t expect to catch up 4-5 min in less than 21 km! Working hard with lots of hours in the Tempo_tech windtunnel and gradually improving TT position, the bike has truly become a weapon for Lasse. So far this year he had Top 3 bike-splits in 4 of 5 races, and who were his competitors in those races you ask? The fastest riders in sport: Sam Laidlow (bike course record, Kona), Rico Bogen (Bike course record, Roth), Robert Kallin (Ironman overall bike course record ) and the 2 x defending 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens!!